Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2009, which is central to the effective delivery of the government’s $26.4 billion road and rail program—the Nation Building Program. The previous speaker, for some reason, spoke about why he does not believe that we should build this nation. The program before the House today delivers to projects that will support jobs today and will support jobs tomorrow. This program funds essential road and rail upgrades that will improve the capacity of the Australian economy long into the future. This investment in infrastructure is essential if Australia is going to get out of the infrastructure deficit left to us by the previous government. While the previous government, as we know, enjoyed the fruits of the mining boom, they squandered it. They did not use that opportunity wisely. They squandered the opportunity to invest in critical economic infrastructure for the country’s long-term future. And it has now been left to this government to rebuild Australia. We have taken this challenge up with gusto.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for delivering the Nation Building Program. He is doing so with the full support of the states. This support comes because, unlike the previous government, who, when they talk about infrastructure, really like to just blame the other side—

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