Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is one of the most urbanised nations in the world. Eighty-nine per cent of Australians live in cities, and that percentage is steadily growing. Globally, 60 per cent of greenhouse gases are produced by cities. They consume 78 per cent of the world's resources and are vulnerable to the impacts of ecological crises. Cities have created problems, but they are the site for solutions. We need urgent, far-reaching transitions to make our cities sustainable: decarbonise, with car dependency eradicated and a good home for everyone which is close to all the services and facilities they need for a good life. Twenty-three seconds off your commute, at a cost of over $200 million and years of traffic chaos: that's what the LNP forced upon my electorate of Ryan with their Indro roundabout project. It was stunningly irrational and wasteful. The then federal LNP and the LNP city council partnered up to fund a roundabout upgrade that would deliver only a 23-second decrease in commute time. It was to be a $126 million project. It then blew out to an estimated $186 million in 2021, and it's likely at least $250 million by now.

On what else could we have spent those taxpayer megabucks? Maybe a decade's worth of high-frequency bus routes on the west side. Maybe hundreds of kilometres of new footpaths or separated cycle routes. There are countless streets on the west side without any footpath at all. No wonder so many choose to drive. This is not to mention that the west side is host to some of Brisbane's most notoriously dangerous roads for cyclists. Of course, the previous Indro roundabout had safety issues, which the LNP have been using to justify this project, but prioritising the speed of cars over other road users doesn't make it safer. There are so many much cheaper safety solutions deliverable much faster with minimal disruption. I'm sure the contractor who got the gig is happy for the money, but the rest of us suffer through what will end up being three years of disruptive roadworks interrupting commercial activity and sleep.

The LNP has spent billions of dollars on road widenings and mega road projects over the last decade, and guess what. The traffic has just got worse. In Brisbane, commute times have jumped by almost 50 per cent since the early 2000s. When you build more roads and do not provide other, more efficient transport nodes, you encourage more people to drive. It is a no-brainer. You can't build your way out of traffic congestion. The only way to fix traffic congestion is free and frequent public transport and making walking and cycling a real and safe alternative so everyone has the freedom to live their car at home and. Frankly, the only party that understands this reality is the Greens.

The Greens have a vision for Brisbane's west side: seriously reducing traffic congestion with three new frequent bus routes, from Enoggera to Indro, from Chapel Hill through UQ to Capalaba and from Long Pocket and Figtree Pocket to the Indro shops. There would be a new pool in the inner west—did you know we have only one council pool in Ryan? There would be a new primary school in the inner west to take pressure off our overenrolled state schools. There would be a new high school in the Moggill-Bellbowrie area to relieve congestion on Moggill Road and take the pressure of Kenmore and Indro state high schools. There would be new libraries and community centres for the many underserviced suburbs. There would be a huge boost to safe and walkable streets, particularly in areas like Chapel Hill, Figtree Pocket and The Gap. Funding would be restored to the Toowong-West End green bridge. There would be a connected, protected cycleway from Rafting Ground Road all the way to Saint Lucia. There would be community led delivery of quality, medium-density, affordable public housing and development in areas like Toowong central.

When Labor and the LNP say that this is impossible and it will cost too much, all I can say is: why hand hundreds of millions in tax breaks to property developers? What's impossible—what is completely untenable—is not delivering this infrastructure as our city intensifies and letting private, for-profit developers set the entire agenda, make a killing and leave our community without the things that we all need to live a good life in the city.