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

To paraphrase the words of the Queensland Times newspaper of the 26 April 2012, the Ipswich Motorway pain is over at last. This federal Labor government committed $1.95 billion for the Dinmore to Goodna section of the Ipswich Motorway. The Dinmore to Goodna section was delivered by the Origin Alliance, comprising the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Abigroup Contractors, Fulton Hogan, Seymour Whyte, SMEC Australia and Parsons Brinckerhoff Australia.

The motorway has been the bane of the lives of the people who live in the western corridor between Ipswich and Brisbane. I parked on the Ipswich Motorway with a bumper sticker given out freely and readily and applied to cars in the western corridor. But the completion of the Dinmore to Goodna section of the Ipswich Motorway enhances opportunities for commerce and creates a faster and easier commute between Ipswich and Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. The new motorway provides a level of safety for people, and they deserve it. About 95,000 cars a day travel along the Dinmore to Goodna section of the Ipswich Motorway—up from 70,000 just five years ago. The volumes are expected to grow as Ipswich is one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia. The new motorway has a capacity of 180,000 cars a day, which is expected to be reached in 2032. It can then be made four lanes. I am not quite sure that I will see it, but I look forward to that day.

The Ipswich mayor, Paul Pisasale—I congratulate him on his recent victory in the council elections—was, and is, thrilled with the new road. He said recently:

The motorway is looking fantastic and it generates a new level of respect for the city of Ipswich. Every day the road becomes more bearable for the people of Ipswich.

I understand Councillor Pisasale, speaking at an RDA function at the University of Queensland's Ipswich campus, said:

How good is the Ipswich Motorway? You watch Ipswich come ahead now. I have 10 meetings in the next few weeks with large companies wanting to move here.

It is not just the three lanes each way—the new service roads have made a big difference: the northern service road from Brisbane Street in Ipswich Central to McEwan Street, Riverview; the southern service road connecting Law Street, Redbank, to Aberdare Street, Dinmore; the Smiths Road extension connecting Mine Street, Redbank, to Smiths Road, Goodna, which assists not only the people of Goodna but also the people of Redbank. It also assists in the commerce between St Ives shopping centre in Goodna and Redbank Plaza. We are talking about approximately 17 bridges being demolished and 31 new ones being built and approximately 70 new retaining walls; we have widened the motorway from four lanes to six, with provision for eight lanes in the future. There have been major upgrades to intersections; new and improved pedestrian and cycle paths; new road and pedestrian bridges and new motorway crossings connections; new local connection roads, as I said, and remediation works on the abandoned mines.

After years of neglect and three federal election campaigns where this road was opposed by the coalition, including a policy of stopping construction on the Ipswich Motorway at the last election, I can truly say to the people of the western corridor, 'This federal Labor government has delivered an important nation-building infrastructure project for the benefit of people in South-East Queensland.' If the coalition had won the 2007 federal election, it would have been left dangerous, congested and untouched.

I want to thank my good friend Mr Ripoll, the member for Oxley. He and I have campaigned on this issue for year after year, fighting valiantly against those opposite—the forces of conservatism who believe in inaction, inertia and idleness when it comes to road construction in Queensland. Those opposite opposed every cent we have put into nation-building funding across the Warrego Highway and throughout the roads in Queensland—$8.5 billion of federal government road, rail and port funding in Queensland—double what the Howard government spent in is time in office. I thank Gerald 'Mango' Murphy—that is his real name, everyone knows him as that—the project manager from the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland; Cindy Thomas, the community engagement person from Origin Alliance; and all the workers from Origin Alliance for their overwhelming community response to and engagement with this issue. I look forward to next week when Minister Albanese, who has been a great champion of this road, meets with me and the member for Oxley to officially open this road for the benefit of the people of the western corridor. Congratulations to all involved in the construction of this wonderful facility.