Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From potholes to dusty and dangerous unsealed roads, rural and regional roads in Australia leave a lot to be desired.

Recently in my electorate of Flynn, near the small town of Bajool, a multi-vehicle crash occurred on the Bruce Highway. In the incident, three vehicles caught fire and another four were extensively damaged. They included a B-double truck and a semitrailer carrying a military tank. Six people were transported to the Rockhampton and Gladstone hospitals, three with suspected spinal injuries. Diversions were put in place for people travelling between Gladstone and Rockhampton, which added significant travel time for many residents. A truck driver was killed yesterday in an accident at Mount Larcom. Yet what have we seen from this Labor government regarding rural and regional roads? We have seen review after review.

The $120 billion 10-year infrastructure investment pipeline adopted by the former coalition government included many worthy land transport projects that had been identified in partnership with state and territory governments, local councils, freight industry stakeholders and communities.

Fifteen roads in the Flynn electorate are included in Minister King's infrastructure review, including the Gladstone port access road extension, the Cracow Road upgrade, overtaking lanes from Gavial-Gracemere Road to Burnett Highway, the Ginger Beer Creek upgrade and the Lowmead Road safety upgrades, to name a few. I call on this Labor government to finally show some respect for the people of Flynn and to not strip any further funding from our region.