I'd, first of all, like to thank the member for Barker for moving this motion. Road safety is an issue that I feel very, very strongly about. The member for Barker and I have very little in common politically, but I know that he feels very deeply about this issue. And I agree with him: this is something that requires bipartisanship. We shouldn't politicise it at all.

My electorate of Macarthur has many roads running through it, with major highways, such as the Hume Highway, Camden Valley Way, Narellan Road, Raby Road, Picton Road, and the infamous Appin Road, which are narrow but major arterial roads that are bordered by trees, all of which pose a great threat to motorists and wildlife alike. These roads are used by hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors to our region every week, and, sadly, accidents are becoming more common—often with serious injuries and, I'm sad to say, fatalities.

Some roads are the responsibility of local councils; some are operated by the New South Wales government; some are federal government roads. This causes a lot of problems for residents and stakeholders alike when it comes to delivering the funding and upgrades. Appin Road is one example of this, as it has been considered a New South Wales government road. Given its length and the complexity of connecting us to the Illawarra and Southern Highlands, the need for urgent safety upgrades is quite obvious to everyone who lives in the area. But dealing with all the different levels of government has made it very difficult.

The federal government recently has provided some much-needed funding to upgrade Appin Road to make it safe, and I'm very pleased about this. The minister, Catherine King, has been very good about seeing the urgency of action, and I'm very pleased. After years of federal and New South Wales coalition governments ignoring not just my pleas but the pleas of residents, wildlife groups and various stakeholders, I'm proud that our federal government and the Minns New South Wales government are showing leadership and have begun to upgrade Appin Road, after countless deaths.

Further, I took the opportunity to also welcome the minister for local government to Macarthur the other week. We visited sites in Macarthur which have received funding as part of the Roads to Recovery Program, improving safety upgrades to our local roads. We've provided $26 million to the Campbelltown council, $21 million to the Camden city council and similar amounts to the Wollondilly and Liverpool councils.

I've also campaigned very strongly for a national road data collection hub, and, much like the member for Barker, I agree that there is a need for data collected by the states and territories to be collated into a single national system. It's very important. This will help governments better understand where and how funds can be allocated for vital upgrades and other safety measures. Given the fact that deaths on our national roads are actually increasing, it has been welcomed by major Australian road safety advocates, and I particularly thank the Australian Automobile Association for their tireless agitation to have a national road safety database. I'd also like to thank my friend and colleague Dr John Crozier, a trauma surgeon from Liverpool Hospital, who has been a really important national advocate for better road safety data.

I'd like to add one final note, and it is of a personal nature to me. I, sadly, lost a very good friend of mine, Dr Mark Henschke, in 2022, when he was tragically hit and killed by a garbage truck while cycling. Together with his brother Ian, I worked with the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, as well as the Transport Workers Union, to get implementation of better safety measures on trucks and large vehicles.

I'm grateful that, in September last year, our government announced serious changes to the national road vehicle standards, to ensure safer trucks and large vehicles in Australia; that has been done and that will dramatically improve our road trauma data. These safety measures include the implementation of devices to reduce blind spots, electronic stability control for large vehicles, advanced emergency braking, a lane departure warning system, better reflective markings and side guards to stop pedestrians and cyclists from being caught up under the rear wheels of trucks. It really saddens me that these were not already implemented, as they could have prevented Mark's death. I'm pleased to know that our government has taken action to address this issue of pedestrian and cyclist deaths on our roads by introducing these very important safety measures. We will look to improve our safety measures in the future. This requires better data, and I'm hopeful that our government will continue to sponsor these very important road safety measures.