Pat Farmer (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the time I have got allocated to me here this morning, I thought I might speak about my local area and some of the issues that need to be addressed in Macarthur. Just recently, I was on a bike ride from Melbourne to Sydney and, during the course of that bike ride, we rode on many roads along the way. I could tell you where every single pothole was and where the problems were with the roads. However, during the course of that ride and that thousand kilometres between Melbourne and Sydney I can honestly say that the other cyclists and I never came across a worse area than Camden Valley Way. Camden Valley Way is a section of road that has relied mainly on funding from the federal government for the M7 upgrade and then a short section of the road was upgraded as a result of federal government of funds.

The state government, who own that particular stretch of road, have done absolutely nothing with it. They rely on the developers to pay for sections of the road to be upgraded as they sell off each part of a development. I understand that is a very efficient way in the state government’s eyes of getting a road done in that they do not have to pay for it. But the bottom line is that it does not get upgraded until all the houses are sold in that area, until the estate project has been finished and completed. As a result of that these roads are neglected for many years. They become death traps. Indeed, at one particular intersection there were 350 accidents there over a five-year period, with some, in relation to motorcyclists trying to come out of a T-intersection on the corner of Raby Road and Camden Valley Way, being fatal.

I would like to draw the attention of this House to the appalling state of the roads in New South Wales, the responsibility of the New South Wales government to pull their weight, to work out why on earth they tax people in the first place at exorbitant rates, and to realise their responsibilities for things they must commit to. I understand that we have a number of levels of government; we have federal government, local council and state government. Each one of those levels needs to pull its own weight.

I hear the members opposite gloating about the funding that comes from the federal government for roads in their local areas—and I am pleased to see that happen—but we should not take the responsibility away from the states, particular in New South Wales, where I have seen first-hand the appalling job that they have done with schools, hospitals, roads, local roads and local infrastructure. They are not committing any money to any of those projects. Basically, they have sent the state broke. As a result of their appalling efforts in managing funds at that level, they are draining more and more out of the federal government purse on a regular basis and costing the taxpayers of Australia a fortune. (Time expired)