Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Maryborough has huge potential for more job-creating manufacturing, forestry, primary industry and tourism, but, when I drive on the Bruce Highway between Gympie and Maryborough, I see a substandard, dangerous road that fails all of these industries. Any brand new section of our national highway that we're building needs to be built to the highest possible standard. But the Queensland government and its members for Maryborough, Hervey Bay and Bundaberg, on whom motorists rely on this stretch to travel to Brisbane, must explain why they support two lanes for a Tiaro bypass that fails on safety, fails the economic needs of the region and fails their motorists.

Soon, there will be a minimum of four lanes from Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane and to Curra, just north of Gympie. At Curra, the four-lane national highway will end. This is unacceptable. The state government must bring forward plans for a four-lane highway between Curra and Maryborough, beginning with the Tiaro bypass. If this section of highway was in New South Wales or Victoria, there'd already be four lanes. Premier Palaszczuk's members of parliament in Wide Bay must insist on four lanes for the Tiaro bypass and four lanes between Curra and Maryborough. Denis Chapman's petition, which I present, calls on us to reject Queensland's two-lane bypass proposal.

The petition read as follows—

This petition of certain citizens of Australia draws to the attention of the House:

Reject the two-lane proposal and support the construction of a 4-lane highway as part of the Tiaro Flood Immunity Upgrade (Tiaro bypass) project for the Bruce Highway at Tiaro.

From 1,285 citizens (PN0488)

Petition received.