Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This has been a very interesting debate. I know the member for Parramatta and I were expecting a litany of projects in the 12 years of the coalition government and there was just one item listed—there was the M7! I regret to say the M7 was funded by $300 million only from the federal government and that resulted in the highest tolls in Sydney. Yet this was the project which had the best cost-benefit ratio of any infrastructure project in Australia. That was the only thing the coalition did—$7 dollars for the punters to use the tollway.

The member for Mitchell mentioned his passion for public-private partnerships, and I share that passion. He mentioned the Lane Cove Tunnel and also, I think, the Cross City Tunnel. I have been through those tunnels. I often travel from Western Sydney on the M7 and on the M2 into the city. They are fantastic infrastructure. I do not know what the whingers are all about. In Western Sydney we pay $7 to use the M7. Lane Cove Tunnel is a lot cheaper and so is the Cross City Tunnel. I congratulate the member for Mitchell on announcing that the coalition is now going to fully fund the rail infrastructure for north-western Sydney.

As a member from Western Sydney, I have to say that I have some sympathy. I support infrastructure projects for our region. But we are a federal government, and this federal government, in a short two years, has actually given $4.5 billion for rail projects. We are massively funding rail, road and port infrastructure, and we see the economic benefits of doing so. And how much was funded by the previous, Howard-Costello, government in rail and port infrastructure? I am sorry—zip!

I was a member of the Hawke-Keating government which actually had a Better Cities program, and it is a pity that the member for Greenway is not here because that funded the bus-rail interchange at Blacktown, a significant transport hub for north-western Sydney. The Richmond line comes into Blacktown then shoots off. We funded that bit of infrastructure. We also funded the new bus terminal at Mount Druitt. We funded a commuter car park and upgraded facilities at St Marys station. But what did the Howard government do—and I predict the coalition will do the same with our ambitious projects to improve infrastructure—the first time they got in? They got rid of the Better Cities program that was providing significant infrastructure improvements for public transport.

I do think that there is a case for more rail infrastructure in Western Sydney. By the way, the member for Parramatta reminded me that of course it was Gough Whitlam, not a coalition government, who actually, all those years ago, funded the quadrupling of the main Western Sydney line. Labor governments actually have a track record of investing in public infrastructure, and we will continue to do so. But I wonder—notwithstanding the promise by the member for Mitchell that the coalition will fully fund this bit of infrastructure—whether Labor’s massive infrastructure program of over $30 billion will see the light of day should Mr Abbott succeed at the next election. I would say they will be true to their form—they will axe the program. And, as far as the member for Mitchell is concerned, I think this rail system is still light years away if you have to depend on coalition governments.

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