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

The minister opposite appears to be not embarrassed, as he should be, by the performance on the East West Link, but he raises it. He should look at the Auditor-General's assessment of that project or look at the cost-benefit analysis, because the government did provide that $1½ billion advance payment as part of $3 billion that they committed to a project that would return 45c for every dollar invested—but that, of course, was not new money. That was money that was cut from the Melbourne Metro, some $3 billion; from the M80, $500 million; and from the Managed Motorways Program. More than $70 million was cut from that program. That is a great example of what the government have done on infrastructure, because they cut the program and then went back and announced the Monash Freeway managed motorways project in a splash, as if it were new, a year and a half after they cut it in their 2014 budget.

What those projects had in common was that they had all been approved by Infrastructure Australia. This government has funded projects that were promised during the election campaign but cut projects that would actually produce productivity benefits in order to do so. As a result, because they have not proceeded—projects like Perth Freight Link and other projects that they talked up—you have seen that 20 per cent decline in infrastructure investment.

It is extraordinary that the new Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects told the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects yesterday:

If our cities are pretty good by world standards, then, why is there a need for federal government involvement in cities policy? After all, previous attempts at such involvement–the grand schemes of the Whitlam years, for example, or the ‘cities unit’ Anthony Albanese created as Minister for Infrastructure–have not made much difference.

The fact is that federal involvement in our cities does make a difference. I thought that when the Turnbull coup against Tony Abbott occurred last year—against the elected Prime Minister—and a minister for cities was appointed, in Jamie Briggs, it was a good signal and I welcomed it. Unfortunately, Jamie Briggs was given no department, no major cities unit and no real job to do, just a title. They have not even bothered to replace him in the two months since he has gone, and it would appear that there is no real difference when it comes to their policies.

It is extraordinary that rather than building new infrastructure and having a program of their own to go out there and promote in this election campaign, they have actually cut the infrastructure budget by $18 million and reallocated that money to an advertising campaign. It is breathtaking in its boldness. They have said in Senate estimates that it will include newspapers and TV with state and even regionally based television ads. It will cover 88 projects, most of which will be projects that were funded and which began under the former Labor government. Having presided over a 20 per cent decline in infrastructure investment, the government will now cut funding even further to fund spin. If you cannot deliver actual infrastructure projects, deliver propaganda. That is the policy of this government. It takes a special kind of arrogance to cut investment to the bone and then cut it even further so that you can pretend that you have made no cuts. No doubt in the member for Petrie's electorate they will pretend that they had anything to do with the Moreton Bay regional rail line that was, of course, funded by the former government. It was promised in 2010. The funding clicked in and construction began in 2012. The government have, to their credit, supported Badgerys Creek as Sydney's second airport. That is an important project that will create jobs for Western Sydney. They need to make sure that they get it right. This is an opportunity to have world's best practice in terms of the environment, the amenity and the boost that it will provide for employment in Western Sydney. It can be done in a way that is sensitive to environmental concerns and minimises the impact on the local community, and they need to make sure that they do that.

The truth is that you cannot have an airport on day one without also having a rail line on day one. The government should be funding that rail line, not just roads. But when it comes to rail, this is a Prime Minister who wants to ride on trams and trains—and take selfies on trams and trains—but not fund trains, buses and trams. This is government by selfie. The fact is that the government has to fund public transport, it has to get serious about urban policy and cities policy and it has to restore Infrastructure Australia's independence. There is an opportunity with the reshuffle to do just that, but this government is so internally chaotic that it seems incapable of doing so.

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