Appropriation Bill: Estimates Committee
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jan 23 2009
2008 >>

Mr LAWLOR (Southport—ALP) (3.01 pm): I support the report of Estimates Committee F which examined the proposed expenditure set out in the Appropriation Bill 2008 for units within the portfolios of
the Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations and the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation. Firstly I want to thank the committee’s research director, Rachelle Stacey, and executive assistants Margaret Telford and Angela Curran, the Hansard reporters, and ministerial and departmental staff—all of whom were efficient, conscientious and pleasant. I also thank my fellow committee members and chair, Jason O’Brien, who conducted the hearing with fairness and efficiency.


Department of transport budget highlights include the continued progress of projects as part of the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program, and key projects there include the
$204.5 million towards construction of the northern busway from the Royal Children’s Hospital to Kedron; $33.7 million towards the construction of cycle links in south-east Queensland; $13.6 million
towards the construction and design of projects as part of the TransLink station upgrade program; $60.3 million towards the construction of the Eastern Busway corridor connection; $50 million towards construction of the Eastern Busway from the Princess Alexandra Hospital to Buranda; $123.9 million towards the construction of the Eastern Busway connection from Buranda to Coorparoo; an additional$40 million over four years to address increased levels of congestion through programs and strategies
to alter travel behaviour, spread peak hour demand and to promote walking and cycling; an additional $168.4 million over the next four years for additional public transport services as part of the TransLink network program; continued implementation of the program of work arising from the 2006 Queensland Road Safety Summit; and $7.3 million towards the construction of new recreational boating facilities.Issues considered by the committee included investment in rail infrastructure as part of the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan, including duplication of course of the Gold Coast rail and the Gold Coast rapid transit system, announcements about which have just been recently made and also of course which directly affect the electorate of Southport.

In the portfolio of the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation budget highlights included a review of the Queensland climate change strategy, ClimateSmart 2050; $30 million for the Queensland Climate Change Fund to fund new climate change initiatives; and the introduction of the ClimateSmart Home Service in January 2009 which will help Queenslanders to monitor and reduce their energy use, electricity costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Other issues that were considered by the committee included monitoring the water quality in Moreton Bay, the South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Strategy from 2007 to 2012 and also the Clean Coal Fund.


It is interesting to note the statements of reservation. I think the opposition must have a pile about so high in its office which it uses from year to year. All it does is fill in the year and the particular department and the minister and then it just shoots them out. I suppose it saves a lot of thinking, but it just goes to show again that this is the best resourced and laziest opposition in Queensland history. I was also interested to hear the comment by the member for Gympie about how dreadful it was that there was not enough time during the estimates process for the opposition to ask questions and so on and the fact that Queensland does not have an upper house. Of course, in the days of the old coalition
government—which he probably yearns for I suppose—not only was there no upper house but there was no Public Accounts Committee and no estimates hearing process whatsoever.

Mrs Miller: And no FOI.

Mr LAWLOR: And no FOI. The simple fact of the matter is that, compared to the bad old days of the coalition government, this government compares very favourably as a very transparent government.
I commend this report to the House.

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