As I have stated in this House on many occasions, my community is witnessing a surge in growth and grappling with infrastructure challenges that require urgent intervention. Three years ago the census recorded the population of the suburb of Austral at nearly 7,000, more than doubling from the 3,000 in the previous 2016 census. Since then our community has only continued to grow apace. The Austral and Leppington North precinct was initially projected to yield about 16,000 dwellings, but current trends suggest it will reach 26,000 dwellings or more. Due to the failure of previous governments, infrastructure has failed to keep pace with not just those revised dwelling numbers but even the initial ones.

That neglect is most acutely felt on our road network. Each and every day, families in Austral are stuck in gridlock while on their way to and from work and school. The failure lies at the feet of all three levels of government. While I welcome the investment of $1.9 billion in funding by the Federal Government for upgrades to roads in Western Sydney announced in the budget this week, I am disappointed that Fifteenth Avenue has missed out. Instead, roads around the aerotropolis such as the Eastern Ring Road in Badgerys Creek received funding. While the construction of the Eastern Ring Road has been applauded by the developers with landholdings in the aerotropolis, the area will not see significant population growth for some years to come. Given the significant population growth in Austral, the need to upgrade Fifteenth Avenue is overdue and more urgent. The Minns Government recognised that need and committed $50 million towards the upgrade of Fifteenth Avenue in last year's budget. Twenty million of the $50 million will go towards works to ease capacity and reduce congestion build-up on Cowpasture Road between Fifteenth Avenue and the M7. I am pleased to inform the House that investigation works have commenced.

While I, along with local residents, remain frustrated with the pace of the upgrade, unlike the previous Government, with projects like Heathcote Road and the Prospect Highway, I will not allow millions of dollars to be wasted and multiple elections to pass by before works begin. Make no mistake, Fifteenth Avenue is and will remain a major priority for me and the Government. As a testament to that, more work has been done over the past 12 months on Fifteenth Avenue than was done under the previous 12 years when members of the Opposition were in government.

While Fifteenth Avenue is the main east-west arterial through Austral, Edmondson Avenue is the main north-south arterial. As the State Government continues apace to transform Fifteenth Avenue, by contrast, the Liverpool City Council upgrade of Edmondson Avenue sadly lingers. Liverpool council was awarded $58 million by the previous Government in 2021 to undertake work to upgrade Edmondson to a four-lane urban road. Council papers from March 2021 state:

The funding allocations require Council to sign funding agreements to deliver the Edmondson Avenue upgrade project by June 2024.

Three years later and not a single sod has been turned. Council has, however, met with me on multiple occasions requesting more funding. Our community cannot be held hostage any longer by the administrative chaos and bureaucratic paralysis that grips Liverpool council. Too many accidents and near misses have occurred on Edmondson Avenue, particularly in recent months at the intersection of Eighth and Tenth avenues. That intersection is in close proximity to local schools, retirement villages and my favourite local bowling club, Club Austral.

The safety and wellbeing of our most vulnerable residents is being put at risk each and every day so long as council continues to drag the chain. Enough is enough; we must take action. In response to the ongoing delays, I have started a petition to garner community support and demand immediate action from Liverpool council on Edmondson Avenue. I call on Liverpool City Council to finally get on with the job. The people of Austral have waited long enough. I urge the community to sign and share the petition at nathanhagarty.com.au/edmondson to ensure that the upgrade of Edmondson Avenue begins as soon as possible and the safety of our community is given urgent priority.