Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The AUKUS agreement is the single largest defence investment in Australia's history, but it is not just an investment in submarines; it is also a generational investment in infrastructure right across the Brand electorate, infrastructure that will endure and will go beyond simply building submarines and upgrading the base but will ensure the enduring prosperity of Rockingham and surrounding suburbs.

HMAS Stirling is right on our doorstep, and our local community is proud to be home to Australia's submarine fleet and thousands of Royal Australian Navy personnel, their families and veterans of the RAN. HMAS Stirling has been undergoing significant works for many years now, which is welcome, but the ministers and prime ministers of the formal Liberal government would only ever drive through Rockingham on their way to this very important base.

Unfortunately, for the people of Rockingham, Safety Bay, Shoalwater and surrounding areas, the Liberals gave absolutely no thought whatsoever to the needs of the surrounding community. During their time in government, they did not commit one single cent to improving the local roads or infrastructure in the area. In successive elections, the WA Liberals have been all talk and no action—and there's no doubt they will do it again.

Nine years in the federal government and all the Liberals delivered for Rockingham was hot air. Only Labor is committed to fixing the road infrastructure challenges that face Rockingham right now. Indeed, only Labor has committed funding to fully assess how we improve local roads by utilising the remarkable opportunity that AUKUS provides us with. I've been working really closely with the fantastic member for Rockingham, Magenta Marshall, to make sure our community gets the infrastructure it needs and deserves.

With a joint investment of $2 million, WA Labor and federal Labor governments have got the ball rolling on improving local roads across Rockingham. A much-needed study will find out the best ways to improve the traffic flow of the local road network to and from this all-important base. And that will include looking at the problematic roads like Parkin Street, Safety Bay Road, Hymus Street and Point Peron Road, which all can be a headache at the best of times. I live in the area. I've seen them. I know they're a problem. And we are dealing with it, unlike the government before us. We want to make sure service women and men and everyone who lives in the area gets home to their families instead of getting stuck in traffic.

But we also need to investigate how the proposed developments will impact on the environment and heritage so we can map out potential challenges and work out how to tackle them. This doesn't need just blase responses. We need to know how we can work with the very importantLake Richmond. We know how important it is to the environment and to the local community who live around it and to all those who come and visit each and every day. I'm really pleased and proud to be working with the member for Rockingham, Magenta Marshall, for the people of Rockingham.