Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Urban congestion is a major issue in Australian cities. Sydney, where the Berowra electorate is located, is no different. That's why I'm very pleased to be part of a government that has a $100 billion infrastructure plan that will cut commute times and give Australians more time with their families, improve road safety and improve travel times between our cities and regions. My electorate of Berowra is benefiting from these investments, and they are extremely important. The federal government's $412.3 million investment in NorthConnex is a game changer for Australia's worst road—Pennant Hills Road, which runs right through the electorate. Pennant Hills Road carries about 80,000 vehicles each and every day. I listen to the traffic from those vehicles all day at my office. At night I can hear the trucks changing gear as they race down the road. There is never a moment when there is not the sound of a truck braking or a horn beeping. Peak hour lasts from dawn until night-time.

Congestion robs people of time with their families, causing a loss of productivity for people unable to get to work smoothly. Hundreds of thousands of lost hours are wasted on that road every single week. In traffic on a Friday night a 6½ kilometre journey from Pennant Hills to Hornsby can take over an hour. For too long local residents have been coping with this blight on their landscape and the serious inconvenience to their daily lives. NorthConnex is going to transform our community by taking 5,000 trucks off Pennant Hills Road every single day. It will reduce travel times for motorists and return a critical road in my electorate to the local community, allowing us to reclaim it for our shopping trips and school drop-off runs. The project is well on its way to being finished, with 85 per cent of the paving completed and the lining of the tunnel having reached completion. NorthConnex is set to open to motorists by the end of next year.

NorthConnex is just one of the projects that we're undertaking in Berowra to address congestion. With NorthConnex coming online at the end of next year, New Line Road will inherit the mantle of the worst road in my electorate. New Line Road is the main link road between Pennant Hills, Cherrybrook and Dural. It's the main service road for communities even further north and west—from Galston, Arcadia, Glenorie, Kenthurst, Annangrove, Maroota and Wisemans Ferry. Despite the level of traffic it takes, much of New Line Road is only a single-lane road each way, causing major bottlenecks. This is going to get worse as developments outside my electorate put more traffic onto the road. The 18 kilometres from Arcadia to Pennant Hills can take over an hour in the morning. One accident or a slow truck completely blocks the road. It continues to be a massive headache for families in my area. Recent developments in the semirural areas have increased traffic volumes, causing major congestion issues at peak hour, particularly around school drop-off and pick-up times.

New Line Road is a state road, but when I first ran for election in 2016 I pledged to do what I could to ensure that New Line Road would be widened. I have worked with state colleagues and my colleagues here in the federal parliament, particularly Minister Fletcher and Minister Tudge, to see that the problems with this road are addressed. The Morrison government is the first to inject government funds into New Line Road to get it shovel ready for improvements. To plan improvements to the road, $10 million was committed as part of the budget to get it ready for state government investment. With the developments fully scoped, the New South Wales government will be able to get going with making this overdue improvement. I'll keep campaigning for the important widening of this vital road.

The investment the government is making in infrastructure is absolutely vital to keeping our communities moving and improving our productivity as a nation. Those investments are significant in Berowra, but they're also significant for the entire nation. Our neighbours in Western Sydney will see billions invested to enable smooth transport in that growing part of our city. Investments in road and rail will ensure that the region is ready for the 2026 opening of the new Nancy-Bird Walton airport, a major development for all of Sydney and a project that has been discussed but not achieved for far too long. Another $9.3 billion is being invested in Inland Rail between Melbourne and Brisbane to complete the spine of the national freight network. Goods will be able to travel between Melbourne and Brisbane in under 24 hours, meaning greater efficiency for Australia's businesses. We're scoping fast rail for commuter corridors between major cities, like the Sydney to Wollongong corridor and a fast rail from Geelong to Melbourne. They will enable important train journeys for those commuters.

To address major bottlenecks in cities across the country that are robbing people of their time every week, $4 billion is being invested in the Urban Congestion Fund. The responsible and stable economic management of the Morrison government is what makes it possible for us to continue these investments that will benefit our electorates and the whole country for years to come. I commend the government on its proactive approach to infrastructure.

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