Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against this bill, the Infrastructure Australia Amendment Bill 2013. In the 21st century, those societies and communities that will prosper are those that have skilled workforces, whose industries can adapt to a carbon constrained world and that invest in modern, well-planned infrastructure. We did that when we were in government, after more than 11½ years of neglect and underinvestment under the coalition. Total expenditure, public and private, on the nation's roads, rail, electricity generators and water storage facilities was 42 per cent higher than in the final year of the former coalition government.

We restored leadership in the area of infrastructure. We created the first federal infrastructure department and established and empowered the first federal infrastructure ministry. We established Infrastructure Australia to look at infrastructure in this country, and to recommend the planning, assessment, financing and creation of infrastructure for the 21st century. Through Infrastructure Australia we commissioned the first infrastructure audit. We created a national infrastructure priority list. We established public-private partnership guidelines. We undertook a national ports strategy and a national freight strategy. We created a national prequalification scheme and we launched the National Infrastructure Construction Schedule. We invested $64 billion in infrastructure. We committed $60 billion as part of our nation-building programs, building roads, rail and ports, making sure that people's lives and lifestyles were improved, produce could get to market, kids could get to the school, people could get to hospital and business and commerce could progress.

There was not a single public transport infrastructure project in my home state of Queensland under the Howard coalition government. During the life of the former federal Labor government there was an increase in funding from $132 per person to $314 per person on roads, rail and public transport in Queensland. Two-thirds of the funding we put into infrastructure went into regional and rural communities. That was good for my electorate of Blair in South-East Queensland. We also invested about $6.4 billion to help rebuild flood affected communities in South-East Queensland and Victoria and cyclone affected communities in North Queensland. Sadly, those opposite could not bring themselves to vote for the funding that was needed to undertake that rebuilding.

The former federal Labor government had a massive infrastructure program. I pay tribute to the shadow minister, the member for Grayndler, who really led this. Sitting at the feet of Tom Uren, his mentor, he saw the necessity for the world's most urbanised country to invest in major cities—in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and beyond. That is why we invested an enormous amount of money—$13.6 billion—on urban public transport infrastructure, more, combined, than all our predecessors since Federation. We established the first Major Cities Unit. We established the national planning task force. We required all state and territory governments to come up with strategic plans for infrastructure. We made sure that there were productive, sustainable and livable cities where communities could grow. That is why we invested so heavily in the major cities and provincial towns in this country

I oppose this legislation because it is a retrograde step. Having grown up in Queensland, I fear we will see a situation such as we had during Joh Bjelke-Petersen's days when sealed roads led up to the home of the local president or secretary of the National Party. If you were a prominent member of the coalition back in the 50s, 60s and 70s you could get what you wanted through regional rorts. We saw that a bit in the ANAO report that looked into the Regional Partnerships program. The report found that the previous coalition government's infrastructure scheme had '… fallen short of an acceptable standard of public administration.' The member for Grayndler outlined a number of examples where the previous coalition government had failed in that regard.

This bill uses Orwellian language. The bill will reduce transparency and potentially create a situation where we will return to the Regional Partnerships arrangements and the pork barrelling that was endemic to them. In fact, one of the things that I remember most from when I was first elected was people coming to see me as a new member of parliament and asking me to assist them in their projects. Very few of them actually had much of an evidence base or much merit to them, but they expected us to fund them under the old scheme. I told them that they needed to get an evidence base. That is why I was so pleased when we brought in Infrastructure Australia. That recommended many good projects in my home state, including the major one—probably the hallmark of the failure of the Howard government in Queensland—the Ipswich Motorway between Brisbane and Ipswich. That went out towards Toowoomba through the Warrego Highway and into the rural areas of South-East and South-West Queensland.

The flawed Regional Partnerships arrangement is, I fear, back with this government. We will see the capacity for the minister to interfere in Infrastructure Australia's evaluation process, and I think what will happen here will be a real weakening of independence and impartiality. I fear that those people who are currently on the necessary council will therefore find themselves getting the chop. I think we will see an increase in ministerial power. I think those on the Infrastructure Australia council have done an excellent job since its creation, back in 2008, when we introduced the Infrastructure Australia bill.

The bill before the House creates a board rather than a council. We will see, as I say, the previous members of that particular council likely to find that their services will no longer be required in the future. The minister has incredible powers here and is being given opportunity to do a lot of things. The minister has the power to nominate pet projects and to exclude classes of projects—for example, public transport. The coalition government have wrongly, in my view, opposed public transport as something that requires national leadership. They can block project evaluations. They can set time frames, set the scope of audits, make evaluations, list plans or advice, direct matters to be considered or not to be considered by Infrastructure Australia and direct the manner in which a function is performed. The minister can make directions that require Infrastructure Australia to refuse to publish material. Under those circumstances, how this legislation is creating independence is beyond me. It really is beyond me to think that somehow Infrastructure Australia's powers are being strengthened. In fact, as I said before, in the Orwellian phraseology that we have heard those opposite sprout in the last hour or two, we can see that Infrastructure Australia is effectively being gutted, neutered.

In 2004, in the middle of the Howard era, the Australian Council for Infrastructure Development estimated that the lack of investment in the nation's infrastructure during the Howard years had cost the economy about $6.4 billion in lost production. I fear that that is what we will see in the future—a loss of economic productivity. We will see poor and inadequate infrastructure directed by the minister for pet projects, which will see, as the Australian Council of Infrastructure Development found under the Howard coalition government, a loss of production.

I mentioned South-East Queensland before. In my home state we are powered by what happens in South-East Queensland. I know that there are many members opposite who sit up in that corner who are from North Queensland, but two-thirds of the people in Queensland live in South-East Queensland. One-in-seven Australians lives in South-East Queensland and about a fifth of the GDP is produced in South-East Queensland. So we invested about $6.3 billion in major road, rail and public transport in South-East Queensland—important projects such as the Moreton Bay Rail Link, which had been promised by coalition governments up there for a long time. In fact, it had been promised for more than 100 years by successive coalition governments. We also invested $365 million in the Gold Coast light rail project, which we delivered in partnership with the state government and the local council. So we have seen a massive investment in the Bruce Highway and the Pacific Highway to the south. We invested as much in the Warrego Highway as the Howard government invested throughout its whole duration.

The coalition refused to fix projects such as the Ipswich Motorway. They refused to do the work that was necessary in relation to it. It took the election of a federal Labor government in 2007 to finally fix the Ipswich Motorway from Dinmore to Darra at a cost of $2.8 billion. We fixed the Dinmore to Goodna section at a cost of $1.7 billion and put $200 million towards the Bruce Highway. It was finished under budget and six months ahead of schedule. I thank the alliance partners who undertook that. When it came to this infrastructure project, the coalition government repeatedly voted against the funding for it in this place. Just as they voted against the funding that was necessary for the rebuilding of Queensland after the floods and cyclones, they voted against the funding for the Ipswich Motorway.

The coalition also voted against another project, the No. 1 project on the list of South-East Queensland council of mayors, which was the Blacksoil interchange. This is the intersection between the Brisbane Valley Highway and the Warrego Highway. The council of South-East Queensland mayors is always led by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. I recall Campbell Newman in his previous iteration as the Lord Mayor of Brisbane coming down to Canberra and meeting with both sides of politics and talking about the necessity for investment in infrastructure. But one of the first acts of the new LNP coalition government in Queensland was to rip $100 million out of road projects across the Warrego Highway and the like. It was the exact opposite of what he had previously urged us to do when he was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. There are many, many electorates across Queensland that have taken the brunt of coalition cuts.

I mention coalition cuts because, during the last federal election, the coalition said that across South-East Queensland they would match the $279 million that we were putting in to kick-start the final section of the Ipswich Motorway—not in my electorate but mostly in the member for Moreton's electorate—from Darra to Rocklea. I tell you what, Mr Deputy Speaker, I was a bit surprised when Senator Brandis and the LNP state member for Ipswich and my political opponent said they would match our plan, after they had opposed that motorway upgrade and the $2.8 billion that we had put in previously. It did not last long. I fear that infrastructure will not last long, because a couple days before the election I saw the fiscal budget impact of coalition policies. I see the member for Groom's Toowoomba Range Crossing does not get very far in terms of funding. I also see that the Warrego Highway does not get much either. But to my surprise, although I should not have been surprised, for the Ipswich motorway, Darra to Rocklea, there was $65 million—a commitment that could not even last a couple of weeks—not $279 million. To make matters worse, their colleagues and comrades in the Queensland government would not undertake to partner in the Darra to Rocklea section of the Ipswich Motorway. If they cannot get this project right and will not support it, how will the future of Ipswich be secured in Brisbane and how will Infrastructure Australia in its new, weakened guise operate effectively? I suspect what will happen in the future is that it will be gutted, neutered and emasculated.

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