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

I thank the member for Moreton for his question and his ongoing support, particularly for the Cross River Rail project in Brisbane. This federal government has overhauled the way that the nation plans, finances and builds our infrastructure. We assess projects on the basis of Infrastructure Australia's advice, undertake cost-benefit analysis and work with state and territory governments to make sure that projects can be delivered. In terms of urban public transport, last night we announced the single biggest ever commitment to urban public transport by any federal government and it builds on the record funding where we have committed more to urban public transport since 2007 than all governments combined.

In Brisbane, the Cross River Rail project is an absolute priority. As requested by the Queensland government, we have made an allocation of $715 million, to be matched by the Queensland government, with further support from future availability payments. This will open up services from Brisbane's north and western suburbs as well as the Sunshine and Gold coasts, and the project will make sure that an extra 17,000 people can travel on Brisbane's rail system during the peak periods. Being surprised by some of the Queensland treasurer's comments, I asked my department and Infrastructure Australia for some of the correspondence. That is what we have got; that is the work that has been done; that is how you do proper infrastructure development and funding.

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