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

My campaign in Blair at the last election was focused on cost-of-living relief, health and delivering key road and community infrastructure needed in my rapidly growing community. I was able to announce a multimillion-dollar package of initiatives, which were the product of years of hard work and building relationships with a range of stakeholders on the ground including councils, community and sporting clubs. It meant the final suite of local commitments I announced really resonated with people.

The reality is that Ipswich and the areas west of Brisbane are some of the fastest-growing regions in the country. We need to invest in infrastructure and services to support the booming population. That's why the Albanese government is investing more than $400 million in road and transport infrastructure in Blair. As part of this, I was delighted to announce, with the Treasurer, $200 million to fix the notorious Amberley interchange bottleneck and black spot on the Cunningham Highway with a grade separated interchange. This is on top of $16 million I announced last year, with the federal minister for infrastructure, for business cases for this area, as well as the Ripley and Swanbank interchanges, with $4 million committed by the former Queensland Labor government. This project is vital to improve safety and congestion across Ipswich, but is particularly important for access to RAAF Base Amberley, the biggest operational air force base in the country and a hub for the recent Talisman Sabre exercise.

There was also $20 million for the critical Brisbane Valley Highway safety upgrades, first announced in this year's budget, which brought the total of federal government contributions to $40 million for this vital artery in Ipswich and the Somerset region.

I was particularly thrilled to announce $5.5 million to assist the Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland, or FICQ, with you, Mr Speaker, to establish a new 'House of India' community and cultural centre in the very diverse greater Springfield area. Complementing this was $700,000 that you and I, Mr Speaker, announced for the upgrade of the YMCA Springfield Central Community Centre for a shared community space for multicultural and sporting groups.

When it comes to our precious native wildlife, we committed $1.2 million for the Chuwar Koala and Native Fauna Conservation Park in Ipswich. This will help Goodness Enterprises charity establish a rescued koala rehabilitation centre to rehabilitate injured koalas for release into the wild.

Something near and dear to my heart was a $5 million commitment for a one-court extension of the Ipswich basketball stadium on top of the $2 million we committed previously to increase the number of courts from four to five for club competition purposes. It will also assist in state competitions. This builds on the commitment I announced previously.

Ipswich is rugby league heartland, so another project I'm really excited about is our $4. 5 million in funding for the Ipswich City Council to establish a new rugby league, sports centre and Monterea sports field located in the Ripley Valley Priority Development Area, the PDA, for new fields, a clubhouse and lighting. I'm hopeful the council will see fit to put my old rugby league club, Swifts, in a long-term lease in this locale. It would be the making of the Swifts as they really need a home.

The Somerset region didn't miss out, with $4.05 million to redevelop the Lowood pool and $1.6 million for upgrades to the Fernvale Sports Park netball courts, both of which I was proud to announce with Senator Anthony Chisholm, who I think should really become the senator for Blair as he spends so much time there. I'm looking forward to him renting a house in Ipswich! Finally, the Speaker and I were pleased to recommit a re-elected federal Labor government to a new headspace centre in Redbank Plains to support young people seeking mental health support—a very worthwhile initiative.

Some of these commitments rely on matching state government funding, but despite the Queensland Premier's comment about the need for an Ipswich infrastructure plan, his state budget in June was very disappointing. It had no funding for big ticket transport and main roads projects in Ipswich. Critically, there was simply no matched funding for our $200 million commitment for the Amberley interchange, despite the member for Scenic Rim having a billboard there arguing for it!

On top of this, there were no updates on projects I'd previously secured funding for, namely the Mount Crosby Road interchange, Bremer River Bridge and the Ipswich Motorway's Darra to Oxley upgrades, or even the Ipswich to Springfield rail line business case. Not a dollar! I will continue to push the Crisafulli government for a commitment to fund these important projects.

House adjourned at 20:00