Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I welcome seeing you in the chair and I congratulate you on your role. The Infrastructure Australia Amendment Bill 2013 will implement the government's 2013 election commitment to strengthen the role of Infrastructure Australia as an independent, transparent and expert advisory body. The bill will re-establish Infrastructure Australia as a separate entity under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 and will provide for an independent governing entity that is both legally and financially separate from the Commonwealth. The bill will more clearly define the functions of Infrastructure Australia. It will enable Infrastructure Australia to demonstrate transparency and rigour in its prioritisation of projects, and in its advice on policy reforms, while facilitating a level of independence from governments.

The government understands that investment is of national importance, with particular significance in infrastructure, and is central to growing Australia's productivity and improving the living standards of Australians now and into the future. That is why as a government we have committed ourselves to building the infrastructure of the 21st century. We have already made significant commitments to a number of vital infrastructure projects across the country, including $6.6 billion to the Bruce Highway, $5.6 billion to finally finish the duplication of the Pacific Highway, $1.5 billion to WestConnex in Sydney, $1.5 billion to East-West Link in Melbourne, $1 billion to continue the Gateway Motorway upgrade in Brisbane, $615 million to the Swan Valley bypass, $686 million for the Gateway WA project, $400 million to the Midland Highway in Tasmania and $500 million to the north-south corridor in Adelaide.

But it is clear that the task does not end there, and we intend Infrastructure Australia to play a very important role in assisting government at all levels to plan for longer-term investment in infrastructure that will be required well into the future. In the five years since Infrastructure Australia was created it has become evident that the current structure of Infrastructure Australia does not provide the degree of independence and transparency needed to give the best advice to government about the infrastructure priorities that will reverse Australia's productivity slide.

As I was preparing for this speech I noted an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Adele Ferguson on 12 March 2013. In the article she said:

It is a sad indictment on a government that returned to power in 2007 promising to rebuild the nation and lift productivity using infrastructure as the centrepiece.

To this end it gave the country its first infrastructure minister and set up an independent advisory body, Infrastructure Australia (IA). IA was designed to eliminate pork barrelling by creating a priority list of infrastructure projects based on a cost-benefit analysis and advising on major policy reforms - including how to make public private partnerships (PPPs) work and rational tolling.

Fast forward to today—

That is 12 March—

and outside of the NBN - which has its own set of controversies - the government's grand plan for infrastructure is in tatters and sound policy and decision-making have been hijacked by real politics.

A previous speaker spoke of pork barrelling. Well, if there were ever any examples of pork barrelling, they were while those opposite were in government. They stripped money in the first instance. It says in the article that '$3.6 billion was outlaid in the last federal budget'—and here we are talking about the budget before 12 March—'compared with $7.69 billion in the previous year'. I remember quite well the promise 10 days out from that election that $2 billion would be committed to the Parramatta-Epping Rail Link in Sydney. Well, the rail link did not even qualify for Infrastructure Australia. And talk about pork barrelling: I think it is very rich for those on the opposite side to be talking about pork barrelling.

But it was an absolute, utter failure, and that is why this bill has to be introduced. The Infrastructure Australia Amendment Bill 2013 will strengthen Infrastructure Australia by restructuring its governance. It will clarify the scope of its responsibility and entrench its role as a key advisor to government. This bill is also very welcomed by industry, and in particular I refer to the support of the bill from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland, which is headquartered in my own electorate of Brisbane. The CCIQ is very supportive of the proposed amendments contained in the bill and believes that Infrastructure Australia ought to play a stronger role in setting infrastructure priorities nationally and in Queensland. The amendments included in the bill work to further Infrastructure Australia's role as key advisor to government on current and future infrastructure needs; mechanisms for financing investments; and policy, pricing and regulation impacts on investment. Queensland will reap the benefits of greater participation between Infrastructure Australia and state governments when setting infrastructure priorities, thus delivering better outcomes for the small and medium business community in Queensland that rely on ongoing priority investment in local infrastructure.

The bill will give Infrastructure Australia greater agency and clear mandates to advise the federal government on every social and economic infrastructure project undertaken nationally. And Queensland will reap the benefits of greater participation between Infrastructure Australia and state governments when setting infrastructure priorities, thus delivering better outcomes for small and medium businesses in Queensland that rely on ongoing priority investment in local infrastructure. More importantly, the CCIQ believes that the proposed amendments will reorientate Infrastructure Australia's role towards a focus on improving productivity through infrastructure investment—a much needed measure to encourage a reversal of diminishing productivity predictions nationally.

A key aspect of this bill is increased independence. The bill will establish Infrastructure Australia as a separate statutory authority under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997, and for the first time Infrastructure Australia will be both a legally and a financially separate entity from the Commonwealth. The bill will also see Infrastructure Australia led by a CEO responsible to their board, rather than responsible to the minister as in the current structure—a great improvement to their level of independence from the government.

There will be increased transparency. The government recognises that Australia needs improved long-term planning for infrastructure investment that is based on robust and evidence-based assessments of future needs. To this end, we are going to be focusing on long-term planning based on robust, evidence-based findings through a greater understanding of the critical issues facing Australia's infrastructure and land transport systems. To achieve this goal, the government has tasked Infrastructure Australia with undertaking new five-yearly evidence-based audits of our infrastructure assets base; developing top-down priority lists at both a national and a state level; developing a 15-year infrastructure plan; and evaluating both economic and social infrastructure proposals and publishing the justification for prioritisation, including cost-benefit analyses—that is something new! This will be for projects worth over $100 million seeking Commonwealth funding, excluding defence projects. It will regularly publish cost-benefit analyses. That is one thing Labor repeatedly promised to do when they were in government, but they failed to deliver this in any meaningful way. Together these measures will enhance Infrastructure Australia's ability to provide the best possible advice to the government on infrastructure matters.

Prior to the most recent election, the coalition announced a number of policy reforms to better deliver infrastructure investment in the short to medium term. The reforms to Infrastructure Australia contained in this bill are part of a suite of reforms that were clearly articulated as part of the 2013 election commitments in our policy to deliver the infrastructure for the 21st century. The basis for these changes was Infrastructure Australia's current governance structure, which inhibits its independence in its advice to government. The direct line of reporting between the Infrastructure Coordinator and the minister places significant power in the position of Infrastructure Coordinator, rather than the infrastructure council. Under Labor, Infrastructure Australia has not been successful in fundamentally changing the way projects are identified as national priorities. In particular, while it has delivered priority project lists, projects are derived from state and territory government project proposals and the prioritisation is based on the extent to which the project business case is advanced, rather than the extent to which the project will contribute to improved national productivity.

The government is committed to delivering on a broad infrastructure reform agenda aimed at improving productivity and driving economic growth. These reforms will be critical to delivering this agenda. Labor's failure to properly manage infrastructure development and investment in this country led Prime Minister Abbott to promise the Australian people to be an 'infrastructure prime minister'. In particular, the coalition will build more modern infrastructure to boost productivity.

As I stated earlier, the eastern states are very big infrastructure winners from the coalition's election victory, with over $17 billion in funding committed for road projects in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory also received significant funding commitments. The coalition has also committed funds to significant freight rail projects and promised further measures to facilitate infrastructure project investment and delivery. The Abbott government has made strong funding commitments to road and freight rail projects. This bill delivers policy changes to facilitate investment and the delivery of major infrastructure projects. This significant pipeline of projects will be welcomed by the building and construction sectors and is likely to deliver productivity dividends in future years.

The coalition's total infrastructure package at the election was more than $20 billion. The Abbott government's agenda includes over $20 billion in new or upgraded infrastructure projects, including an investment of almost $5 billion of additional funding over the forward estimates period. Recently the state treasurers and the federal Treasurer agreed to commence work on new incentives for building Australia's economic infrastructure, for the way that will be funded and for the way we will increase the private sector's involvement. This group will reconvene early in 2014 to continue these discussions. In order to leverage greater private sector investment in infrastructure, the government has also committed to a Productivity Commission inquiry into infrastructure funding and financing arrangements; examining an infrastructure bond scheme; and considering alternative financing arrangements, in conjunction with traditional grant funding, where the Australian government can leverage greater private sector investment in infrastructure. In order to ensure rigorous planning and advice to governments on infrastructure projects, the government has committed to strengthening the role of Infrastructure Australia. The government is also continuing to deliver the Roads to Recovery and Black Spot local road programs, directly assisting councils to improve their local road networks.

A bill of this kind is long overdue to facilitate the kind of infrastructure investment and development that this country so sorely needs after years of Labor's neglect and incompetence. The bill delivers on a promise that the coalition made to the Australian people at the election, and here we are, delivering once again. I commend the bill to the House.

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