Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on this bill, the Land Transport Infrastructure Amendment Bill 2014, because it gives me an opportunity to say a number of things about the bill generally; then, secondly, to speak about some of the impacts it will have on Western Australia; and, thirdly, to speak about some of the impacts and the future program for the electorate of Canning that I have been elected to represent five times now.

We are committed to delivering critical infrastructure to all of Australia to meet the future needs as this nation does grow. The bill will rename the Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Act 2009 as the National Land Transport Act 2014. This amendment of the act is a coalition election promise, evidence that the coalition is committed to developing a stronger Australia by building the roads of the 21st century. It was an election promise and we are going to deliver on our promises.

Further, the amendment is part of the government's broader commitment of $35.5 billion to national infrastructure. This money will be used over six years to build roads and rail projects that are vital to Australia to improve efficiency, boost productivity and drive Australia's economy forward. Again, this is further evidence that the coalition is set to develop a stronger Australia by delivering the biggest infrastructure agenda in Australia's history.

For Western Australia, the $35.5 billion committed under the Infrastructure Investment Program will provide $686 million to complete the Gateway WA Project and $615 million to build the Swan Valley Bypass on the Perth to Darwin Highway. I must say, we are confirming this money in the bill. The previous Rudd-Gillard government promised to do this as long as the money came from the mining tax. The mining tax did not happen. There has been a trickle of money from this ill-constructed mining tax done with a few mates, the three major companies—Rio, BHP and Xstrata—done in the eye of the mid caps and the juniors, and it did not deliver any money of any significance. This government is ensuring that this money is going to flow. The previous government had to borrow the money because they did not get it from the mining tax. We were borrowing $100 million a day from China, largely, to fund these projects and, quite disingenuously, the Labor Party said that this would come from the mining tax, and it has not.

In terms of the bill—and I am sure that most other people have spoken on this—it, firstly, repeals Labor's Nation Building Program so we have a more efficient infrastructure policy. Secondly, the government's motivation to repeal these acts is simply to repeal that legislation which is no longer in use. The bill aims to streamline and enhance the operation of the act in a number of ways, which I am sure has been mentioned.

Another positive aspect of the enhanced operation of this bill is to expand the definition of the phrase 'eligible funding recipient'. It is proposed that 'eligible funding recipients' will now include partnerships and non-corporate Commonwealth entities. Again, this is to streamline the operations of the delivery and the outcomes for this investment. There is very little in this change and it is going to be negative for states and territories. In fact, it will ensure and enshrine the ongoing nature of the delivery from the Commonwealth.

Let us not forget, however, the most important aspect of this bill. This bill will enable the continuation of the Roads to Recovery Program beyond 30 June 2014. Before I go on to the Roads to Recovery program, I reiterate that Western Australia, like the rest of Australia, is in need of not only upgraded and enhanced road projects, but also new road programs. People have trouble getting their minds around some of this. For example, Roy Hill is starting up shortly. That road to the coast may only take a handful of vehicles a day, probably fewer than 100, and to expend millions of dollars on a road that will only take a handful of vehicles is hard to justify when a similar road in Sydney would potentially take 50,000 to 100,000 vehicles a day. But you have got to look at what that one road may do: it will provide access from the mine site to the port for their support vehicles and the contractors to deliver billions of dollars of export income to this country. That is the context you have to put it in—not how many people use the road but what benefit the road will actually deliver in terms of its investment.

The Roads to Recovery program—what a marvellous program—was initiated by the Howard government and, to give credit to the Labor Party, they continued this but made some changes which I will respond to in a moment. The beauty of the Roads to Recovery program is what is called a 'bottoms-up' funding program—not top down where everyone gets a little bit on the way through and the state governments help themselves to a proportion of the funding for handling the moneys as they go through and then skimming some off for themselves, with all the inefficiencies that causes. Local government is on the ground. They know the roads that need repair and enhancement. They are the ones best placed to spend the taxpayers' money most efficiently in their local areas. Without the Commonwealth Roads to Recovery program, many shires and cities in this country would have to struggle to raise the moneys to have these roads in these conditions and to grow the road network.

It is much sought after, but what may or may not have been mentioned in this debate is the fact that the Labor Party, going to the last election, made much of having a constitutional referendum on local government so that they could deliver this money, because there is a constitutional question as to the delivery of Roads to Recovery directly to local government. This has been pointed out in one case that I am aware of, and maybe more, but there is an understanding that, until there is a recognition of local government in the Constitution, we are going to have to deal with this in the way it has been dealt with for a number of years. But what happened to that much vaunted referendum about the recognition of local government that was being led by the then member for Hotham, Simon Crean? It died on the vine, like many of the other initiatives that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government were taking to all their elections.

So we are left with a certain amount of uncertainty, but not enough to mean that this program will not work effectively as it has done in the past. The constitutional question is one issue, but it is not one that concentrates the mind too much, because you cannot get in between a local government authority and this money, because they need it so desperately. In the electorate of Canning, which I represent, this has been a highly successful program throughout the six local government authorities: the City of Armadale, the City of Mandurah, the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, the Shire of Murray, the Shire of Waroona and the Shire of Boddington. They all benefit from this marvellous program, which they then add value to by adding much of their ratepayers' money to expand the road network in their area. So I will spend a little bit of the time that I have left outlining where some of these moneys have gone.

Until recently there was a little bit of flexibility in the program. For example, in the City of Armadale, where they wanted to do some major roadworks but the quantum of money from Roads to Recovery in that year was not sufficient to do it in that financial year, they were given the flexibility of cobbling it together—providing a bridge and doing the roadworks—by allowing it to happen over a two- to three-year period. That is a sensible outcome. It is common sense in terms of the way the Commonwealth should be able to negotiate with local government authorities to see this money best used in the local areas.

Knowing that I was going to be making this speech, we contacted the local government authorities in my area that I have just mentioned. All got back to me except, unfortunately, the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, which probably needs this money more than anyone else because it is the second largest shire by area in Western Australia and has some roads that are desperately in need of help. They are dangerous gravel roads, heading off to Alcoa's mine sites and through areas that are receiving more traffic, like Gobby Road. I have been pushing for Gobby Road with the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale for years. As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, as federal members we cannot tell the councils how to spend their money, but as elected representatives we can certainly indicate where the people think the money should be spent. Gobby Road in the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale in my electorate is certainly one such road, and so is Lightbody Road. But no; the S-J shire has seen fit to spend the money elsewhere, which is a little bit of a disappointment to me. But, as I said, that is an independent process and those elected at a federal level can only make suggestions and try to negotiate with the local government authorities.

The City of Mandurah is a hypergrowth region and is at the end of its borrowing, so this money is like manna from heaven to it. The Roads to Recovery program meant that Mandurah was able to do things like build a two-kilometre road connecting the Mandurah Transit Station to the City of Mandurah. Mandurah was strangled by old roads that stopped the traffic flow, so creatively, when rail arrived in Mandurah from Perth, it needed to find a quick transit to the city. This Roads to Recovery program allowed it to realign some old roads, remove the bowling club that was in the way at the time, do some land acquisitions and acquire some houses that were on the route. The project included the upgrading of the intersection of Scott Street and Anstruther Road. Part of Allnutt Street had to be expanded into four lanes, with the inclusion of traffic lights and street lights at the Allnutt Street-Dower Street intersection. As I said, there was completion of the link through the sections right into Mandurah Terrace. That was a fantastic outcome, because it allowed better access to the train station for those catching the train from Mandurah to Perth, and it has really made getting to work a much better and more seamless journey for the people of Mandurah.

Another project completed in Mandurah under the Roads to Recovery program was the upgrade of both pedestrian and vehicle pathways along Mandurah Terrace, the city's primary thoroughfare along the Mandurah Foreshore. They just had the Mandurah Crab Fest last weekend, and something like 15,000 people turned up on the foreshore that day. Mandurah is the home of the blue manna crab in Western Australia. The crabs are beautiful to eat but do attract a crowd on that weekend. People have just marvelled, because people go to Monkey Mia and places like that to see dolphins but you can sit on the foreshore in Mandurah and see a whole range of dolphins performing in front of you. It is a beautiful part of the Mandurah estuary, and we provided Roads to Recovery moneys so that people can get better access and upgrade the whole experience in the city centre of Mandurah. It is a great tourist destination and, if it did not have this infrastructure development from the Commonwealth in areas such as the foreshore reserve, it would not benefit from tourism in the way it is doing.

There are projects throughout the electorate. The Shire of Murray has used the moneys to link the Coolup region to the Perth-Bunbury highway, and this is to provide safe and reliable access to what could have been considered one of the highest traffic highways in the region. Without this funding provided by Roads to Recovery, it is arguable that the Shire of Murray would have found it difficult to construct this link, so that is another shire that has benefited. This type of strategic road planning which the Roads to Recovery program affords to the likes of the City of Mandurah and the Shire of Murray provides examples of why I support the continued funding of the program under the Land Transport Infrastructure Amendment Bill, which we are talking about today.

Briefly, I want to mention a couple of other shires. Out in Boddington, the Chalkbrook Road is a very small project. For those not aware, Boddington is another Western Australian success story. Potentially the largest goldmine in Australia, the Newmont mine at Boddington is producing something like 800,000 ounces of gold a year. This road is helping build the infrastructure in that area so that the local residents can make great use of it. In the Shire of Waroona, Coronation Road has been upgraded through this program. There are so many things that I could continue to talk about with this program. I am out of time, but this ensures the flow of the funds, through these changes to the legislation, and guarantees security for local governments, the state of Western Australia and, dare I say, the rest of Australia into the future.

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