Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The hour is so late in question time that the questions from the opposition are moving in a very satisfying direction. The honourable member knows as well as I do that the needs for investment in urban infrastructure span the whole gamut of modes of transport. He knows as well as I do that the approach that I have taken—my own views, expounded in numerous speeches over many years—is that the federal government should support transport infrastructure in cities on the basis of its merit. So you do not favour road over rail or rail over road; you look at the merits, because the reality is that a modern city needs both. It needs good mass transit; it needs good roads; it needs good planning.

In terms of the support we give, as you can see already with the contribution to the Gold Coast light rail, we are supporting mass transport—public rail transport—and we will continue to do so, but it has to stack up on its merits and it will have to compete with other projects. We do not have unlimited funds. This is simply a businesslike, pragmatic approach that recognises, as honourable members have seen from the composition of the ministry and from the appointment of a Minister for Cities and the Built Environment, that ensuring that our cities have support from the federal government is vitally important for the whole of our economy.

The fact is that the prosperity and livability of our cities is a vital economic asset. Many people think—or some people may think—that the environment of our cities is a touchy-feely thing. Well, let me say to honourable members: a livable city is a vital piece of economic infrastructure—having a clean environment in our cities, being able to move around our cities easily. The denial of public transport options in our cities discriminates against the old, the poor and the young. It is a critical matter of equity to ensure that we have good urban planning across cities.

The federal government does not manage cities. We can support good outcomes, encourage good outcomes and encourage good projects, and we will, and we will not discriminate between road and rail. They will all be assessed on their merits, and we have already demonstrated that that is precisely what we are doing. So I am sorry if the honourable member is a bit disappointed by this, but he really should be delighted rather than being so clearly indignant.

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