Speech to Chambers

Delivered by Councillor Seal Chong Wah, to the Debate on a petition requesting council provide safety improvements for cyclists on Nudgee Road, between the Kedron Brook Bikeway, Nundah, and Kingsford Smith Drive, Hamilton, 18th November 2025

I rise to speak on C, petition requesting council provide safety improvements for cyclists on Nudgee Road, between the Kedron Brook Bikeway, Nundah, and Kingsford Smith Drive, Hamilton.

Nudgee Rd has a poor safety record with 28 injured cyclists and one fatality in the past two decades.

I would like to take the opportunity to send my condolences to Philip Pawsey’s family and apologise on behalf of this LNP Council for the lack of action in response to the needless death of Phillip Pawsey!

Philip Pawsey, was tragically killed while riding his bike on Brisbane’s northside on May 9, 2023. He was riding his bike to work at about 7:45am south along Nudgee Road near Long Street, when he collided with a truck.

The Airport Bicycle User Group has been calling for separated bike lanes for years, long before Philip Pawsey’s death. In fact, the Airport BUG had presented a petition to Council as recently as 2022.

To quote Chris Cox, group co-convenor, at that time “Brisbane City Council rejected even the basic suggestion of forbidding parking in the sporadic painted bike lanes that exist.”

The corridor is identified as a primary cycle route on the Bicycle Network Overlay in the City Plan and also forms part of the Queensland Government’s Principal Cycle Network, recognising both current demand and its intended cycling function.

It is deeply disappointing that this Council administration refuses to fund separate bike lanes along this primary cycle route. After so many years of advocacy from residents and the BUG, calling for separated bike lanes, and the many injuries and now a tragic loss of life, the LNP should be prioritising this important infrastructure.

Where is the heart and compassion of this LNP council? Surely, after many years of residents and the BUG calling for safe separated bike infrastructure, the multiple injuries and the death of Paul Pawsey, the LNP would have prioritised this important infrastructure into the budget?

Instead, the LNP continues to prioritise car-centric urban planning. In line with their catchphrase, the LNP will “Keep Brisbane Moving” regardless of the cost of human life!

How many more injuries or lives will be lost before this council acts?