Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the last decade or so the Australian Labor Party has learnt absolutely nothing when it comes to infrastructure planning. Failure to invest in years past is causing a lot of hurt and concern in the federal electorate of Moreton. Passing through my electorate, we have the national transport corridor which includes the Brisbane urban corridor, Kessels Road and the Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road. Since 2005 I have been able to secure $1.73 million, which was used to take 221,000 trucks off this road by simply paying their toll on the southern Brisbane bypass—the Logan Motorway and the Gateway Motorway—between 10 o’clock at night and five o’clock in the morning during the working week. I want to expand that program, and the government wants the Queensland government to cooperate in a way that will allow this to occur.

This road is the only toll road anywhere within the city of Brisbane. It has a direct impact on residents in my electorate, with interstate trucks in particular avoiding a total of $6 of tolls by going through suburban roads. McCullough Street at Sunnybank and Padstow Road at Eight Mile Plains are choking on big interstate trucks that are finding their way by rat running around the tollway. The Queensland government are doing nothing to stop it. They say that from 1 July they will have a camera system installed that will take photos of trucks’ numberplates, and the drivers will be asked why they are on that road. What we want to see is an end to the toll. If we can get off the Logan Motorway and the Gateway Motorway the $6 toll that trucks are hit with now, it will no longer be an issue. Some 221,000 trucks have come off in just the last two years during the night-time. Night-time is not the busiest time for trucks; nevertheless it is important for residents to know that those 221,000 trucks have come off as a result of the Australian government’s $1.73 million investment.

The Queensland government have also failed to come clean and deliver on promises they have undertaken. Firstly, there is the Acacia Ridge rail level crossing, where Beaudesert Road—a state owned road—crosses the Brisbane-Sydney rail line, which is also owned by the Queensland government. Three years ago, leading up to the 2004 federal election, they said it would cost $50 million to fix that crossing—$25 million from the federal government and $25 million from the state government; let’s start building it. We put our $25 million on the table, but the Queensland government have done absolutely nothing in regard to this level crossing. The cost has now blown out from $50 million to $110 million, and they expect the federal government to continue to increase the amount of money it contributes.

Secondly, there is the Logan Motorway interchange, which connects the Gateway Motorway and Logan Motorway to the Ipswich Motorway. A few years ago it was going to cost $165 million to fix that, but now it will cost $250 million to fix. The Queensland government keeps ratcheting up the prices, without actually doing the work. The Australian government is ready to work with the Queensland government to fund programs and projects that will work, but if they have pilfered a couple of million dollars allocated in 2001 for the Riawena Road noise barriers, how can we trust the Queensland government? (Time expired)