30 Jul 2019 Estimates—Transport and Main Roads 1 TUESDAY, 30 JULY 2019 _______________ ESTIMATES—TRANSPORT AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE—TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS EST IMATES—TR AN SP ORT AND M AIN R O ADS Estimate Committee Members Mr SR King (Chair) Mr TJ Sorensen Mr CE Boyce Mr RI Katter Mr BJ Mellish Mrs JR Miller _______________ Members in Attendance Mr SJ Minnikin Ms SL Bolton Mr MC Berkman Mr MJ Hart Mr J-P H Langbroek _______________ In Attendance Hon. MC Bailey, Minister for Transport and Main Roads Ms T Van Alphen, Chief of Staff Department of Transport and Main Roads Mr N Scales, Director-General Queensland Rail Limited Mr N Easy, Chief Executive Officer _______________ The committee met at 9.00 am. CHAIR: Good morning. I declare this hearing of estimates for the Transport and Public Works Committee open. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which our parliament stands. My name is Shane King, member for Kurwongbah and chair of the committee. The other committee members here today are Mr Ted Sorensen, member for Hervey Bay and deputy chair; Mr Colin Boyce, member for Callide; Mr Robbie Katter, member for Traeger; Mr Bart Mellish, member for Aspley; and Mrs Jo-Ann Miller, member for Bundamba. The committee has granted leave for non-committee members to ask questions at the hearing today and so other members may be present over the course of the proceedings. Today the committee will consider the Appropriation Bill 2019 and the estimates for the committee's areas of responsibility. I remind everyone present that any person may be excluded from the proceedings at my discretion as chair or by order of the committee. The committee has authorised its hearing to be broadcast live, televised and photographed. Copies of the committee's Conditions for Broadcasters of Proceedings are available from the secretariat. I ask that mobile phones or other electronic devices by switched off or turned to silent mode. Please be advised that photography and video recording of the proceedings by officials or members of the public is prohibited. Also I remind you that food and drink other than water are not permitted in the chamber. 2 Estimates—Transport and Main Roads 30 Jul 2019 The committee will examine the portfolio areas in the following order: Transport and Main Roads from 9 am to 11 am and from 11.30 am to 1.15 pm; Housing and Public Works, Digital Technology and Sport from 2.15 pm to 4.15 pm and from 4.45 pm to 6.30 pm. The committee will now examine the proposed expenditure in the Appropriation Bill 2019 for the portfolio areas of the Minister for Transport and Main Roads. The committee will examine the minister's portfolio until 1.15 pm and will suspend proceedings during this time for a break from 11.00 am to 11.30 am. I acknowledge the visiting members present Mr Steve Minnikin, member for Chatsworth, and Ms Sandy Bolton, member for Noosa. I remind those present today that the committee's proceedings are proceedings of the parliament and are subject to the standing rules and orders of the parliament. It is important that questions and answers remain relevant and succinct. The same rules for questions that apply in parliament also apply in this hearing. I refer to standing orders 112 and 115 in this regard. Questions should be brief and relate to one issue and should not contain lengthy or subjective preambles, argument or opinion. I intend to guide proceedings today so that relevant issues can be explored fully without imposing artificial time limits and to ensure there is adequate opportunity to address questions from government and non-government members of the committee. On behalf of the committee I welcome the minister, the director-general, departmental officers and members of the public to the hearing. For the benefit of Hansard, I ask departmental officers to identify themselves the first time they answer a question referred to them by the minister or director-general. I now declare the proposed expenditure for the portfolio area of Transport and Main Roads open for examination. The question before the committee is— That the proposed expenditure be agreed to. Minister, if you wish you may make an opening statement of no more than five minutes. Mr BAILEY: Thank you, Chair. Good morning, Chair, committee members, other members and officials. Our latest Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program will deliver a fourth record roads transport program: $23 billion will be invested over four years creating more than 21,500 jobs. $14½ billion from this program focuses on regional Queensland, supporting 13½ thousand regional jobs. This record investment adds to the 207,000 jobs already created under the Palaszczuk Labor government. Almost two years into our second term we have delivered 56 of the 67 road and transport election commitments already. From the Smithfield bypass and the Haughton River upgrade to the sealing of Cape York, thousands of people are turning up to work today because of this Palaszczuk Labor government. Compare that to the LNP's cuts during its term: $600 million of roads funding, more than 14,000 workers sacked and plans to sell off our publicly owned assets like the ports of Townsville and Gladstone. Last week I joined the member for Mount Ommaney at the first sod turn for the $80 million Sumners Road interchange upgrade after the LNP cut that congestion busting project. Construction is underway on the M1, the Ipswich Motorway, the Mackay ring-road, the Peninsular Development Road, the Warrego Highway and, of course, the Bruce Highway upgrade program. We are building the $812 million highway upgrade at the Sunshine Motorway to Caloundra Road on the Bruce Highway and in Rockhampton we have started the $157 million northern access upgrade to be followed by the duplication of the Capricorn Highway to Gracemere. Cairns Port is undergoing a transformational $127 million development to unlock new tourism opportunities and 2,700 new Far North Queensland jobs. In Townsville we are delivering the $193 million port channel upgrade with the Townsville ring-road stage 5 to come and at Gladstone, Rockhampton and Bundaberg we have seen another record trade year with $124 million tonnes through those ports. The Palaszczuk government has unveiled a half-a-billion-dollar plan to boost mineral freight exports on the Mount Isa line. Freight charges will be discounted and a new container terminal built at the port of Townsville to support North Queensland's resource industry. This investment comes after the Queensland Rail task force of 400 staff restored the Mount Isa line in only 12 weeks and improved freight travel times after long sections were washed away during the North Queensland floods. We are building a better M1 from Brisbane to the border with a $2.3 billion investment for four upgrades. Major projects, Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill and Varsity Lakes to Tugun, are ready to roll as soon as the current two M1 upgrades finish next year. Road safety continues to be a key priority. Our last budget secured an extra $205 million, boosting our road safety spend to $900 million over the next four years. 30 Jul 2019 Estimates—Transport and Main Roads 3 Our government is investing in public transport following the years of botch-ups and cuts by the LNP. Yesterday Queensland Rail restored 430 weekly services and a consistent Monday to Friday timetable after the LNP failed to start training any train drivers in 2014 and cut 48 drivers over its term, directly impacting the events of October 2016. Since 4 October 2016, 177 drivers and 314 guards have been trained and are working on the network. A further 74 trainee drivers and 70 trainee guards are currently in the system. This is the largest driver recruitment campaign in Queensland Rail history. A further 59 existing three-car sets have been upgraded to six-car sets, meaning in total 200,000 extra seats have been added from yesterday. For the second year in a row we have created record patronage on our public transport system in South-East Queensland with a record 189 million trips— one of which I enjoyed this morning on the way in—seven million extra trips on the previous financial year, a 3.7 per cent increase after a 3.1 per cent increase the year before. The Palaszczuk government is delivering the latest technology for commuters, a $371 million smart ticketing project that will allow Queenslanders and visitors all over our state to use the same system, using their smart phone, smart watch, their credit or their debit card on board, just like they do in Chicago, Vancouver and in New York. We are backing Queensland boaties too thanks to a more than $100 million allocation for boat infrastructure and dredging over the next four years, as well as our War on Wrecks task force, cleaning up our waterways with more than 250 sunken vessels dealt with. The Palaszczuk government is building on its achievements, creating jobs and delivering the transport, road and marine infrastructure that Queenslanders need. CHAIR: We will now start questioning. I call the member for Chatsworth. Mr MINNIKIN: My first few questions will be asked to the director-general of TMR. Good morning, Mr Scales. Reference is made to the departmental SDS portfolio overview, agencies and services, specifically the commercialised business unit, RoadTek, as well as pages 40, 41, 42, construction and maintenance services. Can the director-general advise if he is aware of any investigation into allegations of fraud within the TMR RoadTek Brisbane operations, including fraudulent charging of labour and plant to projects that were not taking place at the time specified? Mr Scales: Good morning, Chairman and committee.