Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, for some time now I have been participating in a campaign for the widening of the Hume Highway, the F5, southbound from Brooks Road, Ingleburn through to Campbelltown. Minister, you will probably recall this, as I have written to you on a couple of occasions. On the last occasion, I wrote to the minister at the table on 9 May seeking to make out the economic case for widening the F5. The minister will recall that this is a stretch of road that sees more than 80,000 vehicle movements a day, 6,000 of those being movements of heavy vehicles. It is a main national piece of infrastructure, it is a piece of infrastructure which is critical to the development of the south-west of Sydney’s industrial and employment lands and it is something that this government has been put on notice about.

I know that the minister has probably received advice from the member for Macarthur. I do recall that he was quoted on the front pages of local newspapers trivialising this as a ‘project’ and wanting to talk about ‘highways in the sky’ or something to that effect. But I also know, Minister, that Mr Wayne Merton—oddly enough, the New South Wales member for Baulkham Hills—on 29 May actually made some comments. Reading from the Hansard of a debate he participated in, Minister, he said:

No-one disputes that upgrading the F5 is a worthwhile cause and it is obviously a matter that needs attention.

That was the Liberal member for Baulkham Hills. I wish the Liberal member for Macarthur would show a similar commitment to the project.

Minister, the budget sets out an expenditure program of $16.8 billion over a five-year period from 2009-10 for the AusLink 2 national roadworks program. What are the government’s criteria for prioritising projects under AusLink 2?

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