Page 1773 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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It is a travesty that 10 years on from when the road should have been commenced, and about seven years on from when the road should have been completed, we are here in this chamber lamenting the problems which have dogged so many Gungahlin residents over the last 10 years with regard to infrastructure and transport, due to the complete kerfuffle which is the Gungahlin Drive extension.
What this motion notes is that it was meant to cost $53 million in 2001. It is probably going to cost in excess of $200 million. It was meant to be done in 2004. It is now not going to be done until 2012. There have been a litany of problems associated with this road, and of course the people of Gungahlin have been severely inconvenienced because of this government’s inability to manage the project properly.
The Gungahlin Drive extension is iconic of the Labor Party and iconic of this government. The icons include the delay in the commencement, the mismanagement of the contracts, the years of delay in construction, the tremendous cost blow-outs, the disregard for the tens of thousands of Gungahlin residents, the bridge collapse and the millions and millions of hours of lost productivity caused by the fact that so many people in Canberra are caught on that road morning after morning, afternoon after afternoon. It is a disgrace, that road, and it is such a shame that 10 years on from when that road was announced we are still here in this place lamenting the poor infrastructure for the people of Gungahlin.
Gungahlin did not spring up overnight. It is not like Gungahlin just happened. Gungahlin has been planned for decades. This road, in fact, has been planned for decades; yet this government is unable to deliver it in a decade. It is amazing, and it is a complete disregard of and a demonstration of the contempt they hold for the people of Gungahlin.
The GDE as an icon of this government, I think, is pretty well known. I think you just need to say “GDE” and people automatically associate that with this government. They associate it with the Chief Minister, they associate it with Mr Corbell, they associate it with Mr Hargreaves, they associate it with the cabinet.
This road is a travesty. I think even the government knows this. People tell me that they have gone and chatted with Labor MLAs as they have done the odd street stall, and secretly they agree. They whisper: “Look, I agree. It’s been a bit of a kerfuffle. We’ll fix it at some point.”
I think the GDE is so toxic for this government, so incredibly toxic, that next year, in June, they are going to be out there, revealing this great new dual carriageway and they are going to rename it. I will say it now. It is going to be a very cynical exercise indeed. They know the term “GDE” is so toxic that they are going to want to erase any evidence of the term “GDE”.
Mr Hanson: What are they going to call it?
MR COE: Who knows what they are going to call it. Maybe it will be the Jon Stanhope Parkway, maybe it will be the Rosemary Follett Parkway. Who knows? But
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