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

Thank you to the champion of the North for that very, very important question. He recognises how important productivity-improving infrastructure is for our country. Not only does it improve our economy and give us a better chance as a nation to be competitive in the future but it creates jobs now. In northern Australia, there are substantial commitments by this government towards upgrading the infrastructure of the North. Our $50 billion program—which incidentally is $16.4 billion more than Labor promised at the last election—a $50 billion commitment to infrastructure, includes some very important projects in the North, particularly in the member for Leichhardt's electorate. There is the Southern Access Corridor into Cairns—two more stages beyond the one that we completed that was left over from the previous government. There is the $210 million package to upgrade roads through Cape York Peninsula—a very substantial commitment. On top of that there is the Edmonton to Gordonvale duplication—not quite in the member's electorate, but he is a man who certainly fought hard to achieve that. That is the best part of $1 billion worth of roadworks in Cairns and Far North Queensland. That is going to be an important job creator for that region. Between them, these projects will create thousands of jobs, and they are thousands of jobs on top of what has already been created under the infrastructure program of this government. The Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, for instance—a project which I am pleased to see is now supported by the Labor state government in Queensland, even though it has always been opposed by members opposite—

Mr Albanese interjecting—

See this speech in context