APPROPRIATION (PARLIAMENT) BILL; APPROPRIATION BILL
Transport and Public Works Committee, Report
Mr MELLISH (Aspley—ALP) (3.25 pm): I do not know what a caboose is, but I am sure the member for Chatsworth will fill me in.
I thank members of the committee—government, opposition and crossbench—and all other members who attended the hearing. I thank the committee secretariat and staff. I join the member for Chatsworth in congratulating the chair of our committee, the member for Kurwongbah, who did a great job of running the show on the day. I sense that I might mean that a little bit more than the member for Chatsworth, but I appreciate the member’s congratulations anyway.
I also thank the Minister for Transport and Main Roads; the Minister for Housing and Public Works, Minister for Digital Technology and Minister for Sport; their staff and departmental staff; and of course the committee secretariat for all the work they do on the day and in the lead-up to estimates. A lot of work goes into estimates preparation, and a lot of that work is not even seen on the day. It is an arduous process. For all the pain that goes into it, it is a very useful process. It is useful to explore issues on the day, but it is also useful for the relevant department to do a stocktake of the vast swathe of processes and projects they have underway.
Speaking specifically about the Transport and Public Works Committee’s examination of the 2018-19 portfolio budget estimates report, we heard about projects like the Northern TransitWay, which will provide a high-quality public transport corridor along Gympie Road from Kedron to Chermside. This project will deliver targeted bus priority from Kedron to Chermside, improving the safety and capacity of this important link in the transport network. Commuters coming from the north side of Brisbane, including Aspley, will benefit from high-frequency on-road bus services and more reliable travel times. This will encourage more people to use public transport and assist in managing congestion along the corridor and broader transport network. It is a great project and I am very keen that the government is getting on with the job.
In terms of local commitments relevant to transport and public works in Aspley, $2 million is allocated for a detailed design into a completely new interchange at the intersection of Gympie Arterial Road and Strathpine Road in Bald Hills; $2.3 million is set aside for design works for an on-ramp extension at the intersection of Linkfield Connection Road and Gympie Arterial Road in Bald Hills; there are 70 extra car parks at the Geebung station, which is a great boost to public transport and a great benefit to locals there, getting cars away from people’s driveways and off the streets at the station; and funding for a feasibility study into a potential overpass at Beams Road in Carseldine over the train line.
On the sporting side of things, basketball has been growing fast on the north side of Brisbane for quite some time, and the Northside Wizards have done a fantastic job of creating a welcoming and inclusive community. I am extremely happy to say that this budget provides $5.5 million to convert a disused shed in Zillmere into a new home for basketball. The proposed plans include five indoor with the potential to expand in the future. I congratulate the minister for his great work on that project to date. I am very excited about this project and the local benefits it will bring to the whole community, not just in a sporting sense.
There were a range of questions from opposition members during the hearing, but not once did I hear anything from those opposite in a transport sense about standing up to the federal government and demanding our state’s fair share of infrastructure funding. There were no questions about honouring 80-20 funding splits on either the M1, the Bruce Highway or the north coast railway line. The only references to Cross River Rail—a crucial project that is a precursor to any future additional capacity on the entire South-East Queensland network—were about questioning the need for the project, belittling it and trying to make out that it is not as needed as it sorely and evidently is.
Our delivery of the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project is still sadly opposed by those opposite. It was great to hear that during the five-year construction period Cross River Rail will support an average of 1,500 jobs each year and up to 3,000 jobs in the most intensive years of construction. It has a cost-benefit ratio of 1.4 to one and it will reduce commuting times for the people of my electorate by up to 15 minutes a day, unlocking half of the CBD currently locked away from any station. Express services will increase. It is a great project. I am pleased that we are getting on with it, despite the opposition from those opposite.
As the chair of the committee mentioned, we saw a few bizarre attempted stunts fall flat on their face. We saw the tape measure and the CEO Sleepout. I am not going to comment on Minister de Brenni’s sartorial choices, but I certainly would not jump the gun and criticise in the way we saw at the estimates hearing when just a quick Google check would prove me wrong. We also saw questions about decisions of the Bligh government of eight years ago, which was utterly bizarre. Again I thank the committee secretariat staff, the committee members and all involved in the process.