Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I had absolutely no intention of speaking on this MPI until I heard the member for Cowper. When I heard the member for Cowper and the hypocritical statements that were coming out of his mouth, I felt obliged to come into this House and take up some of the issues he raised. I have spent my entire life travelling the Pacific Highway and I know the enormous commitment that this government has put into upgrading the highway. Under the current minister, we have not only promised we would give money; we have actually delivered. The member for Cowper is very big on rhetoric and very small on action. He talks about problems with the Pacific Highway. He complains about inaction, but when there is action, when there is a government and a minister that give tangible funds to upgrade the Pacific Highway, he then complains, makes a lot of noise and tries to mislead the people that he represents in this parliament.

A number of members of my family live on the North Coast and they have been really impressed with the contribution that the Rudd and Gillard government have made to upgrading the Pacific Highway. I have a nephew who travels on a daily basis from Nambucca Heads to Coffs Harbour and he tells me on every occasion just how important the upgrading of that road is, how a minor accident can completely stop the flow of traffic on the highway. So what does the member for Cowper do? He comes into this House and complains. What does the government do? It commits real money to upgrade the Pacific Highway.

I would like to congratulate the member for Lyne for bringing this issue to the parliament. I know that he is totally committed to ensuring that the Pacific Highway is upgraded and that regional funding is given to projects throughout Australia, particularly road projects. I know that he is not a person who comes into this House, raises issues, is negative and complains about nothing. For the record, the 2011-12 budget will invest a record $3.7 billion over the next 12 months to renew and extend road, rail and aviation infrastructure across regional Australia—a sum far greater than has ever been provided before. The upgrade of the rail infrastructure in the Hunter has really helped the coal industry and has been of vital importance to the area that I am part of.

The coalition in the past, and even recently, have shown that they are more interested in playing politics than in fixing not only the Pacific Highway but all our major infrastructure. We have seen, for example, the member for Cowper, as I have already pointed out, come into this House and make salacious claims. The claims are shameful and dishonest—$750 million of extra funding is new funding, with the remaining $207 million being redirected from a project elsewhere in the state with the support of the New South Wales government.

I will just concentrate on the New South Wales government for a moment. I read in the NewcastleHerald today that the Premier of New South Wales is making noises like he is not going to deliver on what he promised. He is saying that he has to look at the budget. Any member of parliament in tune with the way the Premier of New South Wales thinks will know that is code for, 'Maybe I am going to back away from a deal I don't want to deliver.' So I will be watching very carefully to see what happens there. If the Premier of New South Wales does not deliver then he will be letting down the people of New South Wales. He will be letting down the people in the member for Cowper's electorate.

The one thing that this government prides itself on is the fact that we have taken the issue of infrastructure and roads very seriously. The current minister has been out there arguing strongly and delivering to the people of Australia. The investment in the Pacific Highway under the Gillard Labor government is at a record level of $4.1 billion over seven years. This compares to the former Howard government's record of $1.3 billion over 12 years. I can remember being on holidays and going to visit my mother at Nambucca Heads and there being petitions in the local fish and chip shop asking for more funding for the Pacific Highway. That was when the Howard government were in power. So they did not deliver and it has been left to Labor to deliver, and we are delivering in a big way.

So I say to the member for Cowper: 'Work with the government. Work with us so that we can deliver to the people that you represent in this House.' We take their concerns seriously. We take very seriously the concerns of the people of the North Coast. We know how vitally important the Pacific Highway is as a corridor that connects Sydney and Brisbane. We would like to work with you, but all we hear in this place are negative comments from the member for Cowper. Member for Cowper: work with the member for Page, work with the minister and deliver to the people of New South Wales and Australia.

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