For years now, the people of Logan have been forced to sit for hours in M1 congestion just because the Abbott-Turnbull Liberal Government couldn’t care less about them.

To help end the impasse on funding key upgrades, federal Labor has today announced it will support and match any agreed federal-state compromise which sees work get underway.

Every minute wasted in M1 traffic is a reminder of the failure of Bert van Manen and the LNP to deliver for local motorists, families and businesses.

Enough is enough. Something has to give.

This should not be about who gets the political credit for something which should have happened already; it’s about tackling congestion along one of the fastest-growing corridors in the country.

For the sake of local businesses and families fed up with severe congestion, federal Labor is prepared to play its part in ensuring work commences on the M1 as soon as possible.

We call on the Liberals, who have neglected this issue for so long, to finally act.

Labor has already demonstrated its commitment to upgrading the M1.

We went to the election pledging $168 million – an 80-20 funding split with the Queensland Labor Government – to upgrade the southbound Gateway-M1 merge.

We also have a proven record of investment, with $312 million in upgrades to the Logan stretch of the M1 paid for and completed when we were last in Government.

Despite all their talk on the M1, the Liberals have only promised 50 per cent of funding to date, and haven’t actually provided a single cent for upgrading that stretch of freeway since taking office almost four years ago.

The M1-Gateway merge upgrade has been listed as an Infrastructure Australia priority project since September last year, as has the proposed works at Mudgeeraba-Varsity Lakes.

The sooner this work can begin, the better.