Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about something fundamental to the lives of regional Australians: the roads that connect us. For a decade under the former coalition government, our regional roads were neglected and regional people are rightly unhappy. The Albanese Labor government has been working hard to fix this mess. We are now delivering record investment in our regional infrastructure. Our investment means safer roads, more efficient freight routes and stronger local economies, all under funding programs that are open, fair and properly costed. We've committed a 10-year infrastructure investment pipeline exceeding $120 billion. It's the largest and most sustainable investor investment in our nation's history. In my great state of Western Australia, that includes $432 million for the Tanami Road, $304 million for Karratha-Tom Price road and $220 million for the Great Northern Highway Bindoon Bypass.

But, of course, we know that it's the local roads that matter every single day in our regional communities. That's why part of our plan is doubling the funding for the local roads through the Roads to Recovery program. This program is about directly funding our local councils to fix the roads that they know matter the most. It gives them stable long-term funding to plan with confidence. Over the next five years this means $643 million for WA councils. That's a massive increase of $278 million, and we're seeing that investment right in my electorate of Bullwinkel. In Bakers Hill we're funding a $470,000 upgrade for Sims Road, and in Northam we have $3.6 million rolling out across nine active projects, all chosen by the local Northam shire council. This is direct, tangible investment in our regional communities.

But our plan isn't just about maintenance; it's about saving lives. We have increased the annual funding for the Black Spot Program from $110 million to $150 million. This program, of course, targets those dangerous sections of roads that we all know about, delivering practical safety upgrades, like traffic signals, roundabouts and better signage. I'm incredibly proud to say that the Black Spot Program funding is making a real difference in Bullwinkel. We've secured $46,000 to fix the dangerous Lilydale Road and Northcote Street intersection in Chidlow, and we're delivering almost $300,000 for the Avon Terrace and Spencers Brook-York Road intersection in York. These are fixes that locals have been calling for for years, and it's our government that's delivering them.

We've also created the new Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, called SLRIP. That's $200 million per year nationally, which is $50 million more than the two programs that it is replacing. In my electorate of Bullwinkel, this program is funding the $1.5 million extension of Brooking Road in Parkerville, a huge bushfire-risk area. That's a huge win for our local community.

You might want to know what happened to the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program—the LRCI, as it was called. That was a temporary COVID program. The Liberals and Nationals set it to expire, and now they're complaining about their own decision. What did we do? We backed it with completion. We extended that timeline for councils and we committed an additional $250 million for regional and outer suburban councils. If the Nationals had their way, our regional councils would have $250 million less than they do today. When you add it all up, just this financial year our government is delivering $4.1 million for upgrades, in my electorate, across 25 different projects in Beverley, Kalamunda, Mundaring, York and Northam.

The choice is clear. The coalition left a multibillion-dollar black hole and froze funding for our councils, and the Albanese Labor government is making record investments. We are doubling Roads to Recovery, we are boosting the Black Spot Program, and we're delivering funding that is open, fair and properly costed. Labor now represents more seats in regional areas than the Liberals and Nationals combined. Regional areas have chosen a government that delivers for them.

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