Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In contributing to this grievance debate, I remind members that my electorate of Moore is in Perth's northern coastal suburbs, a region experiencing rapid population growth. More than 10,000 new residents are projected to move into the outer metropolitan suburbs of Perth to the north of my electorate each and every year for the next 20 years. This places great strain on our community and sporting facilities, our health care, our aged care and our road network, as these new residents will utilise Joondalup as their closest regional city.

Moore was once regarded as a safe blue-ribbon seat for the Liberal Party; however, recent political events have prompted the Prime Minister to declare Moore as a target seat at the next election. For the electors of Moore, this is wonderful news, as their votes will now matter even more and they will not be taken for granted. Increased federal funding for infrastructure is critical to fully realising the economic and community development potential of the Moore electorate.

With a population of more than 165,000 residents, the City of Joondalup is the regional centre for health and medical services, higher education, digital innovation, cybersecurity, retail and professional services, with approximately 13,000 businesses generating more than $7 billion in annual economic activity. The site of tower cranes in the Joondalup skyline is a sign of a vibrant economy. Throughout the city, construction activity will remain strong over the next few years, with a major mixed-use residential and commercial project commencing in Sorrento and Hillarys and particularly at Ocean Reef Marina. To progress the growth and transformation of Joondalup, it is necessary to implement strategies to attract more public funding and private sector investment to build our city. The electors of Moore are looking forward to the future. Our regional city has the potential to grow into a vibrant metropolis, and access to a wider range of professional services, amenities and advanced technology will support highly skilled jobs for our suburban population.

My priorities for our community include facilitating the development of an innovation precinct and expanding the existing education and health precincts to create skilled employment for residents. It is the role of the federal government to develop policy to promote innovative development and necessary funding support to deliver on this vision. My vision for an innovation precinct in Joondalup encompasses new and emerging technology industries, including robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, data science, space, health and medical technology, defence, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. Developing an innovation precinct in Joondalup will pave the way for the construction of more office buildings in central Joondalup, creating activity and vibrancy in the city centre. Currently there are several development-ready sites, such as the planned multistorey office building on the corner of Grand Boulevard and Collier Pass, seeking an anchor tenant.

To unlock the development potential of our city, increased federal infrastructure funding is required to upgrade our road network. I call upon the Albanese government to fund important local road infrastructure projects to better connect our suburbs to economic activity centres. One such project is the grade separation of the Reid Highway and Erindale Road for the traffic bridge. The grade separation will facilitate free-flowing east-west traffic by eliminating yet another set of traffic signals, improving access to the Balcatta and Malaga industrial areas, Northlink, Perth Airport and beyond for the many residents commuting to work each day, including some 11,000 FIFO workers. Another project is the realignment of Gnangara Road and connection with Whitfords Avenue. This key road upgrade will unlock the local economic development potential of the Wangara industrial area. With more than 60,000 vehicles using the intersection each day, the upgrade will make the commute for more than 8,000 Moore residents safer and more direct. Other projects include traffic management at five dangerous intersections along Marmion Avenue, at Flinders Avenue, Seacrest Drive, Freeman Way, Beach Road and Karrinyup Road; the widening of Shenton Avenue near the entrance to the Joondalup Business Park and Lake Joondalup Baptist College; and a roundabout at Joondalup Drive and Lakeside Drive to improve the northern access to the Joondalup city centre and the medical precinct.

As I mentioned earlier, rapid population growth in our region means that there are unmet needs in health care. I'm proud to be part of a team which delivered $158 million in federal funding when we were in government, towards the $256 million expansion currently under construction, yet inadequate provision has been made in the budget for future health facilities to meet anticipated population growth. This is shortsighted when we know that the population of the region is growing at a rate of 10,000 residents per year. It will only mean greater pressure on an already overstretched Joondalup hospital, with longer waiting times for patients. Federal funding needs to be committed to a new major health campus in Yanchep to alleviate demand on Joondalup hospital from the rapidly growing outer-metropolitan communities. There is also a compelling need to attract more specialist medical services to Joondalup hospital.

In terms of environmental infrastructure, Moore is home to the popular northern beaches of Perth. The 20-kilometre stretch from the City of Stirling to the City of Joondalup is utilised daily by thousands of local residents. Coastal erosion is a major problem at popular Mettams Pool and Watermans Bay, where infrastructure including access stairs and ramps have been washed away and the beaches have become rocky. The dunes, footpath, public toilets, utilities and major infrastructure along West Coast Drive are at risk of erosion. In response, local government expends $600,000 annually in coastal erosion treatments, including sand renourishment, dune restoration and sandbagging, at considerable expense to ratepayers. In the longer term we'll need to implement extremely costly, capital-intensive engineered measures such as artificial reefs, groynes and seawalls. I call upon the government to urgently provide federal infrastructure funding to local government to protect coastal areas from the effects of climate change. Local government ratepayers should not be left to bear the full burden of implementing engineered coastal protection measures.

To promote the national economic recovery we must support continued investment in industry, with more than 11,000 Moore residents employed in the mining and energy sectors. I have consistently advocated for federal approvals for mining and resource projects and the use of gas as a transition fuel to cleaner energy, particularly in the maritime sector. With the cost of living dominating the national agenda, Australia's energy security must be at the forefront of the agenda—in particular, modern modular nuclear technology. More research needs to be done in relation to navigating the process of mapping out what would be required for commercial nuclear power plants and associated fuel facilities to be operating in Australia from the mid-2030s. Detailed analysis must be undertaken to appraise the costs of commercial modular nuclear power for Australia. The community needs to be consulted on the role that the latest nuclear technologies could safely play in our energy mix.

In summary, my grievance is that there is a significant gap in federal funding that our community requires to develop into a vibrant regional city. Many of my constituents have told me that they are financially worse off today than they were a year ago due to the rising cost of living, higher grocery prices, spiralling interest rates, and skyrocketing electricity and gas costs. The focus of government needs to return to managing and growing the Australian economy. Increased federal infrastructure funding is critical to fully realise the economic and community development potential of the Moore electorate. I call upon the Albanese government to invest federal funding to keep growing our community.