Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on this motion moved by the member for Reid. Small and medium businesses are the engine room of the Australian economy and, of course, the engine room of employment. For them to thrive and to prosper, an effective infrastructure network is vital. In my contribution today, I am keen to focus on the investments occurring in my electorate of Corangamite as part of our record $50 billion of infrastructure spending announced in last year's budget.

Very proudly, we are duplicating the Princes Highway, an incredibly important road for Geelong, Colac, Winchelsea, Birregurra and Beeac. It is wonderful to see that underway. We are having some problems with the section between Waurn Ponds and Winchelsea; there has been a delay. I have called on the state government to explain why there has been the delay, and unfortunately they have not provided the answers that the community deserves. However, it was with great pride that I turned the sod with the Colac Otway Shire mayor, Frank Buchanan, a number of months ago on the section between Winchelsea and Colac. It is going to absolutely transform the Colac Otway region. This is so important not just for road safety but for new business investment, for jobs and for new opportunities for the farmers and the major employers like AKD, Australian Lamb Company and Bulla Dairy. I am delighted to report that the CEO of Colac Otway Shire is already seeing a significant increase in interest from businesses and developers. So already we are seeing a real surge of activity as a result of our government's investment.

There is similar excitement on the upgrade of the Great Ocean Road, a wonderful project for tourism, for road safety and for the wonderful communities that span the magnificent coastline from Torquay right through beyond Cape Otway. That is a very important project. The Great Ocean Road is the centrepiece of a $2.1 billion tourism economy and really is very important. I have to say it is very unfortunate that we saw Labor campaign so vigorously against this upgrade. They ran a terrible campaign riddled with false claims, such as that we were going to turn the road into a four-lane freight highway. So, unfortunately, the Labor candidate for Corangamite and Labor oppose the upgrade of this road. In contrast, I am very proud to say that I will be fighting for more funding for this road, because it is such an iconic road. It is so important—not just for Australians but for international visitors. It needs more money and I am going to be fighting very hard.

The problem that we have in Victoria is that we have an infrastructure crisis caused by the Andrews Labor government. At the heart of that crisis—when you look at the $30 billion of infrastructure investment occurring in New South Wales—we have the East West Link project cancelled, costing 7,000 jobs and at least $640 million. This is a terrible decision. It is a project that was previously supported by the likes of the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Corio, but they did not have the courage to stand up to Daniel Andrews and the CFMEU. This is a project that is desperately needed.

We have seen what is going on in Victoria as a result of the Andrews government's failure to invest in infrastructure. Look at Bay West—Bay West is another classic example. At the moment it is all smoke and mirrors. They said they were going to deliver it and they said they were going to look at a second port. We now see more manipulation and more deception, with a dirty deal involving the Port of Melbourne where there will be no second port under the state Labor government.

In Victoria last month there were 6,900 new jobs; in contrast, in New South Wales there were 29,600 jobs. The Geelong unemployment rate is actually pretty good all up, at about six per cent, but not in any way helped by the state Labor government, which is actually causing enormous damage to the Victorian economy. I say to Daniel Andrews, to Labor, to Bill Shorten and to the local Labor MPs: have the courage to stand up for infrastructure and have the courage to invest in this project, because we need it. For the people of Geelong and for the people of Corangamite, it is absolutely vital.

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