Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Beaudesert, sorry. I am obliged to the member for Cowper. I will correct the Hansard. But we are talking about significant rail infrastructure that, unlike that rail line, adds to our economic wellbeing and the ability of this country to produce and export. That is the economic growth that we need to be very much cognisant of as we look at infrastructure developments within this country. We need to ensure that we have proper, functioning port structures and heavy rail structures so that our producers, particularly in relation to minerals and resources, are able to compete on the world stage. With the growing pressures on commodity prices that we are now seeing, it is going to be absolutely critical for us as a nation exporting minerals and energy to have the most efficient lines of transportation to facilitate greater productivity as we go about exporting to the world from those areas where we have natural resources.

This government is using all its assets to identify the long-term infrastructure needs of this country, as I indicated earlier. I drew attention to the composition of the board of Infrastructure Australia. That is certainly a significant part of it. Residents in my electorate of Werriwa, out in the south-west of Sydney, know the significance of investing in infrastructure. It was very, very big leading up to the last election. It was very big because there was only one party that consistently throughout the election period promised infrastructure development for the south-west of Sydney, and that was the Labor Party. The Labor Party came out and said that they would do something that had been asked for time and time again—the expansion of the F5. It is a $140 million project. That was something so critical, and it clearly falls well within AusLink 2.

All those years that I was on the opposition benches, I asked questions of ministers about when they would do something for the south-west of Sydney. They did nothing. It was not until after Kevin Rudd made the announcement about investing in a $140 million project out in the south-west of Sydney that the then roads minister said, ‘Well, we’ll do the same.’ He took until two or three days later to come out and say that. That just shows the disdain of the then government for infrastructure development in the south-west of Sydney. Granted, it is a Labor electorate and has been for quite a period of time—and I am sure Gough Whitlam will see that it will stay a Labor electorate. But that just shows the contrast between the approaches: we could look at the area either as a marginal seat or we could look at what was going to be needed for the development of the area.

Over the next 20 years, Sydney is reportedly going to have a population in excess of five million people, I understand. Much of that growth between now and then—as a matter of fact, 20 per cent—will be found in the south-west of Sydney. The south-west of Sydney—Liverpool, Campbelltown, Leppington, Rossmore, Camden and all those areas—is very much the growth corridor of Sydney. It is where we are establishing our employment lands. It is why we would have a dedicated freight line which would be a more effective and efficient inland port. We are bringing container terminals through our intermodal terminals and, as a consequence, we are now establishing businesses along that rail and road corridor—new manufacturing and advanced engineering. They are jobs for the people I represent out there. We have a university which is now producing graphic designers and engineers, and just last week the Deputy Prime Minister opened a medical school. We will have our doctors being trained and, more importantly, our medical technology developments occurring out there.

These are things that we invest in now to achieve for the future. These are things that we must be dedicated to. Where we sit now, 12 months since the election, is in marked contrast. We are following through with our commitment to invest in this nation’s future, to develop these areas of opportunity, to give those people and those young families in the south-west the opportunity to have jobs in these employment lands that are being established. This is of very significant proportions, and quite frankly it is something that does take a government with nation-building abilities to construct.

In the limited time I have left, I would simply like to once again draw attention to how critical last week’s meeting with the nation’s mayors was. I hosted three local councils down here: Camden, Campbelltown and Liverpool. Those three councils were fortunate to get about $3.3 million to put into areas of their own local infrastructure priorities. In terms of the wider perspective, of the $300 million and looking to the future—(Time expired)

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