Mr CHRIS HARTCHER (Terrigal) [1.33 p.m.]: I rise today to bring attention to an issue that has been ongoing for some time and that urgently requires attention. I have been approached by many individuals, businesses and community groups who have voiced their concerns about the importance of dredging Brisbane Water and the implications if it does not happen.

Recently, the Ettalong Beach Business Group Inc. presented me with a petition of over 4,000 signatures supporting a speedy resolution to the dredging of Brisbane Water. Of most concern to local residents is the negative impact on the Palm Beach ferry service if dredging does not occur immediately. The Palm Beach ferry service has been in operation since 1975 and now carries in excess of 400,000 passengers a year between the Central Coast and Sydney's northern beaches.

The ferry service is a vital link for the Peninsula community. With only one road in and out of the Peninsula, the local residents rely heavily on the ferry service and would be isolated if it were to cease operating. Commuters and school students rely on the service daily. Without this service, ferry patrons will be forced onto an already overcrowded and unreliable rail system and the notorious F3 freeway. The ferry service is a large drawcard for the tourism of the Peninsula. The Ettalong Beach Business Group Inc. has recently launched a $20,000, two-year marketing plan in conjunction with the Department of State and Regional Development to revitalise the Ettalong Beach area. The ferry and other boating prospects are viewed as a large part of this strategy. The tourists and commuters who utilise the ferry service are vital to the prosperity of the area.

The Palm Beach ferry service is an important link during emergencies. When the Pacific Highway, the F3 and the train line were closed due to bushfires in 2002 and January last year, the Palm Beach ferry service ran 24 hours a day as the Central Coast's only direct transport link to Sydney. This vital service is now in jeopardy and is threatened with closure by Christmas due to the delay of essential dredging. The ferry service requires an unobstructed entrance to Brisbane Water to continue functioning. Over the past two years the shifting sand bar at Little Beach has caused a reduction in depth from 2.4 metres to 1.2 metres, and the navigable channel opening off Ettalong Beach has been reduced to a mere 20 metres. This means no two boats can pass each other in certain sections.

Local and State governments are well aware of the need for dredging in Brisbane Water; in fact the Department of Lands was first alerted to the situation in January last year. Since then the council and the State Government have been at a stalemate over who has the responsibility to fund the dredging. A council-funded report found it would cost approximately $500,000 to complete the works and the council has called on the State Government to undertake the necessary works, citing "the cost implications of an ongoing dredging program are considerable and beyond council's resources". Interestingly enough, $500,000 is the amount wasted on the special sitting of Parliament on 28 and 29 August for the Government's aborted electricity privatisation legislation. This Government always has money when it suits it, but cries poor every time there is a genuine community need. Brisbane Water is Crown land, administered by the State Government, and as such the provision of funding to complete the necessary dredging rests with the Premier and the Minister. I call upon our new Premier, Mr Nathan Rees, to take action and ensure that Brisbane Water is dredged and the people of the Central Coast have their ferry service.

I would like to acknowledge the determined assistance of the Ettalong Beach Business Group including Lindy Wilson, Paul Brasch, of Ettalong Beach Mantra Resort, Matthew Lloyd, the Manager of Palm Beach ferry service, Judith Wheatley, Secretary of Wagstaffe to Killcare Community Association Inc., and the 4,000 signatories to the petition. On behalf of the signatories to the petition and indeed the entire Peninsula and Central Coast community, I support their request for the long-overdue dredging to be undertaken and completed before Christmas 2008. I seek an immediate commitment from the Labor Government to fund it, and in turn facilitate the continued operation of the vital Palm Beach ferry service.