PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr WALLACE (Fisher) (17:06): Let me say from the outset that every member of this House supports safer roads, safer pathways and safer communities. We all want Australians to be able to walk, ride and exercise safely in their local communities, getting you home sooner and safer. But what Australians are looking for is not another Labor announcement; they are looking for results.

While the government wants to talk about active transport, communities like mine on the Sunshine Coast are asking a much more fundamental question: why are our roads becoming less safe under Labor? The facts are deeply concerning. Road fatalities across Australia continue to rise.

The National Road Safety Strategy set an ambitious target of halving road deaths by 2030. Yet since that strategy commenced, the national road toll has gone backwards, not forwards. In Queensland alone, 158 people have already lost their lives on our roads just this calendar year.

Tragically, we are tracking above last year's figures, which were the worst in more than 16 years. Behind every one of those statistics is a devastated family, a grieving community and a life cut short. That's why road safety must always be about outcomes, not announcements.

Unfortunately, we've seen from the Albanese government a pattern of cuts, delays and broken promises when it comes to transport infrastructure. Since coming to office, Labor has cancelled, cut or delayed more than $30 billion worth of transport infrastructure projects across this country. In this year's budget alone, the government cut a further $3.9 billion in payments to the states and territories for road infrastructure.

At the same time, Labor continues to collect billions more in fuel excise from Australian motorists. Australians are paying more at the bowser and getting less investment in the roads they rely upon every day. Nowhere is this more evident than in my electorate of Fisher.

The Sunshine Coast is one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia. Our population continues to grow, but the infrastructure needed to support that growth is simply not keeping pace. For local residents, traffic congestion is worsening, travel times are increasing and critical road upgrades continue to face delays.

We've seen cuts and delays to projects that our community desperately needs. We've seen cuts to funding that the member for Fairfax and I worked so hard to get for projects like the Mooloolah River Interchange and roads like the second access route into Caloundra—both cut by the member for Ballarat, the infrastructure minister. Two major projects on the Sunshine Coast that I fought for and secured funding for were cut by this Labor government.

Why? Because Labor doesn't care about the Sunshine Coast. We've seen uncertainty around every major transport investment from this federal government on the Sunshine Coast.

We've seen local motorists left wondering when the infrastructure that they were promised will finally be delivered. Thankfully, the Queensland LNP government has stepped up where the Albanese government has stepped back. The Crisafulli government has been forced to pick up the tab and pick up the slack to keep these critical projects moving and improve road safety outcomes for Queenslanders.

There's one consistent thing when it comes to road infrastructure. When we were in government at a federal level, we supported projects in Queensland that we didn't have to, when the Labor government were in power. We needed to prop up the Labor government because they weren't spending money on the Sunshine Coast.

Now that Labor are in government at a federal level, the LNP state government are once again having to pick up where this Labor government have stepped back. Labor doesn't care about the Sunshine Coast. I'll continue to harangue them every step of the way until they pick up their game on road and infrastructure spend.