Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be speaking on the Asset Recycling Fund Bill 2014 and the Asset Recycling Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 today. This initiative is a bold and necessary component of Australia's infrastructure future. The bills propose that the government can sell public assets, such as Medibank, with the resulting proceeds going towards much needed infrastructure investment projects. The Asset Recycling Fund is scheduled for commencement on 1 July this year. The coalition is proud to be the government that is actively responding to our infrastructure crisis. The last six years have seen infrastructure growth all over Australia stagnate under procrastination and delay. The coalition, under our two infrastructure leaders, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, is making a historic investment in the budget this year to get on with building Australia's infrastructure.

For too long, our infrastructure needs have not kept up with population growth. This has detrimental effects for Australia as a competitive international player, for economic certainty and for the lives of fellow Australians. Congestion on roads bearing the heavy burden of traffic is costing our economy $15 billion a year, and weak productivity growth from a range of factors is threatening the stability of our future living standards. Infrastructure development and implementation is top priority for this government. Years of procrastination and delay threaten current and future economic prosperity. The undeniable truth is that we must act now. We have to break the complacency that was paralysing our infrastructure growth and resolve the infrastructure backlog. The coalition is getting on with the job, as per our election promise, of building the roads of the 21st century by committing to existing projects. We will not be wasting further time and funds on consultation and analysis while not actually rolling anything out.

I think what Macquarie Group Executive Director, Jim Miller, said previously really homes in on this point:

We have this inertia where everyone is pointing to each other. The Commonwealth is pointing to the States; the States are pointing to the Commonwealth. Meanwhile we haven't achieved anything.

This is the differentiating factor between members on this side of the chamber and those opposite. Instead of leaving such important decisions solely to other parties to figure out how to get the project going, the coalition's budget figures constitute a historic infrastructure investment and prove that we have listened to stakeholders and gotten stuck into the job of building the roads and transport of the 21st century within just eight months of being in government. The critics might say the coalition is merely committing to existing projects by the Labor government. But, ultimately, there is a big difference between commitment and action. The coalition is about action and getting the job done.

I note from the recent Infrastructure Australia report that urgent reforms are needed to address our growing population in all areas of Australia. Sir Rod Eddington, Chairman of Infrastructure Australia, said:

Focusing on the right reforms will help us to use existing infrastructure more efficiently … and involve private players more in the ownership and management of traditionally publicly owned assets by recycling capital to fund new infrastructure … These reforms, however challenging, will leave Australians better off—with more capable Governments, better planned infrastructure that meets their needs, and more sustainable, affordable transport options.

The good news for Sir Rod and for Australians across the nation is that a core element of the government's Economic Action Strategy is the commitment of an additional $11.6 billion in the budget for the Infrastructure Growth Package. I also wish to refer to the draft report of the Productivity Commission produced in March of this year which notes:

Efficient public infrastructure plays a key role in a competitive and productive economy and the ongoing funding and financing of infrastructure development in Australia is therefore of critical importance.

I proudly support the $5 billion contained in the budget to establish the Asset Recycling Initiative, which will provide incentive payments to states and territories that sell assets so that proceeds can be reinvested to fund essential infrastructure right around Australia. This is a win-win scenario. This record level of investment in infrastructure by a Commonwealth government reflects our resolve to get things done, because that is what we were elected to do. Delaying infrastructure is harmful to the national interest and will ultimately impede long-term economic prosperity.

In my electorate of Barton, residents are already benefiting from the actions of an effective government. Through smart investing and modes of financing, stage 2 of WestConnex is set to begin early next year, with the Commonwealth and state governments working together. This is an $11 billion project that will greatly benefit the constituents and motorists in my electorate. The project received a $1.5 billion commitment from the coalition to the state of New South Wales and a further $2 billion as a concessional loan to accelerate the delivery of stage 2 by up to 18 months. This innovative reform of finance is the type of creative financial solution we have needed for a long time, and it has taken a coalition government to deliver it.

The WestConnex is one of the largest transport infrastructure projects in Australia. The project will deliver 33 kilometres of new and upgraded motorways linking Western and South-western Sydney with the city, Sydney Airport and port precincts. It will remove traffic in that motorists can bypass busy CBD streets and go underground. An estimated 3,000 trucks use these existing roads daily and this development will mean their travel times will be reduced and the traffic burden placed on local roads will ease.

Beyond addressing motorist needs, the WestConnex will deliver more than $20 billion dollars in economic benefits to New South Wales with a further 10,000 jobs created during the construction period. This is outstanding and testimonial to what an efficient infrastructure government can achieve. Projects like these can continue to operate right around the nation with the onset of the Asset Recycling Fund.

Initiatives like these are essential to reducing infrastructure construction costs and address any barriers to private sector financing. The last six years of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government have seen our infrastructure stagnate with high congestion on local roads. The Productivity Commission's draft report on public infrastructure highlighted poor project selection and poor planning as some of the major constraints on Australians receiving the infrastructure they need, and that is very disappointing. If we are to prosper and create economic certainty for all Australians now and into the future, we must get on with delivering the roads, ports and means of transport for all Australians immediately.

The budget constraints now and into the future mean we are facing infrastructure deficits exacerbated further by the previous five record deficits under the Labor government. Further, we have layers of bureaucracy that stifle infrastructure growth and development—for example, nearly 600 different local, state and territory governments along with commonwealth government and infrastructure departments. This is creating inefficient and slow development from ideas to reality, meaning our projects take a long time to get off the ground and therefore become unattractive to potential investors.

The coalition is committed to working constructively with state counterparts to address needs and move projects forward in a timely fashion. The Asset Recycling Fund will tap into potential private investor funding to alleviate the burden on traditional government revenue. Members of the opposition are against user-pay models, but infrastructure can only be funded through either increases in tax, increases in borrowings or user charges. Because of the large debt and deficit we are in and the tax revenue languishing from changes to demographics, asset recycling is a viable and necessary option to address our chronic infrastructure shortage. Unless a government is innovative and prepared to confront the challenges that lay ahead, Australia will continue to face a chronic undersupply of infrastructure. Everyone has to contribute to these investments because there simply is not a surplus of money.

The coalition fully recognises this, and we are committed to tackling these challenges head on. Members of the opposition may counter by saying these are all the things they have done whilst they were governing. Unfortunately, their track record speaks otherwise. As mentioned earlier, the WestConnex project is not new, and Labor had the chance for years to do right by the people of Barton and New South Wales. But it never kicked it off.

Further west of the WestConnex, the Parramatta-Epping rail link was delayed by seven years until a coalition government came into power. Another infrastructure fiasco was the National Broadband Network, costing in the billions and still not having reached their targeted numbers well and truly after the initial rollout phase. Any government that spends the hard-earned dollars of taxpayers is accountable for the outcomes of their investment. These projects should ultimately enhance the lives of constituents and respond to their needs.

To further highlight the enormity of support for this bill—which should illustrate the dire straits we were left in regards to infrastructure—states and territories all signed the National Partnership Agreement on Asset Recycling at the Council of Australian Governments meeting on 2 May this year. This signed agreement with state and territory counterparts means that for every dollar of government investment it will harness a return of $8 for infrastructure revenue. The Asset Recycling Initiative will leverage close to $40 billion of new infrastructure investment from the states and territories.

This unanimous support for the agreement demonstrates that state and federal levels of government can work together. Ultimately, the real outcomes of the coalition's record spending on infrastructure investment aside from roads, rail and urban transport is that people benefit by having more time back in their personal lives. We must not forget that initiatives like an asset recycling fund which goes on to fund important road projects and improve logistics has a very real benefit in terms of human value for all Australians. Less time spent on congested roads means more time at home and with family. Fewer heavy vehicles in the CBD means urban transport can get from A to B faster, carrying passengers who can spend less time stuck in traffic and more time doing the things they enjoy. Weekends can be freed up for personal time as opposed to waiting in traffic.

The big winners of the coalition's infrastructure spend and Asset Recycling Initiative are the people and families that make up our society. Giving time back to people and families who are already time poor is important, and this will be achieved with the coalition's growth package. I commend the bill to the House.

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