Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

This project is an example of good Labor government delivering really good infrastructure projects. We promised a project and we delivered it. We delivered it ahead of time, we delivered it on budget and we saved taxpayers' money.

This project is not just about the 90,000 road users on the Ipswich Motorway every single day; it is also about the people who live there. It is about their lifestyle, how they get their kids to school and how they go shopping. It is about the service roads and what we have done for pedestrians—linking communities once again. It is about cyclists being able to go up and down beside the motorway, not on the motorway. It is about making sure that there are real 21st century safety standards for all of the people who travel up and down the Western Corridor, through to places like Toowoomba, Warwick and Ipswich and back. It is for trucks and commuters alike. It is for everybody involved.

This is one the best projects in the country. It is an absolute star example of what can be done when governments at federal and state levels, but fully federally funded, work with an alliance group of contractors and with the community to deliver a fantastic project. We dealt with every single issue, every single concern, every single complaint to deliver a first-grade and absolutely first-class infrastructure project. It is just an example of what this Labor government can do. I am exceptionally proud of that. I am exceptionally proud that we delivered that immensely difficult project under full traffic conditions not only ahead of time but also ahead of budget.

Can I just remind people that all the way along, while this project was underway, the opposition, the Liberal and National parties, opposed it 100 per cent, but they had the audacity at the end of it to stand at the pulpit and claim some credit. Shame on them. I am very glad that the motorway is done and delivered by a Labor government.

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