Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to once again highlight the urgent need for the Nicholson Road and Garden Street intersection project in Canning Vale to go ahead. Those who are familiar with this area know that this is a very busy and extremely dangerous intersection. The roundabout of Nicholson Road and Garden Street is a major traffic bottleneck. The traffic congestion in and around the intersection is significantly impacting on freight getting into and out of Canning Vale and to other parts of the community and on people getting to and from their jobs and, of course, to school. Quite simply, it's negatively impacting on productivity, which under this government is at a seven-year low.

It was apparent last year, when the Albanese government cut the initial project funding from the October budget, that this project was going to be delayed. If not, it was certainly in serious trouble. Planning works should have begun in the second half of last year, but they didn't. This is ridiculous. The ridiculous 90-day review is now up to day 135. Come on, guys; what's going on? This was announced on 1 May by the federal minister for infrastructure and has meant only further delays with the commencement of this project. At worst, the review jeopardises the project by cancelling it altogether. The locals want this project to go ahead.

Where are the federal members for Tangney and for Burt? Where have they been in advocating for this project? Have they gone to see the federal Treasurer and the minister for infrastructure and petition them for their government to not cut the funding and not have this project included in this ludicrous 90-day review? Have they done that? I don't believe they have, because there's no evidence of it.

Canning Vale residents want better community safety at this intersection, not more government reviews. They just want the federal and state governments to get on with fixing this intersection and building the overpass bridge.