Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In parliament today, on Valentine’s Day, I speak with great pride as the federal member for Ryan. One of the issues that crop up in my electorate, which of course I have the great privilege to represent in the Australian parliament, is Moggill Road—the heavily congested road that it is. Moggill Road is the lifeblood of the western suburbs in the Ryan electorate. It is a vital corridor in the daily lives of thousands of Ryan men and women. It is a vital corridor in the lives of thousands of mums and dads as they take their kids to school. It is a vital corridor in the lives of thousands of professionals heading into the city and academics heading to the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland.

Moggill Road is also in desperate need of heavy investment by the Queensland state Labor government. Since 1989, the state government of Queensland has been held by the Labor Party, with the exception of two years of the Borbidge coalition government. Queenslanders deserve better. The people of Ryan deserve better. The people of the state seat of Moggill deserve better than what they are getting from the Queensland government, which is falling down and falling apart. The people of the state seat of Indooroopilly deserve better. I call on the Labor state member for Indooroopilly, Ronan Lee, to get off his backside and call upon his colleagues and the Premier of Queensland to invest funds in Moggill Road, which is heavily congested.

In the parliament today I again totally reject and repudiate the call of the federal Labor member for Oxley, Mr Ripoll, to construct a bridge across the Brisbane River at Priors Pocket. Last year he called for a bridge to be built between his side of the river and the Ryan side of the river. I can certainly assure him with every confidence that the overwhelming majority of Ryan residents would totally reject his proposition. It is a preposterous suggestion that a bridge be built across the river at Priors Pocket, when currently Moggill Road is absolutely congested. Moggill Road is overly used at the moment. It is a state road, and it is in need of enormous investment by the Queensland Labor government.

Of course, we on this side of the parliament know that the Queensland government receives almost $8 billion in funds in the form of the GST. Only yesterday, the Treasurer reminded us of how current Labor premiers view receiving the GST. The new Premier of Western Australia, Mr Alan Carpenter, said that the GST is in the national interest—that this form of taxation is in the interests of this country—and, lo and behold, that is of course a great surprise to Labor supporters. But, in any event, the Queensland economy, the Queensland community, is benefiting from this form of revenue: $7.7 billion in funds.

I call on the Queensland government—and the Premier of Queensland—to invest some of this money on the roads in Queensland that fall within its jurisdiction. I call on the state Labor member for Indooroopilly to join with me in repudiating the federal member for Oxley’s very thoughtless and very ill-conceived proposal to build a bridge across the Brisbane River at Priors Pocket. I can certainly assure him that the people of Moggill, Pullenvale, Bellbowrie and indeed all of the suburbs from Chapel Hill and Kenmore right though to Indooroopilly, Taringa and Toowong would stand shoulder to shoulder with me in saying to the member for Oxley that he should consider his own electorate and invest his time in his affairs rather than trying to watch over the suburbs and lifestyle of Ryan.

Queensland roads are in desperate need of infrastructure. The Queensland government receives an enormous amount of money. It is important for the lifestyle of the people of Ryan, for the economy of the Ryan electorate and for those who go about their daily lives in Ryan—whether it is going to work, taking their kids to school or enjoying all the amenities of Brisbane—that Moggill Road is as free as possible. Queensland is a growing state, and it is high time that the Queensland government invested in the western suburbs of Brisbane. (Time expired)