Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about something that just about every state and federal member and local council on the North Coast of New South Wales is incredibly frustrated by, continues to talk about ad nauseam and is urging governments at all levels to deliver on, and that is the Pacific Highway upgrade. I will start by mentioning a death on the highway on 13 February. None of us can stand up here and mention every death—there have been more than 400 of them over the past decade—on the Pacific Highway. However, I do mention the loss of Jim Burke on 13 February at an intersection in Coopernook because he was a personal friend, so much so that he was in charge of one of my election booths. As everyone in this place will understand, when someone helps you out at the ballot box they are close to you. But the loss of Jim Burke was certainly a devastating blow to the Coopernook community, as well as to family and friends, and in that I include myself. He was a tremendous fellow and a really active member of the Coopernook and Manning Valley communities. He enjoyed and celebrated towards the end of last year the politics and the changed politics on the mid-North Coast. I will certainly have very fond memories of Jim throughout my parliamentary days and for the rest of my life; he will be missed.

I start with that as a gentle reminder for everyone that every life lost on the mid-North Coast on the Pacific Highway is more than just a statistic. If these numbers were being lost in a war or in another context I think the response from government would be substantially different. Yet we seem to have an entrenched argument between the Commonwealth and the state over funding arrangements, over who is responsible for what sections of the highway and over completion dates. We are now into a third generation of governments involved in these Commonwealth-state disputes. There was plenty of fanfare in 1996 when the Keating and John Fahey governments reached arrangements on a 10-year plan to fully duplicate the highway between Hexham and the Queensland border. We went through the Howard and Carr years, when we were drip-fed some great projects as they were completed. We are now into the Rudd-Rees arrangement. And where are we? Thirteen years past the 10-year plan, and under 50 per cent of the highway duplication has been done. Whilst the sections that are done are safe and deliver great outcomes in travelling times and business and community links, what that has done is expose what is left as even more dangerous—the goat track that has been left behind. This is a live discussion even now, as we have seen the New South Wales state government penalised $50 million for its minibudget in November and cutting back its commitment to the highway from $800 million to $500 million. That has enraged members of the mid-North Coast communities who really do see the full duplication of the highway, as quickly as possible, as the backbone of existence on the North Coast.

There is plenty of good work being done in the electorate of Lyne. The Coopernook to Herons Creek work currently has 500 jobs on it. It is about 18 months to two years away from completion and it is a really good example of the difference that we will see once it is completed. The Coopernook bypass is another good example. Even though that is, somewhat ironically, where Jim Burke died—because of the lack of a flyover and an inferior option in a section that was a $69 million fully state-funded section—it is an example of a better option than the single lanes and the goat track that were there before. It would be remiss of me, as a new member in this place representing the North Coast, not to talk about the Pacific Highway and the need for vigilance from this government. I am pleased that the federal roads minister is trying to keep the state honest on this, but the Prime Minister, the roads minister, the cabinet and the government really need to be very aware of the needs of the Pacific Highway and the North Coast communities. (Time expired)