DAVID ILIFFE [HOST]: Without trucking, Australia stops. It's a phrase you might say, or it might be one that you hear often, or it might be one that you're reading on a bumper sticker as we speak, as you're driving along. But it's actually the stopping of trucks that I want to talk about this morning. The federal government has announced $9 million that it's about to inject to our heavy vehicle rest areas across southern Queensland, across regional Australia. And whilst South Australia and New South Wales have been lucky this round, there has been a big focus on Goondiwindi. There will be multiple stops set to be upgraded on the Gore Highway between the border town and Toowoomba, and then on the Leichhardt Highway between Miles and Gundy.

Senator Anthony Chisholm is the Assistant Minister for Regional Development. He joins me now. Senator, good morning. Welcome.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Good to be with you, David. And I would say Pinball Wizard is one of my favourite songs of all time if I can add a vote for that.

ILIFFE: So Pinball Wizard, not Won't Get Fooled Again. Fair enough. There are so many good songs. It is noted, Senator. We will put you down for Pinball Wizard! Now, tell me, why such a focus on our area? What has been the feedback from truckies that your department has received about these two highways in particular?

CHISHOLM: And that's probably the great thing about this program David, is that it does enable feedback directly from those in the industry. So those truckies who are on the roads and my colleague, Glenn Sterle, although he's a Western Australian, he's a former truckie, he's very much in touch with the industry and those people who are out there keeping Australia moving, as you mentioned in your opening there. And they really identify those areas of Australia where it isn't safe or where there might be an existing stop that needs an upgrade to make it safer. And it's all about ensuring that those people who do such important work for a country as big as ours and in regional areas, that they have a safe place to pull over and have a rest, maybe have a lunch, have their dinner or whatever it is when they're out on the road doing those long hours it takes to keep Australia moving.

ILIFFE: It may seem like it's relatively straightforward to design and construct one of these rest areas, but what work actually goes into making them? Because they are more than just a bit of dirt by the side of the road or a clearing, aren't they?

CHISHOLM: They are, and obviously in a country as big as ours where freight is such an important part of it we want to ensure that those people can pull over and be safe, and sometimes that will be in the middle of the night, and you know, if they need to have a rest in the back of their cab, they don’t want to just have in the back of their mind that someone could be coming past and accidentally run into them. So, we need safe places for these big trucks to be able to pull over and have a rest, but as we see through Western Queensland, particularly during this time of year, we see a lot of grey nomads out and about, which is great for our regional areas and great for tourism, but they also need a safe place to pull over and have a rest as well.

So for multiple reasons, these stops are really important. This program is about identifying across Australia where there's an area that needs an upgrade. This fund is part of that, and that's why we work closely with industry and those people who do drive those local roads, and also with council and state government as well to identify which areas are a priority. And as you mentioned there's a number of areas on the Gore Highway and Leichhardt Highway that have been identified for upgrades which is really important.

ILIFFE: Senator, with the ones that are planned for those two highways that you just mentioned there, are toilets going to be part of those truck stops? Because I'm not sure that they're necessarily automatically part of each design.

CHISHOLM: No, and my brief does not mention toilets as part of that, but I'd be happy to come back to you and clarify on that. But what is focused on as part of my brief has been upgrades to line marking, making sure that they're safer. Sometimes they need new pavement sealing as well and also better marking and signage so that people know that these stops are available and that they can use them safely.

ILIFFE: And what's the timeline on this? When- how soon will truckies be able to start using these truck stops that are planned?

CHISHOLM: So we're hopeful because these projects are being done with the state government, so it's 50/50 funding between the federal government and the state government, so it's $3.5 million in total, $1.75 million each, that will be able to go out to tender soon. So, we'd be hopeful that work will be able to get underway within months. And what we're doing a really good job of these days is ensuring that these tenders are broken down, and hopefully we'll see a local contractor who's able to be successful do the work on these as well. So that means local jobs for some of the local contractors around.

ILIFFE: That would be great. Just a final question, Senator. Overtaking lanes are another major talking point in our part of the world. They advantage, obviously, not just truckies, but all travellers on the road and stop people making very foolish and often deadly decisions. And this applies to the Warrego Highway and the Gore in particular. Is there any imminent funding for those sorts of projects on highways in our part of the world?

CHISHOLM: Not that I have before me that I've seen, David, but we always try and work constructively with the state government on projects like this. So, there are projects that they identify that they come forward with as a priority. We're always happy to work constructively with them to ensure that there's funding available when these projects are identified. We've seen that as we've been working on the Bruce Highway in North Queensland, and I'm sure if they come forward with priority areas that we'd be keen to work with them on the roads and highways around the Toowoomba region.

ILIFFE: Senator Anthony Chisholm, very much appreciate your time this morning, good to chat to you.

CHISHOLM: Thanks David, good to be with you.

ILIFFE: Thank you so much. Senator Anthony Chisholm there, Assistant Minister for Regional Development and great news with that focus on Goondiwindi in this round of funding. Multiple stops, truck stops set to be upgraded on the Gore Highway between Goondiwindi and Toowoomba, and then on the Leichhardt Highway as well between Miles and Goondiwindi.