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

I thank the member for Corangamite for his question. Indeed, we are joining with the member for Corangamite to deliver on the commitments that we have made: the Geelong Ring Road 4A, Geelong Ring Road 4B, Princes Highway West, Waurn Ponds to Winchelsea, and many other projects. The member for Corangamite and the member for Corio are great advocates for the greater Geelong region.

We are also out there delivering in other parts of regional Australia. Today I was in Wagga Wagga with the member for Riverina and I was also in Wodonga. There we were making commitments and once again delivering infrastructure on the ground in regional Australia—important infrastructure. In Wagga Wagga we will deliver there an instrument landing system that will help that regional airport to maximise the benefit of the pilot college there that I also opened today that will train 200 pilots as part of the infrastructure and skills agenda that is taken so seriously by this government.

I am asked also why it is important that commitments are delivered, that they are funded and that they actually get built because, out there, there is some cynicism in the community about these issues. It is little wonder, because the coalition said through their shadow finance minister on 20 May, ‘Any other past commitments have been discontinued.’ The famous statement by the shadow finance minister, who says that any commitments, unless they are in the funding document, are not worth the paper that they are written on, let alone those that are just said, because we know they are not worth anything at all. But yesterday, when I raised this issue in the House, the shadow minister for transport said the coalition would meet its promises on road and rail funding. So who do you believe—the shadow finance minister or the Leader of the National Party? They both cannot be right.

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