Labor has delivered $2.3b in new M1 funding

PEOPLE want to see projects and policy from their politicians so it was sad to see LNP Deputy Leader Tim Mander’s personal attacks on me (Letters, June 6) to distract from the LNP’s appalling M1 and rail record when the LNP were in power.

The fact is not a single new dollar was spent by the LNP on the M1 when the LNP held government with every Gold Coast seat. In stark contrast, the Palaszczuk Labor Government has now confirmed four M1 upgrades with two underway at Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes and the Gateway Merge and two more to come straight after to six lane the M1 to the border in this year’s State Budget. That’s more than $2.3 billion in new funding delivered under our government.

This was no thanks to LNP Leader Deb Frecklington who refused to stand up to her LNP Canberra mates and demand a fair funding deal.

Mr Mander continues to hookwink everyone by pretending the Coomera Connector will cost a paltry $250 million when it has been estimated by the department to cost 10 times that at $2.4 billion.

He might like to explain why the LNP stopped it progressing when he was a Newman Government Cabinet Minister in contrast to the Palaszczuk Labor Government’s gazettal of two new sections from Nerang to Coomera and Coomera to Stapylton.

Even MP John-Paul Langbroek let the cat out of the bag to the Gold Coast Bulletin last November that “we didn’t do as much for the Gold Coast in our term as we could have”.

Labor started and finished the Exit 54 Coomera interchange and we’ll do the same at the Oxenford Exit 57 interchange this term. We’re also doing the necessary preparation work to upgrade other interchanges after the LNP could not even manage that when they were in government.

The LNP would like us all to forget that not a single train driver commenced training in the last year of the LNP in government. It’s been left to Labor to clean up their mess and we’ve now seen 78 drivers trained and working, 66 being trained and more than 60 more to deliver the pipeline of skilled workers for the future.

And, of course, it was Labor that built both light rail stages and duplicated the rail line between Coomera and Helensvale in time for the Commonwealth Games.

It’s time the LNP stopped their relentless negativity, apologised for letting down Gold Coast residents and starting being positive with ideas and policies instead of personal attacks. MARK BAILEY, MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS