Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the very positive elements from last night's budget which are set to benefit my electorate of Farrer. There was quite a number of measures of which I am rightly proud. Improvement to counselling for Defence Force personnel has the capacity to greatly improve the lives of up to 1,180 veterans and their families living in Farrer. Fully funding the NDIS will directly help an estimated 3,484 people in my electorate. Our tax relief for small business will provide a tax cut for 20,713 local businesses, and a similar number will also be able to take advantage of the extension to the instant asset write-off for expenses of up to $20,000. And the lifting of an indexation freeze for financial assistance grants to local government will literally pump millions of dollars back into the hands of 14 local councils.

As good as these initiatives are—and they are good—by far the most important long-term proposal we announced last night is the confirmation and go-ahead for the Australian Rail Track Corporation to construct the inland Brisbane to Melbourne rail route. Last night was indeed a rail budget. There was: $100 million for the north-east line, which makes its way to Albury and is a vital public transport link between us and Melbourne; $20 million for the Murray Basin rail project; and $10 million to assess new passenger rail links. By also making inland rail a reality, we are committing $8.4 billion in new equity, which will benefit one of my most important constituencies—by that, I mean farmers. Not that the urban communities of Albury, Griffith, Corowa and Deniliquin are all farmers but in some way or form, each of us relies on agriculture for our existence and prosperity.

The inland rail route will encourage open access, providing the chance for primary producers as well as my local manufacturers and industries to put more freight on rail. The selected route, at least in my part of the world, will follow the existing line from Parkes down to Wagga through to Albury Wodonga and on to Melbourne. I acknowledge there was an alternate proposal by the National Trunk Rail, which would have followed the so-called food bowl route in southern New South Wales. This would have taken a more westerly alignment through Narrandera, crossing the Victorian border at Tocumwal on the way to Melbourne via Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley.

Last night's budget committed additional resources to help communities that will not be directly located on the main north-south corridor so they can also reap the benefits of inland rail. Additional use of existing connecting rail links to the proposed inland rail route will be encouraged, and there is an additional $10 million in works to boost rail connectivity to the Goulburn Valley. Currently, rail freight from Deniliquin and Tocumwal travels through this area to the Port of Melbourne and these routes will be included in a new study. Of course I welcome this commitment but I do suggest that we can go further. Food producers and council representatives from the southern food bowl route argue strongly this western option in our government's thinking must remain alive. We still have time to further investigate the option of fully linking the eastern and western options through southern New South Wales and northern Victoria.

To be blunt, the Australian Rail Track Corporation does not have high reputation in my part of the world. Remedial works done by the ARTC on the north-east track which services V/Line passenger rail between Seymour and Albury was, to quote my neighbour, the member for Indi, 'a shambles'. As a result, there is a crisis of confidence of the ARTC in my region and that needs to be addressed. Has full market testing and cost benefit ratio has been done to ensure we are collecting every piece of available freight to export? Does the route collect the right products and does it take it directly from port to port?

In the distance of the planned feeder rail lines to the main north-south route, is the distance short enough to actually encourage taking freight off-road? I am not sure that we have fully answered all of these questions. The ultimate aim is for inland rail to connect regional Australia to domestic and global markets, bringing Australian rail into the 21st century and building a stronger and more competitive nation. This is $8 billion in taxpayer funds and, as the government of the day, we owe it to everyone to make this project all that it can be. I will continue to work closely with those who support both inland route options to ensure that is exactly the outcome we achieve.

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