Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I start on my contribution, I'd like to associate myself with the remarks of Senator Smith in that regard. Indeed, I think it is a great think that this country, with the support of both governing parties, has adopted the definition of antisemitism set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. I think that is a very, very positive thing, and we should be proud of that unity.

I'm going to speak about a place in Queensland called Ipswich. As I was about to get up to make my remarks—

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and I was hoping to grab your attention too, Senator Watt—I was thinking there are some similarities between the infrastructure requirements for Ipswich and those for the Central Coast of New South Wales. There is a large population that needs to travel quite often to the central business district or in your case to Sydney, Madam Acting Deputy President O'Neill, as a former member for Robertson. In the case of Ipswich, there is a big population that needs to travel to the capital of Queensland—namely, Brisbane. So I'm pleased that you are in the chair to hear my remarks in this respect. I'm also pleased Senator Watt's here to hear my remarks, and I'm always pleased when Senator Ciccone's here. It's just a pleasure to have him around.

It's a great thing that today there was a delegation from the great city of Ipswich that came to Canberra to make some representations to both sides of politics in relation to, amongst other things, the Ipswich to Springfield Central Public Transport Corridor. I know that they had some meetings with the minister's office. I would first like to acknowledge the members of the delegation: the Deputy Mayor of Ipswich City Council, Jacob Madsen; Councillor Sheila Ireland; Mr Dan Heenan from the public administration of Ipswich City Council; Mr Taku Hashimoto, a representative of Sekisui House, which is the developer of one of Queensland's fastest-growing suburbs, Ripley; Ms Christine Castley, a representative of Multicultural Australia—and I should note Ipswich has a very large multicultural community; and the President of the Ipswich Show Society, Mr Darren Zanow, who has done a tremendous job as president of that show society. Congratulations to the delegation.

I'm sure their representations to other members of this place and of the lower house were as persuasive as the representations that they made to me. Their representations fell on fertile ground when it came to this senator—in particular their representations with respect to the necessity of the Ipswich to Springfield Central Public Transport Corridor. I was very pleased that prior to the last federal election both the previous government—through its decision and its input into the South-East Queensland City Deal—and the then opposition, now the government, supported $10 million being allocated for studies for the Ipswich to Springfield Central Public Transport Corridor.

I want to outline why this is such an important piece of infrastructure and why it needs to be built as quickly as possible. As I said, Madam Acting Deputy President O'Neill, I'm sure you'll be able to draw analogies with your area on the New South Wales Central Coast—well, now your area is the whole of New South Wales, of course. I just want to quote from the strategy paper which was released in 2020 in relation to this proposal: 'Connectivity and transport inequality is creating disadvantage across Ipswich. Ipswich is currently serviced by two heavy rail lines and several suburban bus lines. The rail lines are not connected, and only one of the services provided in Ipswich is high frequency. The existing public transport provision in the Ipswich local government area is not servicing the region efficiently, with close to 40 per cent of residents dissatisfied with the available public transport services.'

So what does this mean in practice? When you consider the arithmetic in this regard, it is quite profound. In the strategy paper, it is described as a '$1.4 billion per annum congestion problem'. The impact of not delivering critical new transport infrastructure is demonstrated in the cost-of-the-problem analysis. It found that the estimated cost of total congestion in the study area would be $466 million per year in 2026, rising to $1.4 billion per year in 2036. Just reflect on that. This is the cost as a result of congestion—cars on roads—because the public transport is not sufficient to service the growing population of the Ipswich region. That congestion cost is predicted to rise to $1.4 billion per year in 2036 if nothing is done.

That is why it is so pleasing that in the South-East Queensland City Deal, on page 23, there's a reference to the $10 million of commitment from three levels of government and from both major parties in this country, which is a great thing. I'd like to take this opportunity to also personally acknowledge the role that the Hon. Paul Fletcher played in ensuring that this Springfield to Ipswich transport corridor was contained in the South-East Queensland City Deal. Thank you very much.

I went through the presentation which was delivered earlier today by the representatives of the City of Ipswich, and it is just profound when you look at the growth in population that is occurring in this wonderful area of Queensland, which Senator Ayres should take the opportunity to visit as soon as possible. I'm sure he'll be extremely impressed with this area of Queensland. I'll just let you know the figures in relation to population and job growth in this fastest growing city in Queensland. It is estimated that between 2011 and 2041 there will be an extra 416,000 people in this region—nearly half a million extra people in this region—and an extra 65,000 jobs. This is one of the fastest growing areas in Queensland, but it needs infrastructure to support that growth.

At the earliest opportunity after I was elected as a senator, I escaped from the central business district of Brisbane and moved my office to one of the fastest growing areas of Australia—namely, the Ipswich region. My office is in a wonderful place called Springfield, in Queensland—Springfield City. Everyone is invited to come along and visit me in Springfield. It's a great place. The reason I did that was so I had a better appreciation of the issues facing the people in what we refer to as the south-west corridor of Queensland, the fastest growing region in Queensland. When you speak to the people, the local residents, they tell you what they need: more roads, more rail and more bridges. Road, rail and bridges are the issues. Transport infrastructure is what the people need. If we're going to provide opportunities for young families to buy homes at affordable prices, we need to develop and provide the infrastructure in regions like Ipswich.

The Ipswich central to Springfield central public transport corridor is a crucial piece of infrastructure. Nine stations would need to be constructed between Ipswich central and Springfield central to close that rail loop in this part of Queensland. I'd also like to make it clear that it is so important for the people of Ipswich to have the same opportunities to access services, jobs and study as other people in Queensland, and they need the public transport to assist in that endeavour.

I would like to pay my regards to Multiculture Australia for their work in relation to the Redbank Plains Community Centre. Multiculture Australia has done a great job in terms of promoting what's referred to as the Redbank Plains Community Centre. That community centre provides a great service to the people of Redbank Plains. In their social impact assessment of that area, they found that some of the major issues were limited public transport, isolation, mental health pressures, financial pressures and pressures of rapid growth. That's why they need this infrastructure.

Lastly, I'd also like to pay tribute to the wonderful president of the Ipswich Show Society, Darren Zanow. They have a proposal to construct a convention centre on the Ipswich showgrounds, which would be connected by this public transport corridor. I think that's an idea that deserves a lot of close attention.

It was wonderful to see the delegation from Ipswich. They presented their case well. Let's get the Ipswich-to-Springfield transport corridor done.