Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is a very grim view of our country. But another aspect of last night's budget was infrastructure. I must say as a Melburnian that $5 billion for the airport rail link—long overdue, I think most Melburnians would say—is a key investment from this government, with $3 billion recommitted for the East West Link, which the Labor Party so shamelessly spent $1.3 billion cancelling, and $1.75 billion for the North East Link. I am being parochial, but there are investments in infrastructure throughout the country: $24½ billion of infrastructure projects the length and breadth of this country.

What we are seeing is a Treasurer and a government that are literally watching every dollar and every cent and reinvesting those into good things. A big portion of it's being reinvested into allowing people to keep more of their own money—low- and middle-income earners will take the lion's share of tax expenditures—and getting back to surplus earlier than expected, again underpromising and overdelivering, which is the hallmark of Treasurer Morrison; making key investments into infrastructure; and so many other important things. A strong economy isn't an end to itself; it enables us to do the things that the Australian people expect. That's what this government's doing, and that's what this budget does in spades. (Time expired)

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