Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am grateful to the member for Gellibrand for his motion and for giving us the opportunity to talk about the innovative leadership and unprecedented investment the Turnbull government is making in our urban infrastructure. The member for Gellibrand's motion rightly points out that the government has a leadership role to play in ensuring the productivity and livability of Australian cities. He is absolutely right. That's why this government introduced the concept of City Deals to this country and it is why it is rigorously pursuing them from Tasmania to Townsville. These deals are already making a difference to cities all over Australia and their impact will only grow as more come online.

The member for Gellibrand also draws attention to what he calls record funding commitments made by the previous Labor government. But the difference between the Turnbull government's record $75 billion infrastructure investment and the record commitments he refers to is that we can pay for ours. The Turnbull government's investment is fully funded as part of a responsible budget with a robust path back to surplus. The previous Labor government made a lot of so-called record funding commitments. But they also left a lot of record budget black holes. It is hard to imagine how Labor would have paid for public transport infrastructure in Victoria, or anywhere else, when it was short of $57 billion to pay for the NDIS. Sadly, on the evidence of the shadow Treasurer's budget reply, they are still at it. The simple truth is that you can't trust any funding commitment made by this shifty Leader of the Opposition and his Labor colleagues. You couldn't trust their fantasy double accounting then and you can't trust it now.

On the Sunshine Coast we have recently seen what the Turnbull government's genuine leadership on public transport infrastructure can achieve. The Sunshine Coast is a rapidly growing and dynamic region, with more than 200,000 people set to join us in the decades to come. However, when it comes to intercity public transport, we currently rely on a single-track rail line capable of supporting trains travelling at less than 60 kilometres an hour and situated many kilometres inland from our major population centres. Faster and more reliable rail transport between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane would get more freight trucks and cars off our roads, free up capacity, improve safety on the Bruce Highway and give thousands of commuters more time with their families. In short, it would get commuters home more safely and sooner. That's why it has been one of my top priorities since before my election as the member for Fisher.

The 2018 federal budget included a new commitment of $390 million to duplicate the existing railway line between Beerburrum and Landsborough and to make further improvements up to Nambour. We've been calling for this duplication on the Sunshine Coast for decades. It is long overdue. When completed, it will allow for more regular trains for both passengers and freight and for a far more reliable service. However, the Turnbull government has gone far beyond simply delivering on the infrastructure we need now. The government has shown the leadership the member for Gellibrand looks for in vain from his own party and is planning for the future. In March, we announced that the North Coast Connect high-speed rail project was one of only three in the country selected by the government to receive millions of dollars in federal funding for a detailed business case. By upgrading the existing rail for high-speed trains and building a new line from Beerwah up the coast through Caloundra to Maroochydore, this project would offer travel times of as low as 45 minutes from our region to Brisbane.

The business case is expected to take a little more than a year to produce, and when it is published the project will become a prime candidate for funding under the Turnbull government's $10 billion National Rail Program. While we await publication of the business case, I'll be working hard with my friend the member for Fairfax and all my LNP team Queensland colleagues to lay the groundwork to ensure this project is a priority for federal and state government funding. With city deals being agreed all over the country and with a fully funded and unmatched investment of $75 billion in infrastructure nationwide, truly, no government could be said to have achieved greater leadership in promoting the productivity and livability of cities than the Turnbull government.

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