Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise in support of the member for Throsby's motion. I am pleased also to follow the member for Aston. I hope that the East West project, which is a matter of great concern to my electors, is a matter that the Victorian government has the confidence to put before the Victorian people at next November's election so the electors can judge it on its merits. If the contracts are not signed in advance, we will see whether the Napthine government—if it lasts to November—has the confidence to put that project as the centrepiece of its agenda for Victoria's future. I am also pleased that the member for Aston referred to the importance of rail projects. I am sure he would understand, as is central to this motion, that the Commonwealth must be a part of funding projects like the Rowville rail, which I believe was also promised by the Napthine government, but I am unsure of its progress to date. He also touched upon the role Infrastructure Australia might play going forward. I hope that he and other members opposite are aware of the view Infrastructure Australia took of the Melbourne Metro rail project, which is that it is a necessity for Melbourne today and tomorrow.

Deputy Speaker, as you are probably aware, in the lead-up to this year's federal election, I spent a bit of time at train stations along the South Morang and Hurstbridge lines. I may have even seen you once or twice there. In early mornings across these stations I spoke to many, many constituents of mine and yours, and constituents from across a range of other electorates. One thing I was struck by was the level of engagement in how urban public transport is critical to the future of outer suburban communities and how well voters understood the role of national government in this. The response of commuters was overwhelmingly in favour of federal Labor's Melbourne Metro rail link—unsurprisingly, it is also the view of Infrastructure Australia—and supportive of Labor's commitment to planning, design and engineering works for the new eight-kilometre, two-track rail tunnels under the central business district to relieve congested rail lines and improve travel times. People understood, even though it does not directly go to Melbourne's North, how critical it will be for commuters in Hurstbridge, in Diamond Creek, in Wattle Glen, in South Morang and in Epping to have an improved service and to spend more time doing the things they want to be doing with their families rather than travelling to and from work.

This positive response, interestingly, was not restricted to rail commuters. When I ran street stalls or doorknocked, particularly in new communities around Epping North, I was struck by the enthusiasm across the community for a greater role for state and federal governments in expanding public transport in the outer suburbs. Public transport is important even to those who do not intend to use it. They understand what congestion means and why freeing up our roads also plays a critical role in expanding urban public transport. Federal Labor's commitment to urban rail is consistent with the role of the federal government since Federation. It is worth noting that section 98 of the Australian Constitution refers specifically to the power of this parliament to make laws with respect to trade and commerce extending to navigation, shipping and railways. It does not mention roads. Furthermore, as Professor Newman from Curtin University has pointed out, Western Australia—and I see the member for Perth sitting here, who will no doubt make a great contribution to this debate, as she has, practically, in her previous roles—was brought into the Federation on the proviso that the transcontinental railway was built to Perth.

So I was quite taken aback, as the member for Throsby was, by the remarks of the then Leader of the Opposition, now prime minister, that the federal government has no history of funding urban rail, and that it is important that we stick to our knitting—and the Commonwealth's knitting—when it comes to funding infrastructure is roads. There is obviously some very recent history to the contrary, of course, such as the great nation-building agenda overseen by the member for Grayndler in his previous capacities, and its relationship to Labor's vision of the national government's role in forming in shaping our cities. On the other hand, I was heartened to read that Victorian Labor has recently announced Project 10,000, which acknowledged the shared role for state and federal governments to make targeted investment in our rail network to enable the delivery of more services, taking into account the needs of all communities across inner, middle, outer-suburban and regional areas. For public transport, this means Melbourne Metro rail doubling the size of the city loop, and the Metro Level Crossing Blitz program removing 50 of the 180 level crossings on the rail network. This will require the same level of state and federal cooperation which enabled the delivery of the wonderful Regional Rail Link in the western suburbs.

Only Labor has a plan to keep our cities moving—a plan that involves investing in both rail and road infrastructure. That is why, in government, Labor doubled the federal roads budget and committed more to urban public transport infrastructure than all our predecessors combined since federation. I call on the Victorian government and the federal coalition government to follow Labor's lead and invest in urban public transport.

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