Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the private members' motion moved by the member for Berowra regarding the M1-M2 link, and to support the member for Grayndler's amendment. I agree that the coalition should be commended for fulfilling a promise they took to the election. We have seen them break commitment after commitment to the Australian public since being elected, so it is good of them to go through with one—it is a nice change!

I also agree that investment in infrastructure is a crucial component of economic growth. Labor believe the same, and that is why, when in government, we invested $36 billion under the Nation Building Program and committed to investing a further $24 billion. That is $60 billion in total. That is investment that helped Australia survive and improved our economic status during the global financial crisis while other developed nations floundered.

Just last week we saw another major Labor government infrastructure investment open near my electorate of Newcastle, the Hunter Expressway—the largest-ever infrastructure project built in the Hunter region. The new four-lane, 40-kilometre road will improve road safety, boost productivity and ease congestion. It will cut travel time between Newcastle and the Hunter Valley by 25 minutes. Federal Labor funded the project in the 2009-10 budget at a cost of $1.5 billion as part of its economic stimulus plan. The New South Wales government contributed $200 million. Coalition members who opposed the economic stimulus package in the parliament were, of course, amongst the first to line up to cut the ribbon when the road was officially opened last Friday. I am glad that the member for Hunter, who fought so vehemently to secure funds for the Hunter Expressway, was eventually invited to join with the state and federal government ministers who swooped out of the Hunter just as swiftly as they had arrived.

Let us look at some of the detail of the M1-M2 link—or NorthConnex as it is now being called. The major infrastructure project to link the M1 and M2 is indeed a much-needed missing link and will provide major benefits to travellers making their way to and from Sydney and up to Newcastle. It is a vital project that will remove 21 sets of traffic lights between the Central Coast and the City of Sydney. It is vital for commuters, but it is also good for freight. However, two weeks ago we saw a staged press conference with the Prime Minister and the Premier of New South Wales to rename the project that federal Labor had worked on and included in budgets for a number of years. One hundred and fifty million dollars of that funding is already flowing through this financial year; $5 million flowed into the project in 2012-13 budget as well. The press conference did not announce one extra dollar of investment or one extra metre of road—although we do have a new name, so there will be some new signage. Indeed, there was already an agreement between the state and Commonwealth governments which saw $405 million committed by the New South Wales government and $405 by the Commonwealth, with arrangements for Transurban to conduct the work. The former Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the member for Grayndler, signed the intergovernmental agreement for this project with the relevant state minister, Duncan Gay, in the government party room of the New South Wales parliament on 21 June last year.

If the government, led by the so-called 'infrastructure Prime Minister', are serious about infrastructure, they need to actually build something new, not just come up with a new name for a project already underway. In Newcastle and the Hunter they could build on the preparatory work Labor undertook for high-speed rail that would see Newcastle connect to all the major cities on the eastern seaboard, or they might like to consider some transport links to our currently unserviced airport at Williamtown. This is an attempt by the Abbott government to con the people of Australia into thinking that they are doing something in infrastructure when they are really doing nothing new at all.

One point missing from the motion before the House today is that this road will also benefit the people of Newcastle. We welcome the M1-M2 development, which will free up traffic flows for Novocastrians travelling on to connect with the M7, making significant travel time cuts.

In closing, I commend the government's commitment to completing Labor's program for construction of the M1-M2 link. We agree that investment in infrastructure is vital for economic growth. That is why we implemented such a major nation-building project under the former, Labor government. I genuinely look forward to the government bringing forward some genuinely new infrastructure projects for investment into our future.

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