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- 5 December 2003
Princes Highway Upgrade
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Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE (Bega) [11.27 p.m.]: On many occasions in this House I have drawn attention to the condition of the Princes Highway. It was pleasing that the Minister for Roads informed the House earlier this week about improvements being made to the Pacific Highway, but no-one could argue against the fact that this Government is walking away from the population south of Sydney in providing a safe highway. I acknowledge at the outset that upgrading works will not totally prevent fatalities from occurring, but this Government should at least begin to reduce the carnage associated with traffic on the Princes Highway.
Over the past month there has been a dramatic and incredibly alarming increase in fatalities in the Shoalhaven district. According to the Southern Regional Road Safety Profile conducted by the Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA] over a four-year period from 1997 to 2001, there have been 330 fatalities in the entire southern region, of which 90 occurred in the local government areas of Bega, Eurobodalla and the Shoalhaven. Obviously, numerous further fatalities have occurred since then. My plea to this Government is to begin to fix the problem. The Minister for Roads professes to be a future premier and a future leader of the Labor Party, but the reality is that he has shown no leadership on Princes Highway issues. When a fatality occurs, its impact on the local community is dramatic. We are not talking about small numbers of lives lost; we are talking about hundreds. Only recently the Ulladulla community came together to mourn the loss of a young person who unfortunately was the victim of yet another accident on the Princes Highway.
The Princes Highway is very different from the Hume Highway, which also runs through the southern region. The statistics from the 1997-2001 profile show that of the 64 fatal crashes on the Princess Highway only six were on divided roads, that is, in metropolitan Wollongong; 15 were at intersections; and the remaining 43 were on two-way undivided roads. There would be little difference in today's statistics. The traffic flow on the Princes Highway further north along the coast is considerably higher. On a per capita basis, most fatal crashes on the Princess Highway occur in the southern region local government area. Of the 64 fatal crashes in the southern region, 16 per cent occurred in the Bega Valley and 16 per cent in Eurobodalla. Most crashes happen on undivided sections of the highway. I commend ABC Illawarra and ABC South-East radio stations for their initiative in running a campaign over the next two weeks in an endeavour to make parliamentarians aware of the state of the Hume Highway in that region.
If capital funding is not injected into improving the Hume Highway there will be more fatalities. Perhaps the Government will then realise that extra funding is necessary for the highway. There is no doubt that $200 million needs to be spent on road improvement south of Nowra. The community has expressed agitation about the condition of sections of the highway. I refer to areas such as the Turlinjah turn-off to Tuross Heads, the area south of Narooma through Dignams Creek and Victoria Creek, Brogo bridge and Pambula bridge. Funding is needed in those areas now. I have called on the Minister constantly to put the five-year highway program on the table for the community to digest. The high casualty rate on that section of the highway must be addressed. The Government cannot continue to ignore the statistics. People will be killed on the highway during the holiday season, which is rapidly approaching. The honourable member for South Coast and I have called on the Government to reduce the speed limit on dangerous sections of the highway to 80 kilometres per hour as an interim measure until funding is made available to improve those areas.
Mr BRYCE GAUDRY (Newcastle—Parliamentary Secretary) [11.32 a.m.]: The honourable member for Bega has said that he brought this matter to the attention of the Minister for Roads. I hope he will co-operate with the Minister in resolving these matters. As he said, we are moving into the holiday season and there will be increased pressure on the roads. It is acknowledged that there are danger spots on all highways. This is a time for people to drive even more carefully than they normally do, and to drive according to road conditions. We would all like dual carriageways on every road between here and the borders. That issue is a matter for national highway allocation and planning and will be addressed as the State budget permits.
As the Minister said recently, an enormous amount of Federal and State funding has been allocated to the Pacific Highway. That has attracted increased heavy vehicle usage. That does not specifically transfer down the Pacific Highway to the coast. Rather, it follows the Hume Highway. That does not mean the matters raised by the honourable member for Bega are not serious. Every member representing a South Coast electorate should continue to advocate for their communities and for the Government to address matters such as those raised by the honourable member for Bega.
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