With just a few days to go before the Federal Election, Jimboomba Times asked the Wright candidates what they have identified as the number one infrastructure priority in the electorate and how they plan to address it?
Here are their answers in order of their ballot paper appearance:
Pietro Agnoletto – Greens
The Greens have backed calls from the Lets Get Moving Logan campaign for clean, affordable public transport for south-west Logan/Scenic Rim areas with a $5m pledge to fund the business case for a passenger rail service from Salisbury to Beaudesert.
This would include new stations at Hillcrest, Boronia Heights, Greenbank, New Beith, Flagstone and Undullah. We’re calling on other parties to match this commitment of funding the next step of the process.
People in Logan and other suburban and outer-urban communities like Beaudesert and Jimboomba deserve affordable, world class public transport. People are spending too much time stuck in traffic, which is bad for people and bad for the planet.
We need to give people a choice to leave their cars at home. Public transport funding has suffered years of neglect. Outer-urban areas like the City of Logan and Scenic Rim Regional Council have been left behind, which just entrenches disadvantage by leaving people without accessible public transport.
Rod Smith – Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
The greatest infrastructure need in Wright is the roll out of high speed internet. At the moment some areas are served reasonably well while other towns have very slow internet, almost third world standard.
We need quality internet so micro businesses can flourish. Plus a lot of anger is being generated as some estates/ locations are getting FTTP while the estate/street adjoining might only have FTTN.
One Nation would like to have a uniform protocol for the rolling out of the NBN that is transparent and fair. More money is thus needed for infrastructure and this would come by bringing government to heel and slashing the perks, salaries and super that is bankrupting the nation.
It should never be lucrative to work for the government, paid with money that has been collected from small business and wage earners. Large corporations should pay tax here, no excuses.
Scott Buchholz – LNP
A strong telecommunications network is a key infrastructure need in my electorate. I will continue to meet this need locally with the roll-out of the NBN and the installation of new mobile phone towers.
As part of a re-elected Coalition government, I will deliver two new mobile base stations to service Greenbank, New Beith, Flagstone and Undullah.
NBN infrastructure, through my advocacy, will continue to be rolled out across the electorate, building on the roll-out I have already been part of bringing to the region.
About 2200 homes and businesses are ready for NBN service in Logan Village and construction is under way to connect 5200 premises through fibre to the node technology at Cedar Grove, Cedar Vale, Jimboomba, Mundoolun and South Maclean.
Those suburbs are expected to be ready for connection by the end of the year. The NBN is up and running across the electorate, with 8000 homes and businesses ready for service in Wright.
Of those, 4000 premises have already opted to be connected. By 2018, 40,000 premises will be ready for connection or under construction in Wright.
Allistair Smith – Labor
We must get our broadband infrastructure right to be competitive in the region and globally.
The current member and the Coalition government have failed Wright when it comes to NBN.
The NBN roll out for much of the electorate has not even started and what is available for residents it is second rate.
A Labor government will scale up the rollout of fibre-to-the-premises and phase out the rollout of fibre-to-the-node. I look forward to being part of a Labor government that delivers digital infrastructure that will take us forward into the 21st Century.
John Cox
The biggest infrastructure change is jobs, if the government encouraged companies to employ elderly, and middle aged people and gained public awareness of the fact that these companies are elderly friendly and deserve your patronage, this system would get a lot more mid-aged people into employment.
Barry Austin
Response not received.
Mark Stone
We see an endless push for upgrades of the roads but nothing is done in relation to the train line which would reduce traffic and the need to continually upgrade the highway; allow people to travel safely to and from work without the risk of distraction causing accidents; and provide employment and financial investment in the area.
Rail transport throughout the area of the electorate of Wright could also reduce other congestion other areas than in the Lockyer Valley and help residents in Jimboomba and Beaudesert if a railway line was included in the area.
