Tim Hammond (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to discuss a number of key infrastructure projects committed to by the federal Australian Labor Party in the course of the 2016 federal election campaign. During the campaign, the Labor Party committed to three key infrastructure projects in my local community, being the federal electorate of Perth. One is a $1 billion investment into a revolutionary, once-in-a-lifetime public transport infrastructure investment, called METRONET. The second is one I have already addressed in this place—the sinking of the Bayswater train station. The third is the one that I rise to discuss today, which would directly affect my local community of Mount Hawthorn, being the upgrade to the intersection of Green Street, Scarborough Beach Road, Brady Street and Main Street.

The investment into the upgrade of the intersection would create a world of difference to members of my local community. Having traversed that intersection myself at least a couple of times a week, if not more, I can speak from real-life experience in a way that echoes the views of my community in relation to the hazards associated with the particular intersection in question. We have Main Street from the north, Green Street from the north-east and Scarborough Beach Road from the east, all converging into a spaghetti-like mess of road intersections which then feed through into the CBD. It is a junction of three extremely busy roads—and how it is not officially on our blackspot radar is beyond me. Many people who have had to traverse that intersection will tell you from experience that they simply choose to avoid it altogether, having regard to just how terrifying the experience normally is. Luckily, and thankfully at this stage, the traffic users who use that intersection appear to adopt an approach similar to that which we see in many Asian countries, in that everyone converges on it together, crosses their fingers, holds their breath and somehow managed to muddle through. It is the epitome of an accident waiting to happen and urgently needs addressing. That is something the federal Labor Party committed to doing in the last election. Contrast that with the approach of my opponents, the Liberal Party, who, in the recent campaign committed to exactly no infrastructure investments at all within the federal seat of Perth. It does not take long to count them—they add up to a sum total of zero.

Our commitment—a $3 million spend for an approximately $5 million infrastructure upgrade—is crucial, and we call upon the coalition government to honour it for the sake of improving traffic flow, for the sake of easing congestion and for the sake of safety of road users and others alike.