Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dawson for his question and for his acknowledgement that nation-building infrastructure is critical for his electorate, and, indeed, that is why it is at the heart of the Rudd government’s economic reforms. If you actually listened to those opposite and their attitudes towards infrastructure and towards the budget surplus and if you analysed what they did in the Senate, you would think that they had no regard at all for infrastructure. We have heard allegations that these funds are not real, that they are not important and that it does not matter whether we make that long-term infrastructure investment. But, whilst they say that through their spokespeople in the parliament and whilst they act on that in the Senate by undermining the budget surplus, what they do as local members is very different. I have a folder here with 103 submissions from many of the members of the opposition frontbench. Thirty-five coalition MPs have made submissions to me about infrastructure spending—more than half of their frontbench. That indeed is what you would expect local members to do about infrastructure. Many members on this side of the House are also making submissions about infrastructure spending.

See this speech in context