Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Acting Deputy Speaker Henderson, as you know, our infrastructure program is benefiting constituencies right across Australia. Even the member for Bendigo, who is here, would be one of the first to endorse the Stronger Regions program because she benefited so much from it in the first round, with $5 million for the Bendigo airport. As I have made very clear to her, the $5 million that she got for the Bendigo airport will do a lot for Bendigo and its region, particularly around Kyneton and Malmsbury, which is so close to my heart.

But there have been some disappointments and you know about them more than most. The Victorian government's decision not to proceed with the East West Link will damage Geelong and damage Corangamite, in that they will not get the economic benefit they would have received had the East West Link gone ahead. That is why the Abbott government will always have $3 billion locked away, ready for a government to build the East West Link, to ensure Melbourne can achieve what we want it to in the future.

It is very much related to what we see from the Infrastructure Australia audit as a major challenge for our country, which is congestion. Congestion has got worse over the last few years with a lack of coordinated action by governments, particularly in cities, in metropolitan areas. There has been a lot of talk about infrastructure but not a lot of action. What we are seeing from this government is actual delivery.

I can report that since the last time we had this debate 12 months ago some 85 projects have begun construction, with another 98 projects in preconstruction. That is, 85 projects are under construction, with another 98 projects in preconstruction. These are projects that the Abbott government is driving. The Abbott government is announcing, doing the work and delivering upon these projects. I can name a few the Abbott government is delivering for people across Australia.

We have the WestConnex stage 2, which would not be happening as quickly as it is if it were not for the Abbott government's $2 billion concessional loan—the first concessional loan ever used by a federal government for a road project. It is about to get underway. The King Georges Road interchange is a massive bottleneck in Sydney and work is about to get underway.

The issue here, of course, is not just that we have a federal government committed to infrastructure in New South Wales but also that we have Australia's most popular man, the Premier of New South Wales, delivering on what he promised. The most popular man in infrastructure—

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