A much-needed upgrade of bathroom facilities at C&K Tingalpa & District Kindergarten has been completed thanks to a $6,348 grant provided through the Australian Government’s Stronger Communities Programme.

Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta, said he was proud to have helped the not-for-profit community kindergarten secure the grant for local families.

“I congratulate the staff and parents at Tingalpa C&K for fundraising the money needed to cover the remainder of the project costs. It goes to show the strong community support behind Tingalpa C&K,” Mr Vasta said.

The Stronger Communities grant went toward an upgrade of the only adult toilet at the kindergarten that staff and parents can access. This has saved the kindergarten in plumber call out fees.

The kindergarten has also installed a new hot water system using the grant, which has decreased their water costs.

Brisbane City Council is getting on with the job of ensuring residents get home quicker and safer, with the final designs released for a major upgrade of the Green Camp Road corridor. 

Infrastructure Chairman Amanda Cooper said the $28 million upgrade project, which was jointly funded with the Australian Government, would deliver vital infrastructure for our growing population. 

“The Green Camp Road upgrade is a priority investment as part of our $1.3 billion package of more than 90 suburban road projects across the city, which will tackle traffic congestion while also catering for future growth,” Cr Cooper said.  

“The project focuses on two key intersections along the stretch, with works to upgrade the Tilley Road intersection, as well as improvements to the layout and alignment of the Rickertt Road intersection. 

“The section of road between Rickertt Road and Manly Road will also be widened from one lane each way to a minimum of two lanes in each direction, and three lanes northbound through the Tilley Road intersection. 

“This will increase capacity for the corridor, which is already choked with traffic during peak periods, and cut travel times by around 50 percent in the morning and 35 percent in the afternoon.”

Chandler Ward Councillor Adrian Schrinner said the project would address serious safety concerns along the stretch, and was predicted to reduce crash risks through the area by more than half. 

“Fifty-seven crashes have occurred along the corridor over the past seven years, with 46 crashes requiring medical treatment or hospitalisation,” Cr Schrinner said. 

Doboy Ward Councillor Ryan Murphy said as well as ensuring residents get home quicker and safer, the project would also ensure a safer journey for native wildlife. 

“A range of environmental features have also been incorporated into the design including fauna exclusion fencing, dedicated underpasses, rope crossings and glider poles,” Cr Murphy said. 

“Green-coloured road pavement markings and signage will also be installed to alert motorists they are entering a wildlife awareness zone.”

Federal Member for Bonner Ross Vasta said the project would mean a safer trip for those who commute along the corridor, including cyclists and pedestrians and would ease congestion, helping to get people home quicker.

“The community’s support for an upgrade to these roads has been overwhelming. I’m proud to have helped deliver this project for them,” Mr Vasta said. 

“I’m looking forward to working productively with each level of government to deliver more vital infrastructure projects like this one for our area.”

Federal Member for Bowman Andrew Laming said the collaboration between Brisbane City Council and the Australian Government would deliver huge benefits for residents. 

“This partnership between Canberra and Brisbane City Council is addressing a massive economic bottle neck for my residents as well,” Mr Laming said.   

“I’m delighted this high-quality project to expand Green Camp Road to four lanes is being delivered as promised to Brisbane City Council and Redland City residents.”

To facilitate the upgrade, a temporary closure of Tilley Road – adjacent to the Green Camp Road intersection – will be required for approximately three months. 

This closure will allow culvert installation and Tilley Road widening works to be completed within a shorter timeframe, reducing impacts to residents and businesses. 

Detour signage will be installed and the community will be given advanced warning to allow for alternative plans to be made. 

Construction is expected to commence in mid-2018 and be completed by mid-2019, weather and construction conditions permitting.

For more information on the Green Camp Road corridor upgrade visit brisbane.qld.gov.au or call Council on 3403 8888.

Local ex-service organisations can now apply for Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) grants and Grants-in-Aid, Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta said today.

“These grants help ex-service organisations provide vital advocacy services for current and former serving men and women which help veterans with their compensation claims and also ensure they get correct access to entitlements and services,” Mr Vasta said.

“More than $4 million in over 155 grants have been provided to ex-service organisations supporting veterans under these programs in 2017-18 and I encourage all ex-service organisations to apply for this round of grant funding.”

Applications for both grant programs close on Thursday, 19 April 2018 with payments to the successful applicants to be made before the end of 2018-19 financial year.

“Organisations needing assistance with online lodgement are encouraged to seek help through the Community Grants Hub,” Mr Vasta said.

“If you think you may need help with your application please call or email the Hub as soon as possible to ask for help. This will ensure any issues can be worked through in time for your application to be considered for funding.”

For information about how to apply for grants online, see the Community Grants Hub website: www.communitygrants.gov.au or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs website: www.dva.gov.au.

Support is available by phone: 1800 020 283 or by email: support@communitygrants.gov.au.

To receive an email alert when veteran and other community grants are open for applications on the Hub, visit www.communitygrants.gov.au.

Last week I spoke here on a much-needed infrastructure upgrade in my electorate, the dangerous Lindum Station Crossing intersection which I’m currently running a petition to fix. For years residents have called for a solution all while it’s been kicked around like a political football. Some people have asked why I’m bothering when fixes and funding have been promised many times before, all amounting to nothing.

There’s another major thoroughfare in my electorate that suffered from a lack of funding for years as well. Motorists were clamouring for a solution. Some local representatives put it in the too-hard basket, just as they have with the Lindum Crossing. They said it couldn’t be done. Well at the last election, I fought for and won Federal funding to go toward an upgrade of Green Camp Road between Manly Road and Rickertt Road at Wakerley.

This Federal commitment was matched by Brisbane City Council. Thanks to the efforts of Doboy Ward Councillor Ryan Murphy, Council also committed funding to upgrade the intersection of Green Camp and Tilley Road. Council then sought further Federal funding to upgrade the entire Green Camp Road Corridor. I was happy to help secure this funding, bringing the total Federal commitment to $10 million alongside Council’s $18 million investment.

Once complete, the corridor upgrade will improve safety for road users, improve the reliability of travel times, provide improved facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, and help cater for existing and future traffic demands. Green Camp Road will be widened between Manly Road and Rickertt Road, helping ease congestion at peak times.

Council are now planning and carrying out the project. Over the last year Council has carried out geotechnical investigations and land resumptions. Council is now finalising the detailed design for the project, and has invited construction tenders so that a contractor can be appointed. It’s expected that the successful contractor will be announced in the new few months. Construction is on track to start after the Commonwealth Games in mid-2018, and be completed in mid-2019, weather and construction conditions permitting.

Local residents, businesses and the broader community will be kept updated with more information as the project progresses. I will be providing more details on road closures and construction impacts that can be expected during works once they’re available. Locals can call the BCC Community Hotline on 1800 884 681 for the latest on the upgrade.

I couldn’t possibly have delivered a massive undertaking like this project on my own. Thanks must go to Council—Lord Mayor Quirk, Councillors Adrian Schrinner and Ryan Murphy—as well as my Federal colleagues, Minister for Urban Infrastructure as well as the Member for Bowman. The Commonwealth and Council have come together to make this upgrade a reality. It’s only a matter of time before this happens for the Lindum crossing as well. This is my current priority and I intend to follow through once again for my constituents.

Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta said it had been a productive and successful year for the Bonner electorate, with his constituents benefitting from a number of projects and initiatives he had fought for and delivered in the area.

Mr Vasta said he was pleased that many local projects he had delivered Federal funding for had been completed this year:

• Wynnum Manly Seagulls Clubhouse dressing sheds upgrade ($400,000);

• Manly Bowls Club second green enclosure ($1.15m);

• Mt Gravatt Bowls Club new surface and shade system ($178,000);

• Wynnum Manly Men’s Shed installation and fitting out of new sheds ($100,000);

• Mt Gravatt Men’s Shed solar panels and facility upgrades ($22,612);

• Eastside Community Church fencing, shade sails and path upgrade ($20,000);

• Hope Foundation new equipment and supplies ($70,000).

Mr Vasta said works were now underway, or were soon expected to be underway, for several more important infrastructure projects in Bonner:

• Rickertt Rd-Green Camp Rd intersection upgrade ($10m): construction expected to begin mid to late 2018;

• M1-Gateway Motorway merge upgrade at Eight Mile Plains: construction to begin early 2018 after the Commonwealth Games;

• NBN rollout: over one-third complete in Bonner, with all premises to have access by 2020;

• Moreton Bay Discovery Centre extension to house Moreton Bay Discovery Museum displays ($450,000);

• Australian Academy of Martial Arts Karate-Do Club Dojo training hall ($185,000).

Mr Vasta also secured funding for the following projects under Round 3 of the Stronger Communities Programme:

• Moreton Bay Girl Guides flooring upgrades ($8,901);

• Silky Oaks Children’s Haven multi-purpose community hub area makeover ($9,475);

• C&K Tingalpa & District Kindergarten toilet upgrades ($2,574);

• Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia Belmont gravel car park upgrade ($20,000);

• Manly Community Kindergarten sensory garden ($2,521);

• Wynnum General Gordon Community Pre-School and Kindergarten outdoor play space upgrade ($6,750);

• EDit (Ex-Defence Integration Team)’s work helping local ex-defence personnel back into the workforce ($6,000);

• Mt Gravatt Men’s Shed new awnings over verandah ($6,630).

In 2017 Mr Vasta launched the inaugural Bonner Volunteer Awards as well as the inaugural Bonner Bright Star Awards, both of which attracted many nominations and helped recognise outstanding local volunteers and local students in the electorate.

Mr Vasta held the first Bonner Seniors’ Expo to provide a helpful and entertaining event for older people who live in the electorate. The Expo was a success with hundreds of locals attending on the day.

Mr Vasta’s Coffee with a Cop community safety events also proved popular, with locals benefitting from the opportunity to chat face-to-face with local police and other organisations about keeping their homes and businesses protected from crime.

Mr Vasta said fixing the Lindum intersection would be one of his top priorities in 2018, and encouraged locals to sign his petition online. His petition, to be presented to Federal Parliament in February next year, has attracted over 2,500 signatures in a short amount of time.

He said he would continue to fight for important projects in his electorate and thanked those who had helped him deliver vital funding for the area.

Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta today encouraged people to get in quick before the last set of tickets available for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (GC2018) sold out, including for events being held in the Bonner electorate.

“There are a number of tickets still available, so get on the GC2018 website now to make sure you get yours,” Mr Vasta said.

“The Games is our biggest sporting event this decade. I’m thrilled that two of the biggest events—track cycling and shooting—will be held right here in Bonner.”

The GC2018 track cycling competition will take place at the Anna Meares Velodrome at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.

“The Australian Government contributed funding to deliver this state-of-the-art velodrome, and I’m proud of the jobs the project created, how it helped grow our local economy, and the long-lasting legacy it will leave for our community,” Mr Vasta said.

The GC2018 clay target, full bore, pistol and small bore shooting events will take place at the Belmont Shooting Complex in Belmont. Mr Vasta previously received a certificate of appreciation for assisting the Complex in getting state funding to upgrade their manual targets to electronic targets in time for the Games.

“I’m thrilled the new targets were installed in time for sufficient testing before the Games take place,” Mr Vasta said.

“There are going to be many great events on in Bonner next year so don’t miss out on your opportunity to grab some tickets to see the best of the best right here on our doorstep!” 

The final release of GC2018 tickets is available now at www.gc2018.com.

Local small business owners learned how they can win a contract as part of the Federal Government’s $200 billion Integrated Investment Program, during a Defence Industry Forum hosted yesterday by Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta MP.

“The Government has allocated $200 billion over the next 10 years to build up our Defence Force capability and grow our local defence industry,” Mr Vasta said.

“This is a great opportunity for small and medium businesses to enter the defence market and help create more jobs and grow our local economy.”

Mr Rodney Love, business adviser from the Centre for Defence Industry Capability (CDIC), shared advice for business owners looking to start out in defence, and the services available to help them in the process.

“You need to be able to provide a service or product that can meet the Defence Department’s current or future needs. You must also make sure your company fully complies with the Department’s standards and tender process,” Mr Love said.

Mr Love encouraged interested business owners to contact the CDIC for further information. 

“The CDIC provides frank and fearless advice about whether expanding into defence would be appropriate for you, and the best defence opportunities available to you,” Mr Love said.

Mr David Briggs, Chief Risk Officer from NIOA, and Mr Terry Waterson, Operations Manager from BMD Constructions, shared their advice on winning a contract with Defence.

“You have to offer the best product for the best value. Most importantly, you have to be prepared to lose a tender,” Mr Briggs said.

“The CDIC will let you know straight up if your product is suitable for Defence, or how you can alter it to suit Defence’s needs.”

Mr Waterson said businesses should do their research on what work Defence is doing or has coming up.

“Find out about opportunities early on and pre-prepare. Don’t start the application process when a tender opens—know about the tender beforehand so you have more time to put forward the best application possible,” Mr Waterson said.

For more information on working with Defence and current opportunities available, visit the CDIC website.

Today I want to focus on young high achievers I’ve met recently from my electorate of Bonner.

I recently had the pleasure of presenting young sports stars from my electorate with their Local Sporting Champions awards. The Local Sporting Champions program is an Australian Government initiative that provides $500 grants to young sportsmen and women aged 12 to 18 to help them cover the costs of attending state, national, and international sports championships.

There were 35 successful applicants from Bonner for the latest Local Sporting Champions round. Five of these sports stars attended my presentation ceremony last week:

• Ella O’Grady from Wynnum North, representing Metropolitan East School at the Football State Championships. Ella one day hopes to play for the Matildas;

• Luisa Gauci from Chandler, representing Queensland at the Youth Women’s Nationals baseball championship. Luisa is the first Brisbane girl to compete in the national Kookaburras team, and was recently in Korea representing Australia;

• Mitchell Torrens from Manly West, participating at the BMX QLD State Championships at the junior elite level;

• Ethan Bennetts from Carindale, representing Queensland Athletics at the Australian Athletics Championships. Ethan is a gold medallist in the hammer throw event and intends to represent Australia at the Olympics one day;

• Erin Hopgood from Wynnum West, representing Redlands City Gym Sports at the TRP State Age Championships.

The Government is proud to support our talented young sports stars and help them achieve their sporting dreams. Good luck to our Local Sporting Champions at their upcoming championships! I encourage other eligible sportsmen and women in Bonner to apply online.

I also recently got to meet some outstanding language students from Mansfield State High School. Eight of these students have received scholarships to travel to Kobe, Japan this month. I also wished bon voyage to French language students heading off to Rouen on exchange. Congratulations to these excellent students, I was happy to present them with Aussie flags and other goodies they can take with them on their trip.

Government and Independent schools in Bonner are each set to receive a boost in funding by 2021 under the Turnbull Government’s student-centred Gonski funding plan that recently passed Parliament.

Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta, said the new funding was part of a $7.78 billion funding boost for Bonner government and Independent schools over the next decade, which will see a $234 average increase next year for every student and around $361 on average extra for each student each year by 2021.

Catholic schools in Queensland will get an additional $2.84b under the plan over the next decade that their education authorities will distribute to their schools.

“We’re delivering a school system that’s entirely focused on students and what they need to be their best,” Mr Vasta said.

“We’re delivering a new funding system that ensures every student gets the resources they need, no matter their background or where they live. We’re tying that extra funding to the activities that are proven to improve the quality of our schools. That means more resources for one-on-one time with teachers and new or existing initiatives such as specialist teachers or targeted intervention programs.”

“We’ve appointed an independent National School Resourcing Board to ensure the funding model is focussed on supporting students and holding governments to account for the money they receive and spend.”

“Our additional funding will start to flow next year, giving schools and communities the certainty they need to plan and ensure that every student gets the support they need to succeed.”

“Schools and students that need the most additional resources will get the biggest funding increases in the fastest time period so that everyone will get their fair share of funding from the Commonwealth.”

“Along with support from Gonski Review panellists Ken Boston, Kathryn Greiner and David Gonski himself, the Government’s plan has been backed by independent think tanks including The Grattan Institute and The Mitchell Institute, as well as schools, families and educators such as former head of the Australian Education Union Dianne Foggo.”

“Our focus now is building on our teaching quality reforms through the work of a panel of education experts focused entirely on how schools should be using the extra funding we’re delivering.”

Further details on the Turnbull Government’s Quality Schools reform package are available at www.education.gov.au/qualityschools

This month saw the release of plans for the Green Camp Road corridor upgrade at Wakerley. I’ve spoken many times here about this project. That’s because it’s such a huge win for my electorate.

Green Camp Road carries 30,000 vehicles every day: this part of the road network will no longer grind to a halt at peak times thanks to this vital project. The upcoming works to widen Green Camp Road to at least four lanes between Rickertt Road and Manly Road, as well as upgrade the Tilley Road and Rickertt Road intersections, will drastically improve peak hour commute times for thousands of my constituents.

Earlier this month I joined Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, and local councillors Adrian Schrinner and Ryan Murphy, to unveil details of the project. Brisbane City Council is investing $18 million to tackle traffic congestion along Green Camp Road.

Thanks to a further $10 million contribution from the Coalition Government, the scope of the project has been increased to also include capacity and safety upgrades at the Rickertt Road intersection.

Construction is expected to start in mid-2018 and be complete in late-2019. It will include:

• Two through-lanes in each direction on Green Camp Road from Manly Road to approximately 180 metres past the Rickertt Road intersection;

• Three through-lanes on the Green Camp Road northbound carriageway at the Tilley Road intersection;

• Signalisation at the Green Camp Road and Tilley Road intersection;

• Tilley Road intersection approach widened with one left-turn lane and one right-turn lane;

• Two through-lanes on Rickertt Road in each direction over a distance of 200 metres from the Green Camp Road intersection;

• Rickertt Road intersection approach widened with a separate left-turn lane and two right-turn lanes;

• New on-road cycling lanes and an off-road shared pathway; and

• Raising Green Camp Road and upgrading culverts to improve drainage and flood immunity.

The Green Camp Road corridor upgrade will reduce motorists’ commute times by up to 50 per cent in the mornings, and 35 per cent in the afternoons. It will cut down long peak hour queues on Rickertt Road and Tilley Road, and reduce congestion not only on Green Camp Road, but on arterial roads across the eastern road network.
More importantly, it will deliver safety improvements for thousands of commuters who travel through the area.

I applaud Brisbane City Council’s vision and commitment to deliver this infrastructure that will help meet the needs of future generations.

I also thank the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, the Hon Paul Fletcher, and Member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, for their work securing the Federal Government’s additional $10 million investment.

This upgrade wouldn’t have been possible without valuable feedback from the public. That’s why I’m encouraging my constituents to share their ideas for other vital upgrades in our area by filling out my online local infrastructure survey.

I appreciate their comments so far, which will help secure more important projects for Bonner.