Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to rise today to speak on this motion acknowledging the nation-building infrastructure that the Albanese government is delivering in its very first budget. In my electorate of Gilmore on the New South Wales South Coast, the state of our roads is incredibly important. Our train line ends at Bomaderry, so we rely on our roads more heavily than do places like Wollongong or Sydney. The South Coast is a major tourism drawcard, and the Princes Highway is the lifeblood that connects tourists to our magnificent towns and villages. It's also the connector that brings in feed for farmers' cattle and connects our produce with national and international markets. As well, it takes our kids to school and allows people to get to work.

In school holidays, it can take local people two, three or four times as long to get anywhere—and that's on a good day. If there's an accident—which, heartbreakingly, all too often there is—then traffic can be stuck at a standstill for hours. Many of our road blackspots and bottlenecks are notorious. Local people know where they are and know that they could be fixed with the right investment.

Our community has been fighting for the infrastructure we deserve for many years, and I have been a proud champion of that fight. I have joined with our community to call on the previous federal government to bring forward promised funding for the Princes Highway—particularly in the wake of the bushfires and the pandemic, when we needed the economic boost. We fought for a flyover for the Jervis Bay road intersection—an infamous pinch point, where the New South Wales government wanted to stick a roundabout. Another famous pinch point sees traffic coming to a standstill through the Milton and Ulladulla townships. We need a bypass desperately, but governments at a state and federal level have dragged their heels. I spent years calling for this funding to be brought forward. They resisted. But we won on every occasion, helping to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in local road improvements, dragging Liberal state and federal governments kicking and screaming every step of the way.

These are just a few examples of the roads projects I have helped to secure from opposition and as part of the community. There are many more. It's been hard work, but, together, we are starting to see real improvement.

The Albanese government is delivering billions of dollars in nation-building infrastructure, and my electorate on the New South Wales South Coast is a top priority. As part of the budget, we have recommitted $752 million in Australian government funding for the Milton-Ulladulla bypass, because we know how important it is. I'm incredibly proud of that.

We've also delivered $40 million to help Shoalhaven City Council fix local potholed roads which are in a terrible state after months of relentless rain. It won't do everything, but it's a start.

For comparison, the New South Wales government has given local councils a share in $50 million to help fix the roads—something that was celebrated by our local state members. But, honestly, how far will that go? A few hundred thousand dollars per council won't make much of a dent.

The new Nowra Bridge will be a fantastic asset for the Shoalhaven community, but it won't solve all of our problems. What we need now is the Nowra bypass, and I have been joining with local people calling for this for many years. Liberal governments at state and federal levels haven't wanted to know about this project. We could be ready to start construction now, but they have ignored our calls for years.

During the election campaign, I was the first one to make a commitment to the Nowra bypass, and now I have delivered $32 million as part of the budget to get the pre-planning works finally started. I was really delighted that the New South Wales government committed $8 million towards this, during the campaign, but it turns out that this was another hollow statement, because, in their last budget before the state election, they didn't include one dollar for the Nowra bypass. The minister said the Albanese government needed to deliver on our promise first—a strange perspective, if you ask me. But today I say to the minister: we have delivered on our commitment; now it is time for you to deliver on yours. We need the Nowra bypass off the ground, and I will keep working every day to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.

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