I want to touch briefly on two matters. Members will recall some time ago I raised the matter of Australian 4WD Hire and the shonky practices of that operation. I want to report to members that despite being referred to the ACCC and to others, Australian 4WD Hire continues with its shonky practices and my office continues to receive reports of complaints of what I believe to be unscrupulous, unfair and potentially illegal practices. I will keep the House and the public informed. In the meantime, stay away from Australian 4WD Hire. There are many other places that people can go to in order to hire a vehicle if they want to see this great state and this great country.

I want to turn to another matter locally and that is the development of what is known as Albion Exchange at the Albion Railway Station, a transit oriented development. I heard the member for Morayfield talk about parking and the great deal he will be able to get for residents in his area in relation to parking at a railway station. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said under this Labor government for the residents in the Albion area. Despite the Albion Railway Station redevelopment being, in the words of Minister Bailey, ‘supersized’ not one additional car park is to be provided. What is to happen is a 30-storey residential tower, a 23-storey residential tower and an office building of between 12 and 14 storeys are all to be placed on that site, increasing the load on traffic in that area, increasing the number of accidents that I believe will occur in what is already a dangerous intersection without proper development and planning approval.

On 15 October the council indicated in a 13-page letter to the development organisation Geon that the application is unsupported. What is more concerning is that this minister is selling off this land. He is selling off land along the corridor to a private developer in a 10-year-plus deal, the first stage of which is $750 million. He is doing so under the guise of fixing up the Albion Railway Station— supersizing it. Residents are very concerned.

Recently people would have heard of a fatality at the corner of Albion Road and Hudson Road. A cyclist tragically lost his life when a truck took that corner. This development will only see traffic get worse. Traffic needs to be fixed in that area. The council has a role to play as well. We cannot—and I believe we should not—see this development go ahead in the form that it is without substantial community input. The great concern local residents have is that, in its desire to earn an income and sell off this land to the private sector, the government may well declare the area a PDA and assess the development itself. Local residents do not want to see that. They want to have input into the development of their area; they want the council to assess it; and they want the council to assess it against the local plan.

18th October, 2018