Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Herbert for his question. As a champion of Townsville he will be particularly keen on infrastructure projects in that area such as the Townsville Ring Road, the Dalrymple Road upgrading and indeed the general commitment of this government to upgrade the Bruce Highway and other sections of our national highway network.

On top of the key investments this government will be making in infrastructure, particularly roads and rail, across the nation, we have also included in our $50 billion infrastructure investment program $5 billion to establish an asset recycling initiative. This is a major new step which will help to support states which are looking to recycle some of their assets and to reinvest in new projects which will produce greater productivity and enhance the growth and development of their regions. By using brownfield investments to leverage investment in new areas of infrastructure we will help to provide the infrastructure that we need for the 21st century. It is anticipated that this $5 billion which the Treasurer has put aside into this initiative could lever around $125 billion worth of investment across the nation. It will be roads, rail, public transport and a whole range of initiatives—

Mr Perrett interjecting—

Mr Husic interjecting—

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