Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Central Coast has over 2,000 kilometres of local roads managed by the Central Coast Council, a large network of infrastructure to maintain. The Central Coast Council has responsibility for managing and addressing safety matters affecting Woy Woy Road. Woy Woy Road is a busy commuter thoroughfare for residents travelling to and from the M1 from the peninsula or sounding suburbs. As the population has increased over the last decade, so too has the volume of traffic passing through Woy Woy Road, which has led to a number of crashes in recent years, some involving fatalities. There's been increasing feedback from the community about the design of the road and that this design leads to risky driver behaviour and, in turn, leads to more crashes.

As the federal member for Robertson, which includes the area encompassing Woy Woy Road, I have received correspondence from the community inquiring about what action the federal government can take to help address the issues affecting Woy Woy Road. After some careful deliberation and following discussions with my state and local government counterparts, I have launched a petition to fix Woy Woy Road. The objective of this petition is to raise awareness for Woy Woy Road and what potential measures and, ultimately, funding can be implemented by all three levels of government. I aim to register as many signatures as possible on this petition so that I can demonstrate to all three levels of government and their departments the concern in my community about Woy Woy Road and the urgent action that is required. Since launching the petition in late September, my office and I have recorded over 500 signatures of people who want to see action taken to fix Woy Woy Road. I will continue to collect and I'll continue to record those signatures over the coming months. I invite residents living on the Central Coast to either visit my website to complete that petition online or to come into my office to complete the physical petition itself.

I'd like to commend and recognise the bravery of Central Coast mother Tara Dibben, who tragically lost her son, Joshua Dibben, on Woy Woy Road in 2023. Joshua was travelling along Woy Woy Road on 26 October of that same year when his Toyota HiAce van collided with another vehicle. Emergency services rushed to the scene and worked to save Joshua's life. However, he could not be revived. Joshua is survived by his young wife, Brooke, and son, Jai.

Joshua's mother, Tara, continues to advocate for safety improvements along Woy Woy Road and has been a pivotal voice in establishing this petition. Tara is supporting my campaign to fix Woy Woy Road and has said that she believes improvements to Woy Woy Road, like the construction of centre strip bollards, may have saved her son's life. Tara does not want another family on the Central Coast, or another family across this nation, for that matter, to go through the same devastating experience that she had to endure. Thank you, Tara, for all of your advocacy. Thank you for all of your support. Our community appreciates your tireless passion for positive change following this tragedy.

The federal government facilitates several funding programs to support regions to undertake improvements and to maintain existing infrastructure. The Roads to Recovery Program is one such initiative is designed to support the construction and maintenance of the nation's local road infrastructure assets, which facilitate greater accessibility, improves safety, as well as economic and social outcomes for Australians. Funding under the RTR program is available to all local governments in Australia for projects delivered through councils. I have spoken to Central Coast Council about this program and I have encouraged them to apply for funding. Similarly, I have raised the issue of Woy Woy Road with the relevant federal minister and placed this matter on their radar for any upcoming support from the Australian government. I will continue to represent my community on this matter to all relevant ministers and their departments in the federal government.

Another area of action that my community has requested to address safety along Woy Woy Road is to increase the number of police patrols taking place. Many residents have said that they often see reckless and dangerous driving along Woy Woy Road daily. If there were more highway patrol police or mobile speed cameras on this road, many community members believe that these measures would be a strong deterrent. I welcome the support of our state member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch MP, who has written to the New South Wales minister for regional roads and transport and requested that Transport for New South Wales investigate the implementation of a speed camera at known speeding locations on Woy Woy Road. Ms Tesch has also requested that Transport for New South Wales investigates whether average speed cameras could also play a role in reducing speeding on Woy Woy Road.

I'm proud of the work that the Albanese Labor government has done since its election in 2022 and the investments it has made in local road infrastructure on the New South Wales Central Coast. The Avoca Drive upgrade through Kincumber is charging ahead with the recent announcement of the prioritised first stage. The Australian and New South Wales governments are investing over $130 million towards the upgrade of this road to improve traffic flow and deliver infrastructure for active and public transport access on Avoca Drive through to the township of Kincumber. The upgrade will also provide safe and efficient access for the local community to key destinations along the route, including to Kincumber Village Shopping Centre, several schools, and sporting facilities in the area. The concept design and environmental assessment for the priority first stage is expected to be displayed to the community soon for feedback. I encourage all who are interested in this development to review the concept design and provide feedback.

In addition to our Avoca Drive upgrade through Kincumber, we have also committed funding for $15 million towards upgrades to several intersections in the Empire Bay and Bensville communities. The Empire Bay Drive Intersection Strategy planning project will deliver a strategy to upgrade intersections servicing Empire Bay and surrounding communities. This will include consideration of the intersection of Empire Bay Drive and Wards Hill Road. The Empire Bay Drive and Wards Hill Road intersection is used by thousands of motorists each day and is an important transport connection to Empire Bay Public School. It also provides access to the Bouddi National Park. These vital planning works will have a road safety focus and deliver a business case for future upgrades. I look forward to continuing to update the Central Coast community on the progress of this project as it reaches important milestones.

Our record investment in infrastructure also includes $115 million for the upgrade of Terrigal Drive. Terrigal Drive through Terrigal and Erina is another notorious choke point for motorists in the region. The Australian government will provide funding to the New South Wales government to commence the necessary investigation and planning works for this much-needed project. This project will include the duplication of sections of the single-lane road and upgrades to intersections along the very busy road corridor. Lastly our government's $93 million Central Coast Roads Package has made a real difference to local road infrastructure. Several local roads in the region have received renewal works, including the Esplanade and Bourke Road in Ettalong Beach, Beach Street in Umina Beach and Debenham Road South in West Gosford, amongst others.

Excitingly the much-anticipated upgrade to the intersection of Ocean Beach Road and Rawson Road in Woy Woy is taking shape, with progress moving closer to the construction phase. The intersection upgrade project is one of 29 projects to be delivered by council through the $93 million Central Coast Roads Package, which is 100 per cent funded by the Australian government. This project will deliver immediate improvements to traffic flow, reducing the vehicle queue lengths, and will make the existing road environment safer for all road users—including motorists, cyclists and pedestrians—with signalised crossings of each leg of the intersection.

The Albanese Labor government will continue to invest in vital infrastructure projects across the Central Coast in this 48th parliamentary term. I want to again encourage my community right across the Central Coast to support my petition to fix Woy Woy Road. The more signatures that we can record on this petition, whether it be through my website or physically in my office, will send a strong signal to all levels of government—to local, to state and to federal—and underscore the urgency of this matter that we must make Woy Woy Road safer.

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