Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I wanted to talk a little bit about the matter of asbestos in the Greenslopes Red Cross Hall, a matter I've attempted to talk about several times already this morning in this Chamber. Perhaps this time I'll get the opportunity. As I said earlier this morning, the Greenslopes Red Cross Hall—no longer occupied by the Red Cross, of course, but they were the former tenants—is a decrepit and vacant Commonwealth owned property in my electorate, and it's fallen into disrepair and disuse. The property is riddled with asbestos and has now been sitting empty for many years, with nothing between it and the footpath but some temporary fencing, which has been there for much too long. I mentioned this as we were adjourning this debate yesterday, and I'm giving this speech in continuance now. I welcome the opportunity to provide this speech in continuance from yesterday's address-in-reply debate.

As I've said, I've been asking the government to do something about this hall for many years. At the May federal election, Labor committed that, if we were elected to government, we'd provide a significant funding boost to get the hall fixed up, with a view to getting it back in to community use. The LNP didn't match that commitment. Now, six months after the election, our community is still waiting for action to be taken.

I'm grateful to the minister for meeting with me last month about this issue, right here in the parliament. I raised with him again the numerous issues with this site. It's become an eyesore. It's decrepit. It's wrapped around with this flimsy security fencing. There is shade cloth hanging off it and signs up saying: 'Brittle asbestos roof. Danger: do not enter.' It's a real eyesore for the community.

Secondly, the site is just going to waste. So many locals have told me about their fond memories of the hall when it was in use—but it's just sitting there empty. There's a lot of history about the place, too, because of the buildings on the site having been used in previous conflict. I think the government knows this. But despite the remarkable history of the hall, the Morrison government has failed to undertake the necessary maintenance of it since the Red Cross vacated it some years ago.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the run-down state of the property poses serious safety and health risks. For six years there have been warning signs of asbestos and the brittle roof. Yes, there are fences, but anyone who's been a teenager knows that they can be seen as more of a challenge than a barrier. And of course there's a risk of damage and danger if there is wild weather in the south-east, as occurs from time to time and more and more frequently—particularly around this time of year. Every day this dilapidated hall is left abandoned is another day that asbestos fibres could blow in the wind, putting locals at risk.

I've been working as a team with my colleagues—state colleague Joe Kelly MP and council colleague Matthew Campbell—to call on the government to take action without further delay. I wrote to the minister following our recent meeting, calling on the government to address the problems. I respectfully ask that the government take heed of that call. It's time the government took responsibility, started listening to locals and fixed the hall.

In making this contribution to the debate of the address-in-reply, I also want to deal with some other issues. One of those issues is traffic congestion: a crucial issue for the south side. I'm really passionate about busting traffic congestion. It's been a focus of mine since before I was in the parliament and since I first ran for the parliament in 2014 in a by-election.

I've said this in the House before, but the latest data from the HILDA Survey shows that Australia's capital cities are dealing with longer commutes, with an average of 66 minutes each day, and there is no sign of things getting better. Families in my electorate, just like those in inner suburban communities across Australia, have had enough. Traffic congestion throughout the eastern and southern suburbs in my electorate is getting much worse. In fact, we have one of the south side's worst traffic snarls, the Coorparoo level crossing on Cavendish Road. I've been talking about this level crossing for a very long time, calling on the government to actually do something about fixing it up. I've been campaigning to fix it up, as I said, since before I was elected.

At this federal election that was held in May this year Labor made a serious massive commitment of funding to get this particular traffic snarl fixed up, to get moving on it. I called on the government to make a similar, or the same, commitment to put a serious amount of money on the table. It's an expensive problem, I know. The government had put into the May budget $85 million for the Lindum level crossing in a Liberal-held marginal electorate. They did not put any money into the budget for the level crossing in my electorate. There's no reason why a similar amount of money could not have been committed to the Coorparoo level crossing.

I don't begrudge the people of Bonner the amount of money that's been put into the Lindum level crossing. It's an important level crossing. It's adjacent to Iona. There was a fatality there at the beginning of the year, so of course that one should be fixed up. But so should the level crossing at Coorparoo. We shouldn't have to wait until there is a fatality at this level crossing to get the government's attention, to get some real money on the table to deal with this particular level crossing.

The Liberal-National government talks a lot about busting congestion. They've got the so-called Urban Congestion Fund—although I note they didn't actually manage to spend any of it; they did find $17 million to put into advertising about busting congestion but they didn't spend the so-called Urban Congestion Fund and actually bust congestion—and they claim to have this focus. Let's see it in Griffith. Let's see some real money on the table to deal with this terrible traffic snarl. It's an awful, awful situation. Everyone knows it needs to be fixed. The South East Queensland Council of Mayors has listed it as one of the top five level crossings that need to be dealt with in our city.

This level crossing needs to be fixed. We also have schools adjacent to it. We've got Coorparoo Secondary College right down the road from this particular level crossing and, up the other end of Cavendish Road, you've got Coorparoo State School and Mount Carmel a bit further up. We also have Giffin Park right near this level crossing—a really important sporting facility on the south side. It's been a training ground for the Lions for a long time but, much more importantly, this park is where so many young kids go to play Aussie Rules. They don't need to be having to navigate this dangerous level crossing right near the park, right near the school, in order to get there safely. They certainly don't need the traffic congestion that comes from the fact that every time a coal or passenger train goes through, the boom gates are down and the traffic just banks up. And of course in the 21st century it's ridiculous.

We've also got Old Cleveland Road, Stanley Road and massive important roads on either side of this crossing. Cavendish Road runs between them. This doesn't just affect people in Griffith; it affects everyone who tries to commute to the CBD from the eastern suburbs. It affects people in Bowman. It affects people in Bonner. People trying to get into the city in peak hour will tell you: it is an absolute disgrace of a traffic snarl and it's about time that the Morrison government stepped up and actually showed that it cared about this particular traffic snarl. It will actually do wonders for traffic congestion throughout the eastern suburbs of our city if the government was to do something serious in relation to this particular level crossing.

We didn't win the election. I'm sad about it; you're probably not, Deputy Speaker Hogan. The fact is the Morrison government is in charge. You guys need to get your act together. The buck stops with the government. It's time that the government showed some love to traffic congestion issues on the south side in Brisbane because, if you don't do it, then you're going to continue to have this problem. It's just going to get worse and worse, and our cities, for liveability, for productivity, need to have safe roads. They need to have roads that work well, and that means dealing with this particular traffic snarl.

In the last few seconds available to me, I just want to mention a portfolio matter—that is, the second 10-yearly review of the EPBC Act that is now underway. The Liberals and Nationals are now in their seventh year of government, and their cuts and mismanagement are evident in the blowout of decision-making times. There's so much delay. It's actually got to a point where 40 per cent of decisions are now made outside statutory time frames—it was 15 per cent when the Liberals and Nationals came to office. This is bad for jobs. It is bad for development and it is bad for the environment. We should be able to, as a nation, have strong environmental protections and also be able to get decisions made within statutory time frames so that the jobs and development can go ahead where it's safe for that to happen. Thank you.

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