Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The desalination plant was a legacy of Bob Carr’s trip to Dubai. Labor made a commitment to build an unwanted desalination plant at Kurnell, costing the taxpayers and water users of New South Wales ultimately more than $2 billion. The Iemma state Labor government ignored all reasonable arguments against a desalination plant and proceeded with this enormous waste of taxpayers’ money. In particular, they completely ignored the opportunities for stormwater harvesting and recycling. They totally overstated, and continue to misrepresent, the cost of stormwater harvesting and, more importantly, water recycling in New South Wales. They completely dismissed a very constructive proposal from the opposition regarding the conversion of the SWOOS system in south-western Sydney to produce potable water for Sydney at half the cost of what was being proposed for the desalination plant at Kurnell. They also broke the trust of the community and the expert panel, breaking their promise not to proceed with the desalination plant unless dam levels hit 30 per cent. Currently, Sydney dams are at 66.5 per cent of full capacity and are rising.

Recycling is not the more expensive option, as the government like to claim. When they talk about recycling being more expensive they are referring to the turning back of the Sydney ocean outfalls, which will cost upwards of $3 billion. But there are other options available to the New South Wales state government which they routinely ignore, which does not make good economic sense and certainly does not make good water management sense.

Finally, given the constraints of time and the questions posed by those opposite, I will address one last matter. It is a matter that is very dear to people who live in the Sutherland shire: the F6. The F6 is a freeway extension that is an absolute necessity for the people who live in Cook and electorates that surround Cook. If this freeway is built, it will take thousands of cars off local streets of the Sutherland shire each day and improve truck access between the Illawarra, Sydney airport and Port Botany. These ports are increasing their activity and will be putting more traffic through the suburban streets of the shire. These are the streets where, at one point in time, kids used to play footy on the nature strip. These streets are now clearly too dangerous because of the traffic volumes that are going through the suburban streets in the shire. The time has come for the F6, which has been on the record books since at least 1951 or earlier; it is about time to get on with it. I would hope that this project receives some serious priority in the national infrastructure audit that is to be undertaken by Infrastructure Australia. Currently, the freeway ends at Waterfall and, from there, each day thousands of cars must use the Princes Highway and other local roads to get into Sydney.

The benefits of building the F6 extension have been well known for a while and were recently highlighted in a report released by the NRMA. The report indicates that there would be economic flow-ons arising from the construction of this project that would not be confined to the local region but would be shared throughout New South Wales and Australia. The report shows that more than 1,000 jobs would be created directly as a consequence of undertaking this project and the total economic impact of the project is worth $3.4 billion to our economy, at a cost of just $2.3 billion. Incidentally, that is roughly the same cost of the desalination plant at Kurnell.

Industries likely to gain a benefit from the project include the road transport industry and the fuel industry, and the food and beverage industries will profit from lower transport costs. Despite these benefits to the region and to the Sutherland shire more specifically, our state Labor member for Miranda maintains his opposition to this important infrastructure project while vehemently supporting the desalination plant that nobody wants or needs. If we had the choice, if there were $2.2 billion or $2.3 billion on the table, which there clearly is on behalf of Premier Iemma in New South Wales, to undertake a major infrastructure project that will benefit the people of the Sutherland shire, it should not go to the desalination plant at Kurnell—which has just added further disgrace to a site that should be revered as our nation’s birthplace and one of the most significant sites in our nation; it should go to the F6 extension, which would provide real economic and social value. The cost of the project I have referred to is the tunnel option, the preferred option. If the issues surrounding tunnels are properly managed—and I must admit I am somewhat concerned about the ability of the state government to actually manage a tunnel project where the filtration is properly managed and properly funded—the tunnel option is far superior to continuing the farce at Kurnell, which is the desalination plant.

What is created by this bill is not a road or a bridge; there are no funds for roads or bridges in this bill. There are no funds for new ports or new coal loaders in this bill, and there is no new Snowy in this bill. This is a bill to establish a government agency to provide advice—there are no new funds—and that is meritorious, which is why we are supporting this bill. Let us have the advice, let us have the agency, let us get out there and do an audit of the infrastructure needs and let us be candid about that audit. I wish them well with their objectives but I remain to be convinced that it will be little more than another bureaucratic adventure at the hands of the bureaucratic master himself, the Prime Minister.

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