Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Hinkler for his question. As he has been for some considerable time the chair of the House of Representatives transport committee, I know that he takes a great deal of interest in investment in transport infrastructure in Australia for today and into the future.

As the Treasurer has indicated, the budget is about locking in future prosperity in the Australian economy and capitalising on the work that has been done in this country over the last 11 years. There is no aspect of the budget that is more important than the investment in future transport infrastructure in Australia, particularly in our roads and rail networks. Giving certainty in all the areas that we participate in funding and giving certainty to funding partners, both at state and local government level, is well into the future. Last night’s announcement in the budget by the Treasurer that we would be committing $22.3 billion to the second stage of AusLink funding for road and rail infrastructure in Australia is a historic increase and a historic commitment to that infrastructure investment in Australia.

We have invested $15.8 billion in AusLink 1 and $22.3 billion in AusLink 2, if you want to call it that. A 41 per cent increase in AusLink 2 will take the total 10-year investment of this government in land transport infrastructure to $38 billion—$38 billion over a 10-year period. Part of the budget announcement includes $15.8 billion on the national roads network—significant funding to start planning and detail work on rail infrastructure in Australia. We are already investing and we need to continue to invest. We need to continue the economic growth that is delivering the prosperity that we have in this country and we need to lock that in into the future.

Put very simply, the programs that are contained within AusLink build better highways, safer highways and more efficient highways across the nation. They improve local roads, so mums and dads taking their kids to school are much safer. They build safer roads in local communities. They build road and rail systems that will be more efficient in getting our exports to marketplaces across the world. These are serious investments that secure the future prosperity of the Australian economy. As I indicated, we have funding partners in this. We have arrangements with the states and with local government. We expect those arrangements to share the costs and the risks. Commonwealth taxpayers are not going to carry the burden of all the risks. We need to engage with the states. We need to have a serious discussion with them about how this $22 billion will be delivered in the future.

There have been some very interesting comments on last night’s budget from some interested observers—and from some who have not always been supporters of this government, I might add. The first quote is from a press release from the NRMA in New South Wales. The president of the NRMA, Mr Alan Evans, said:

This strong investment in Australia’s road network is key to sustaining a growing economy.

He went on to say:

Tonight’s budget is great news for motorists, businesses and industry.

The Australian Trucking Association—obviously an organisation that is very interested in the infrastructure investments of the future in Australia—said:

We applaud the Australian government on its commitment to land transport.

It went on to say:

This is a clear sign the Australian government is listening.

That is absolutely right. We are working with industry; we are consulting industry. We are also working with communities to address their infrastructure needs in their local areas. I say again: this investment in infrastructure, in the future of Australia, is all about locking in the future growth and the future prosperity that we expect to see in the Australian economy.

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