Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 15 May this year, I was pleased to host the jobs forum at Ipswich Region Community Church. Present at that occasion was the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Kevin Rudd; the Minister for Employment Participation, the Hon. Brendan O’Connor; the federal member for Blaxland, Jason Clare, who is the Prime Minister’s special adviser on jobs; the member for Oxley; the member for Forde; and the member for Rankin, who is also the Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy. It was a jobs forum concerning Ipswich and Logan. There are a lot of parallels between Ipswich and Logan. They are both on the south-west side of Brisbane and their communities are very similar, in ethics, in ethos and in the experiences they have had in terms of developments and infrastructure, their progress and the challenges they each face at the time. Both of those communities are determined to unite and work together to combat the challenges we face locally as a result of the global recession. I am convinced that the compassion, the commitment and the common sense of the people of Ipswich and Logan will survive and prosper and ensure that the effects of the global recession locally will be mitigated.

I thank the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, who came to the Ipswich Motorway near the centenary roundabout. There were many people at the jobs forum—business leaders, union leaders, members of both Logan and Ipswich councils, and young people from the various schools. I was pleased that they could come. I was pleased to see members of the non-for-profit sector, the church and charitable institutions of Ipswich and Logan. They make such vital contributions and are at the front line of dealing with people, families and businesses that are facing difficulties, conflict and challenge in their everyday lives. I commend Senior Pastor Mark Edwards and the Ipswich Region Community Church for the wonderful work they do in my community of Ipswich. They, together with other churches, make an important contribution in the lives of people in the city of Ipswich.

The greatest manifestation of the government’s commitment to nation building for recovery and the Nation Building and Jobs Plan in my local community is the upgrading of the Ipswich Motorway. We are pleased that the Prime Minister has seen fit to employ, in the interim, a local employment coordinator, Samantha Wilson from DEEWR, to help in Logan and Ipswich. I was very pleased that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer came to Ipswich Motorway and had a look at the construction that is going on there. The motorway is being upgraded in three stages. The first stage was the Goodna to Wacol section, which will be completed by the middle of this year. The Wacol to Darra section will be completed by the end of next year. The Dinmore to Goodna section, which at the moment is having preliminary construction and activities taking place, will formally be under construction in a real and serious and determined way by the middle of this year.

The Ipswich Motorway forms part of the government’s network road freight corridor known at Network 1. It is an $884 million commitment for additional works this year. We are investing money locally, and thousands of jobs are being created. It was interesting for me to note yesterday that the Queensland Minister for Main Roads, the Hon. Craig Wallace, announced that as part of the motorway upgrade—near the area where the Prime Minister and Treasurer were that day, looking and talking with the workers and various people who are transforming the western corridor—the centenary roundabout will be further advanced in the replacement of what could be described as a very ordinary roundabout that connects Ipswich, Springfield, Forrest Lake and Brisbane. We are going to see that whole area replaced by a multi-level free-flowing interchange. I am pleased that that is about to take place. The work will commence on the weekend of 12 to 15 June. I am sure the member for Oxley, who has campaigned with me for so long on this issue, will be absolutely delighted. I commend all those people involved in the construction, the federal and state governments, and the companies involved. (Time expired)