Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fairfax for his question. I thank him also for hosting my visit last week, where we focused on infrastructure and local job opportunities. I announced last week, in the company of the member for Fairfax and the member for Fisher, that the federal government will provide $181 million in a concessional loan to upgrade the Sunshine Coast Airport. This upgrade is forecast to produce in the order of $4.1 billion worth of economic benefits between 2020 and 2040. There will be over 1,500 direct jobs associated with the project, and 650 indirect full-time jobs are also expected to be created during the project's construction and beyond.

The member for Fairfax rightly indicated on that occasion that a world-class tourism destination like the Sunshine Coast, a highly liveable and desirable location and a regional community, deserves an international airport. I would like to congratulate the local members for the advocacy work they have done and to congratulate them on working with their local council to deliver for their community the airport that the Sunshine Coast community demands, just as they are working to secure additional funding for better and safer roads in their community and to improve rail links in their community. The airport project is an exciting project—one that will deliver jobs and deliver growth to the region, and it is another example of the Turnbull-Joyce government's $50 billion investment in infrastructure.

I must say that the contrast between this government and those opposite in relation to infrastructure has never been clearer. Just before question time today we had the Prime Minister outlining our commitments to infrastructure investment, and, remarkably, the opposition leader came to the dispatch box and had an 18-minute whinge session in response. The opposition leader had time to tell Australians how he would build a better nation, but he came to the dispatch box and he built a complaints box instead. He whinged; he moaned; he complained; he offered nothing in relation to solutions for Australia's infrastructure investment needs. For those of us with kids, it was like leaving on holidays with a two-year-old in the back seat, and, before you have backed down the driveway, he is saying, 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

The opposition leader is the whingeing two-year-old of the Australian federal parliament. He is the whingeing two-year-old of Australian politics. We are getting on with the job of delivering our infrastructure and investment program right across the nation and the Prime Minister is out there delivering in our regional communities, cities and rural and remote areas. While we are delivering, the opposition leader is simply whingeing about it. He should get on board with the government and back us and our $50 billion Infrastructure Investment Program.

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