Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise—and this will come as no surprise to the House—to talk about my favourite subject: the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing. I was delighted to be joined by the federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport on Friday to begin the actual construction of the Range Crossing. I have to also say how delighted I was to be joined by the member for Toowoomba North, Trevor Watts, and the member for Toowoomba South, John McVeigh. John McVeigh is a fine local representative. His father represented Groom in this House when Groom was first established, so it was with absolute delight and with a great deal of confidence that I saw John McVeigh win his nomination to stand for the LNP at the next federal election.

There are still challenges to be resolved in Groom. There are always issues in health and education in your local community, but the big challenges are the big projects. Not only do we want to complete the Second Range Crossing but we also want to see inland rail built from Melbourne to Brisbane with, of course, Toowoomba becoming a major terminus and hub on that railway line. There could be no better person to represent constituents of Groom than John McVeigh—not only does he carry on the proud tradition set by his father, but also the proud tradition of good local representation by members of the LNP.