Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

Hear about one of my constituents, Vince Crow, of Haberfield. He got two letters signed by the senior project manager of WestConnex on 26 June 2014. He got two letters signed by the same bloke, in different envelopes. One of them said his home 'needs to be acquired to construct the project'. The other letter, on the same day, says that it will not need to be acquired by the New South Wales government. That is why you do proper planning. That is why you make sure that you get it right.

In Western Australia, the WestConnex project has not even been approved by the WA government. They did not know anything about it and, when asked about it in their estimates process, the representative said that it was a project that simply was not up to scratch and they were not in a position to make any of the information available on that project. The former WA state MP in the chamber, I am sure, knows that that is the case.

Today we have new legislation introduced by the minister saying that there will be cost-benefit analysis for projects of more than $100 million. I thought, this could be pretty good; maybe they are getting it, except that when you look at the legislation you give the money first and then you have the cost-benefit analysis. It is for projects which have already received $100 million. The reason projects like the Hunter Expressway received funding, and Majura Parkway, was that we did that cost benefit analysis, it was published on the website—in the case of Majura Parkway a BCR above three, in the case of Hunter Expressway a BCR above four—we published it as a result of our process. Those opposite just do not get it.

The first they did when they came to office was to abolish the Major Cities Unit. Those opposite do not believe in integrated transport plans. What they have funded are projects—in the case of East West the best BCR that has been published is 0.8. What that means is that for every dollar invested you get 80c back. That is their view of proper analysis. What we have seen from those opposite is the withdrawal of public from public transport, a withdrawal of engagement in cities, the Urban Policy Forum has not met, a withdrawal of rail freight projects with not one new rail freight project announced in the budget for the first time since 2006.

Mr Briggs interjecting—

Inland rail was in the 2009 budget with $300 million to commence this year. They do not have a single new project under construction. They have no ideas and no plans.

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