ADJOURNMENT

Ms SWANSON (Paterson) (19:55): I have spoken about the MI extension to Raymond Terrace many times in this place but, after years of talking about this road, I am absolutely delighted to stand here today and talk about something entirely different: it is finished, it is open and it is making a difference. For nearly 15 years, the people of Paterson were promised this road.

There were announcements, there were plans and there were delays, but the road simply did not get built. Back in 2018, I stood in this parliament and said this was a junction of national importance. In 2019, I called it the 'last choke point on the eastern seaboard between Sydney and Brisbane'.

And in 2021, I said it should have been done 15 years earlier. I said it many times, not just on those three occasions. I was not wrong then, and the people of my community were certainly not wrong, to demand it.

We had local commuters trying to get to work, parents trying to get their kids to school, truckies trying to get freight to the Port of Newcastle and up sand down that M1 from Sydney to Brisbane, and families trying to get through Hexham without sitting in kilometres of traffic. It was a nightmare, and anyone who has ever driven that stretch of road knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Then, leading into the 2022 election, I worked with the then shadow minister for infrastructure, Catherine King, and Andrew Giles, who was assisting in that portfolio at the time.We stood at that road and said that, if we were elected, we would build the road, not only build it but fast track it and get it done, and that is what we have done. We became the government in 2022.

We fulfilled our promise and we have delivered that road. The M1 extension between Black Hill and Raymond Terrace is now open, 15 kilometres of brand new motorway, 11 bridges, more than four million hours of construction. We have delivered it 18 months early and on budget.

Let me say that again: we promised it from opposition. We were elected to government. We delivered it early and on budget.

Now I know there are plenty of people in this place who like to talk about infrastructure, but I reckon the real test is when you can make these things not just a press release reality but you can drive on the road, and that is what is happening when people actually get behind the wheel and drive on it. This is what I'm hearing from my community. One local told me, 'It's saving me 45 minutes a day to travel to and from work.' Another local who lives in Raymond Terrace where my office is—and I've experienced it too—said, 'We've gotten rid of the absolute wild traffic jam through the terrace every afternoon.' People are telling me it's quicker, easier, less stressful.

One person describes it as 'easy, stress free with no trucks' and another said, 'It is a seamless drive.' These are the things that matter to people. We've even had a new local form of tourism pop up, where people are just going for a drive on the new road because it is such a pleasant and interesting experience. Forty-five minutes a day is time back with your family.

It's time to have dinner together, to help the kids with homework, or simply get home without spending that part of your evening—or the morning for that matter—sitting in peak hour traffic. When we would get heavy holiday traffic going to our beautiful part of the world in Port Stephens or travelling north to magnificent Queensland, it was a car park. Our community was really bearing the brunt of it.

Now the journey is so much better. We've just had school holidays and it was astonishing to see the traffic moving. This is what delivering infrastructure is about.

It's not just about concrete and bridges—although they are magnificent things in my opinion—but about making people's lives better. It's about stimulating the economy. It's about productivity.

It's about keeping Australia moving. Let's not forget the workers who made that happen. More than 2,700 workers contributed to the project, with 70 per cent of that workforce coming from the Hunter—Hunter locals—and 99 apprentices fulfilled their trade or part of it on the job.

This is a magnificent result. It is significant investment in local jobs, local skills and our future workforce. I just want to shout-out to my state colleagues who were part of this as well.

We really have achieved something that generations to come will be pleased for. House adjourned at 20:00