David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge those beautiful words from the honourable member opposite. Those on this side of the House are also missing Luch, and I want to acknowledge the beautiful sentiment brought by the honourable member.

I also want to talk about the M5 around Moorebank. Anyone who uses the M5 around Moorebank knows exactly the problem that occurs in that place. Every afternoon peak, traffic is banked up as cars and trucks enter westbound at Moorebank Avenue and try to merge with traffic already on the motorway that's attempting to exit at the Hume Highway. It's slow, it's frustrating, it can be dangerous and it's not a new issue. It's an infamous choke point in Sydney's south-west, and it's why the Albanese and Minns governments are getting on with delivering the critical infrastructure Western Sydney needs.

The NSW government has now signed a contract to upgrade this interchange, and it's a genuinely significant step forward for my community. The project includes a new three-lane toll-free bridge over the Georges River and the train lines at Liverpool, dramatically improving the connection between the M5 Motorway, Moorebank Avenue and the Hume Highway. It also removes the dangerous weave on the M5 between Moorebank Avenue and the Hume Highway, improving safety and traffic flows for drivers entering and exiting the motorway. A new underpass at Moorebank Avenue will directly connect the M5 westbound to the Hume Highway, and the intersection between the M5 and Moorebank Avenue will be fully upgraded. This matters because the existing bridge currently sees more than 2,500 trucks a day moving from the Moorebank Intermodal Precinct terminal onto the Sydney motorway network, with truck numbers only set to increase as new sections come online.

Last week I visited the M5 south-west control centre, at Hammondville, and spoke with controllers who manage this stretch of the road every day, and I asked them what this upgrade would mean for them on a day-to-day basis. The term they used was 'game changer', because they see the crashes, the breakdowns and the daily pressure points that drivers experience during peak times. This project gives them the tools to keep traffic moving safely, and it gives motorists the confidence that the road network is finally catching up with demand. This upgrade is being delivered through a strong partnership between the Albanese and Minns Labor governments, each committing $190 million as part of the broader Western Sydney infrastructure blitz.

I know the member for Riverina was in here earlier talking about trucks and the trucking industry and the people who work in that industry, and I note that those opposite claim to represent people in industries who move around on our motorways. I recall Tony Abbott, whose contempt for public transport is well documented. He famously said that every man in his car is a 'king'—as if that was an excuse for not investing in public transport across Australia and in Western Sydney especially. I note that, in the nine years that those opposite were in power, they did not invest in fixing this obvious choke point in our orbital network. It is such an obvious choke point. When you look across the network, from the M7 to the M5, WestConnex and M4, this is such an obvious choke point for such a growing region of Sydney. For those opposite to have overlooked this for so long shows their absolute contempt for those who live in south-west Sydney.

South-west Sydney is the gateway to Sydney. It is the engine room of the economy. We've got the Moorebank Intermodal Precinct and we've got the new airport coming in, and the idea that we would be avoiding investing in this key infrastructure is beyond belief. The fact is that we've got trucks that can't get off the road safely, and this is something that those opposite knew about when they were in power. Obviously, they didn't want to invest in building a railway line from south-west Sydney to the new airport, but to not even invest in roads just goes against all sensibility and logic. So I'm very proud that this government is delivering this. I'm very proud that we're investing $190 million in this piece of infrastructure for south-western Sydney.

But major infrastructure is only a part of the story. Local road upgrades, delivered through programs such as the Black Spot Program, are equally important. In Engadine, the intersection of Anzac Avenue and Banksia Avenue has long been recognised as a safety concern by both the local council and the local community. As someone who grew up in the Engadine area, I know this intersection quite well. I used to walk home from school across this intersection and I drive over this intersection quite regularly. Funding of more than $290,000 has been secured through the federal government's Black Spot Program to install a new single-lane roundabout, improving traffic flow and reducing the risk of serious crashes at this location.

For those of you who don't live in the area, which is most people in the room I would think, this is a location where it is very difficult to see through the intersection. Anzac Avenue is, essentially, one of the major roads in Engadine—it's the main thoroughfare off the Princes Highway—so you have cars going in there quite rapidly. People have to move in front of parked cars to try and see around this intersection. It is a very dangerous intersection, and it is one that people have been highlighting for a long time, so I'm very proud of this $290,000 that we are going to be allocating towards fixing this serious safety risk.

In Ingleburn, increased industrial activity has led to higher volumes of heavy vehicles along Lancaster Road, making the intersection of Memorial Avenue increasingly difficult and unsafe to navigate. More than $200,000 has been secured to deliver a single-lane roundabout at the intersection, improving visibility, slowing traffic and making access safer for all road users, including those travelling to local community facilities such as the bowling club at Ingleburn.

For families, the safety of children travelling to and from school is always a priority. Around our current public school, a number of local streets were identified as safety concerns through the Black Spot Program. More than $280,000 was secured to upgrade sections of Eucalyptus Drive and Melaleuca Drive with improved lighting, raised medians and safety islands, additional stop and give way controls, traffic-calming measures and a new pedestrian wombat crossing. Together, these upgrades will improve visibility, slow vehicle movements and create a safer environment for students, parents and residents.

This is what a coordinated approach to infrastructure looks like in my community of Hughes. It's a community that those opposite have overlooked for a long time, especially in south-west Sydney, but also in the shire and in Liverpool. Those opposite have overlooked this community. They have not invested in one of the most important growth regions in our country. Large-scale projects are addressing some of these longstanding congestion issues, alongside targeted local upgrades that improve safety where people live, work and travel every day. This is what implementation of a 21st-century infrastructure program looks like, and I commend these programs to the House.

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