Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have the privilege of sharing representation of the northern Gold Coast with the member for Fadden. During the election campaign, the member for Fadden and I made a couple of very significant announcements for the northern Gold Coast, which is one of the fastest growing areas in Australia. I want to thank the member for Fadden for the work we have already managed to do for Exit 41, Exit 45 and Exit 49 upgrades, which are critically important.

In addition, we announced $55 million to upgrade Exit 38 at Yatala, a 50 per cent funding component of a $110 million project. This project is critical to the safety of people getting into and out of the Yatala enterprise area, which is one of the largest employment zones on the northern Gold Coast if not in South-East Queensland. At times you can have the traffic back up onto the M1, a 110-kilometre-an-hour road, for over a kilometre. It's dangerous.

The other important project is the $5 million investment in a new PCYC in conjunction with the local council and state government. The member for Fadden and I have written to the Prime Minister in support of these projects, and we look forward with anticipation to his reply.