Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

funded by the Labor government—funded and built. Then there is the Peak Downs Highway, the upgrade of the intersection of the Bruce and Capricorn highways, the Mackay Ring Road study, the Scone level-crossing study. All of these works are very important projects. We put $400 million, separate from the MRRT, into the Regional Infrastructure Fund and then it was to be topped up as revenue came in. Of course, revenue was dependent upon when the superprofits kick in—a sensible way to deal with things, just as the model for the PRRT operated, and a sensible way forward. There are other projects as well that are now very much in doubt. In New South Wales there is the Bolivia Hill realignment of the New England Highway. We funded the study, firstly, then were to fund the hard infrastructure. This is a vital safety project in the electorate of New England.

I personally visited the site with Tony Windsor, the former member for New England, and I know that the current member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, supports this project because when the media were critical of this project he made it clear to me that he supported it as well. Well, the funding has to come from somewhere and it is reasonable, when the mining industry will benefit so much, that the industry is able to put something back for those local communities.

We allocated $45 million for Scone Level Crossing project. It was championed by the member for Hunter. The Tourle Street Bridge was argued for and submitted for by the New South Wales government with joint fifty-fifty funding—$52 million from each level of government—and this was included in our budget in May this year and announced after that. The funding there was ready to go. We announced funding for climbing lanes and Mount Ousley Road project at the Mount Ousley F6 Freeway junction—$42 million.

In Far North Queensland we agreed to provide up to $210 million to upgrade roads and essential community infrastructure in the Cape York region. It is very important to allow Indigenous communities to have access to employment opportunities in the mining sector. There were upgrades to the road between Yeppoon and Weipa and the road connecting Aurukun to the Peninsula Development Road to an all-weather standard. There were improvements to the Jardine River Crossing, the redevelopment of the Seisia wharf, improvements to the raw water pipeline from Bamaga to Seisia, small scale improvements to community drainage. I announced that funding. Again it was included in the budget in May and then announced up in Far North Queensland on Thursday, 13 June, by me, by the Catherine King as the minister for regional services, and by Jan McLucas, the senator who represents Far North Queensland so well.

Those opposite talk about Northern Australia development. This is what it is about. This is about accessing jobs for Indigenous communities in particular in the resources sector in Far North Queensland, and that is one of the projects, when the now government released its funding proposals in the last 24 hours before election day in September, that was not included. That project was cut.

We have the Warrego Highway upgrades for $317,500 million—absolutely vital. There are further projects: the Yeppen South floodplain upgrade, costing some $236 million; the Mackay northern access upgrade for $64 million; the Mackay Ring Road, for which a further $50 million was allocated in the budget; and the Rockhampton northern access, stage 1, costing $132 million.

And there are projects in South Australia for the APY Lands where the Indigenous local population can benefit from mining and we can improve productivity also. Some $85 million will be ripped out, it would appear, by the incoming government. And of course there are projects in Perth including the Great Northern Highway, $307,800 million, from Muchea to Wubin, stage 2; the North West Coastal Highway, $152 million; and the Swan Valley Bypass, some $480,300 million.

This of course all comes on top of the Gateway WA project. This is a project that is absolutely vital, fixing up the largest-ever road projects in Perth or in Western Australia where the funding is primarily coming from the Commonwealth government. Construction is well underway. But you would think from the rhetoric of those opposite that it is their idea and that they are going to come up with this. Well, construction is underway. Jobs are being created. The first sod was turned some time ago. The contracts are issued and all the work has been done. Again, this was an initiative of the federal Labor government.

Those opposite need to do more than just talk about infrastructure; they need to actually fund infrastructure. With this small-minded proposal they are creating at the very best absolute uncertainty over these projects going ahead. That undermines confidence. It undermines the construction sector. It undermines employment and it undermines the economy. Here we have miners who not only say they can pay more, and who supported the legislation when it went through, while those opposite are saying no, we do not actually want them to make a contribution.

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