Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to raise the issue of what can only be described as flagrant pork-barrelling by the current Labor government. As one of the fastest-growing areas of new dwellings in Australia, the electorate of Longman is crying out for infrastructure funding from all levels of government. The City of Moreton Bay council handle most small projects, but larger projects require, mainly, state government assistance and, at times, federal government assistance. But where the federal government takes full responsibility is mobile coverage, and here the federal Labor government are letting the people of Longman down badly.

Under the coalition government, Longman received funding and approval for eight additional mobile towers under the blackspot and peri-urban mobile programs—programs designed for fast-growing electorates just like Longman. In contrast, under this government the good people of Longman received funding for zero much-needed new towers. All funding for new towers was in Labor electorates. To rub salt into the wound, in the fine print in the budget we see that combined funding for these programs is being reduced from $76 million next year to $49 million in 2025-26, then to $22 million in 2026-27 and zero in 2027-28. This is despite demand growing—in no small part due to their crazy immigration policy. So I say to Labor: if you're going to increase immigration in this way, you have a responsibility to ensure that the services needed are provided.

Infrastructure is crucial to the Longman electorate. As we speak, the Caboolture West precinct is underway. This housing development will provide 30,000 homes to house approximately 70,000 people. To put this in perspective, this is the same size as the city of Mackay in North Queensland. That's right, this one housing estate is the size of Mackay. Of course, I welcome any initiative that will help ease the housing crisis we are currently enduring. One of the critical pieces of infrastructure needed for this Caboolture West development is the Caboolture River Road-Buchanan Road project, which will give residents easier access to the Bruce Highway, or M1. This project will four-lane Caboolture River Road to Morayfield Road and will then provide a bridge that spans over half a kilometre, traversing a block of shops, a bowling alley and a train line, and finally connects to Buchanan Road. It, too, will be transformed into four lanes right through to the M1.

I was proud at the last election to be able to secure the commitment that, if the coalition won government, we would contribute $110 million towards this $210 million project. Sadly, Labor chose not to match this commitment if they were elected, so the current and future residents of Caboolture West missed out on this vital piece of infrastructure being rolled out in advance. This is a new concept for government, I know. Of course, two years on we know that this project will now cost in excess of $250 million. I implore this government to not neglect the people of Longman and to match the election commitment I made, as it's the right thing to do.

Exit 150 on the M1 is simply inadequate. This exit, which services Morayfield and Caboolture residents via Buchanan Road to the west and the exploding new residential estate of North Harbour and the upcoming industrial estate to the east, exceeded its capacity many years ago. It must be upgraded to the same type of exit as the previous coalition government funded at New Settlement Road, Narangba, and Boundary Road, Dakabin, to the south. We simple cannot continue to ignore the needs and safety of these residents, as this exit is congested every day of the week. Oftentimes the offramp is backed up to the highway, which is simply unacceptable.

One of the great Australian traditions is that many Australians reward themselves with a social drink after a hard day at work. I'm not condoning excessive or irresponsible drinking here—I want to stress that. I'm talking about those who just enjoy a relaxing drink, whether it be a glass of shiraz or sauv blanc, a beer or a Bundy and Coke, this little treat is becoming more and more of an unaffordable luxury for these hardworking Australians. We have some of the highest taxes and excises on alcohol in the world. In fact, we are the third highest in the world on spirits. To put this in perspective, in my home state of Queensland, arguably our favourite spirit, Bundy rum, has $38 of taxes and duties taken out of the purchase price of $60 on every 700-millilitre bottle. That is well over half the purchase price going to taxes and excise. This is simply outrageous and it needs to stop. We need to not only freeze any increases in alcohol taxes and excise; we need to reduce them and let Australians unwind and relax with a drink after a working week, because they have earned it and deserve it.