Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Cowan, which I might say is quite an absurd motion. The coalition government is investing a record amount of money in infrastructure—some $75 billion in infrastructure funding and financing from 2017-18 and 2026-27—to get the airports that we need and to get road and rail network infrastructure projects off the ground. One of the key planks of this government is its commitment to investment in infrastructure.

In Western Australia, we've recently heard about a commitment of some $6.8 billion in infrastructure in terms of the big picture. The majority of that money, to be fair, is going to the city. But I'm a regional member, and they're the things that I'm interested in, and that is not captured in that $6.8 billion. What I do know is that there is an abundance of big infrastructure projects in the northern end of Western Australia, in my seat of Durack. I'm not sure if the member for Cowan gets out of the city much, but, if she does, she might be pleasantly surprised at the investment that the coalition has made throughout the north-west of my state, and that's because this government is backing regional Australia.

In my electorate, we have the Great Northern Highway upgrade, which is a $344 million project, to which the federal government has committed around 75 per cent of the total funds. There's also the North West Coastal Highway upgrade, to which the federal government has committed $86.1 million, the total of which is $108 million. There is also the $6 million Derby Airport upgrade; $50 million for the Cape Leveque Road, which will do amazing things for those people along the peninsula; $45 million for the road between Kununurra and Wyndham, which, again, is going to be of huge support to that area and open up the port; $12 million for the Northern Australia Beef Roads project; and $100 million to help create the Outback Way across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and through to Queensland. Not in my electorate, another great project is the Great Southern housing project, to which the federal government is committing $10 million. It would be remiss of me not to talk about the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program, which we've already spent nearly $5 million on, with airports in Norseman, Carnarvon and Wiluna. We mustn't forget the National Stronger Regions Fund and the Building Better Regions Fund streams, which are all starting to filter through, and we're starting to get runs on the board in my seat of Durack.

It should be noted that these programs never existed when those opposite were running the show. In six long years, we had no commitment to regional Australia. My concern is that should we have the day when those opposite are sitting on this side of the chamber those types of programs will disappear. I'll be doing everything I can to ensure that doesn't happen.

The National Stronger Regions Fund has delivered numerous projects in my electorate, including $300,000 which was recently committed to the Kununurra Rodeo and Campdraft facilities, which is allowing that rodeo association to expand their facilities, to host events year-round and to become a real regional hub for those types of activities. I went there the other day to open it. We had a lot of fun. And I hope that I'll be able to get out there again to do the same. From the National Stronger Regions Fund, in 2016, Durack received about $10 million for eight projects, and with the more recent Building Better Regions Fund, we've secured money for nine separate programs—a total of $20 million. As you can see, in addition to all the roads we're upgrading, that's a huge commitment to my electorate. At the weekend, I had the pleasure of another National Stronger Regions Fund application for the Dowerin Short Stay Accommodation precinct. They received a $800,000 federal government contribution, which was very well-received. What a great project it is.

With the time that's remaining, I want to talk briefly about GST reform. We know that there's a lot of barbs being thrown across the chamber. What has disappointed me in terms of my Western Australian Labor colleagues is the pitiful, miserable submission they put into the GST inquiry. We actually need everybody singing from the same song sheet. If you read that submission, you'd be left thinking, 'Oh, there's nothing to see here. There's nothing to see here.' But for us to get real reform to the GST model, we need my Western Australian Labor colleagues to be talking with their Labor counterparts in Victoria, in the Northern Territory and in Queensland because, without agreement from all states, we're going nowhere. It's very disappointing that we can stand here today and talk about what we are not doing for our state when the Labor representatives from our great state are not doing what they ought to be doing.

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