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

It does sound reminiscent of some of the rhetoric of a Lee Rhiannon or a John Kaye, perhaps, in New South Wales. In fact, those comments were from the now Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the National Party. That is what he had to say about that in a speech to the Transport Australia Summit in September 2011. In case you think that was an aberration, it actually was not. It was pretty consistent with a view being put by the now transport minister, the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, member for Wide Bay and Leader of the National Party, but put by local communities as well. In June 2012 he said mining companies:

… could not expect to take away a region's resources without leaving something for the community … and had a responsibility to contribute to the specific infrastructure provided to meet their needs.

That is what he said, and yet he is supporting legislation before the parliament today from the coalition that would lead to not just the abolition of the MRRT but the abolition of the Regional Infrastructure Fund.

There have already been a number of allocations from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to important projects. There has been funding for planning. Firstly, for example, we had $1.6 million for the North Queensland Resources Supply Chain to operationalise MITEZ's 50-year plan. I was there for the launch of that plan in Mount Isa, with the member for Kennedy, Bob Katter. Infrastructure Australia regard the MITEZ plan—the Mount Isa to Townsville Economic Development Zone—as the most comprehensive economic development plan that has been developed for any region in Australia. It was developed with input of industry, local government and the community about how you improve the export potential out of Townsville port, how you have an integrated economic plan maximising employment opportunities in that North Queensland region and how you ensure sustainable jobs and sustainable economic growth over a longer period of time by getting that planning in place. That was funded through the RIF, as was the Central Queensland plan; the regional mining and infrastructure plans covering three geographical regions in South Australia—the Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula to Braemar and the Upper North; and the $450,000 grant for Infrastructure New South Wales, the body which used to be chaired by Nick Greiner, the former Premier of New South Wales, and RDA Hunter. All of that is seemingly being written off as worthless by the rhetoric of those opposite.

Then there are the projects: the Gladstone port access road in Queensland, being constructed and just about completed; the Blacksoil Interchange, in an area I visited on a number of occasions, that was advocated very strongly by Shayne Neumann; the Townsville Ring Road, one I am sure that the member for Herbert will think is a great project—

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