Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased that the member for Makin has begun the new year energised about his role in this parliament. I thought it was particularly unfair at the end of last year when TheAdvertiser assessed him as having achieved an 'F' over the last 12 months for his efforts in this place. I thought that was particularly unfair! But he has turned the page, and good on him. He's going to come in here and fight for the people of Makin, and so he should. While we're talking about fighting for the people of our electorates, can I just mention, as he did, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Make no mistake, we are at a critical phase in relation to this plan. The fact is that Labor, the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team are going to open the gate. They're going to open the gate to the Victorian Labor government—I should say the New South Wales Liberal government too—to rip the plan up. After all that work that Tony Burke did that I've given him credit for, they want to rip the plan up. This will happen. I hope it doesn't, but, if it does, I'll say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I told you so.'

Let's talk about infrastructure for a minute, and I know the member for Boothby and the member for Grey are particularly interested in infrastructure in South Australia. The member for Makin must have been reading my speech notes, because, quite frankly, he's hit the nail right on the head. The reason we're not getting infrastructure projects delivered from the federal government into South Australia is that we've got a South Australian state government that doesn't want the money. Those opposite will say, 'Oh, rubbish,' but I think it's right because, if they receive this money for infrastructure projects, they give up GST, and, you see, their ability to spend GST money on pet projects, in marginal seats, to prop up Jay in South Australia is critical. Make no mistake, we're hearing a lot about South Australia in this place at the moment. Why is that? Because they want 20 years of a failed Labor government. Sixteen years was bad enough, but they want to give us two decades.

I don't want to talk in generalities. I want to give you a specific. I want to drill right down to the bitumen on the road and give you an example. The member for Boothby and the member for Grey know I have banged on about the Penola bypass for as long as I've been in this place. It was a road that was half-built by the SA Labor government.

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