Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am a great believer in the power and potential of this great nation. That's why I rise to support the spirit of this proposal and this motion in this place. When you look at the history of this great continent and what has been done, it's been done through hard work, through sacrifice, through people seizing the opportunity of the land in which we live to build this nation's future. The principle behind this motion is precisely that—to allow Australians across this country, as well as people who are new Australians, the opportunity to be part of the continuing vision of Australia and its opportunity.

Where people want to invest in the future of this country we should empower them to be able to do so, so that they can enjoy the fruits and opportunities that have been provided for generations past and can be provided for those into the future. That's why we should support decentralisation, because what we want is the opportunity across the great expanse of this continent to be able to harness and utilise it for the benefit of Australians and future generations. But, more critically, we shouldn't just look at decentralisation—isolation being about people, although it is. Decentralisation goes to the core of Liberal values and Liberal philosophy, about who we are and what we want for this great nation. Decentralisation isn't just about moving departments or bureaucracies out of capital cities. It's about building the foundations of our country across the continent and making sure political power is close to the people it's designed to serve, because the closer power is to the people it's designed to serve the more likely it will reflect the values of that community, the aspirations of that community, have a higher degree of accountability and make sure that it's more in touch with the people who want to see a better Australia.

That doesn't negate the fact that this government has made landmark, significant and historic contributions to the decentralisation of Australia, empowering those communities and strengthening them from the community up—not simply from Canberra down. We've seen the historic investment in Inland Rail, that will link the Port of Brisbane to Port of Melbourne, transforming freight movements throughout Victoria, New South Wales and South-East Queensland while promoting economic opportunities for jobs and growth in those regions. This empowers farmers and empowers employers in those communities to take the goods and services they provide and export them to the world.

To build, repair and upgrade local roads, we're investing $4.4 billion in the Roads to Recovery Program. The Black Spot Program of $684 million for seven years from 2021 is delivering safety improvements so that those who drive outside of capital cities and freeways can make sure they can get to their destinations safely—and they can be the safe communities where people want to live. The local bridges are also being fixed, with $420 million for the Bridges Renewal Program. Maintaining higher living standards in regional areas requires us to manage economic transactions effectively.

But it isn't just the regional centres that are yearning for the opportunity to empower and build the many smaller cities in this country. The call and the demand is also coming from our capital cities. In the Goldstein community I speak so often to people who worry about the congestion, the obligation and the burdens that are now sitting on our overstretched roads, our overstretched hospitals and our overstretched schools. What Australians want to see, and Goldstein residents want to see, are more Australians being spread out across this country because they see their opportunity and their future there. This will take the pressure off our capital cities and make sure that there are other choices and other opportunities, particularly for new and young Australians who want to have their fair share and their fair go of investing in the future of this nation.

That's why there's been such a strong push by the state opposition leader in Victoria, Matthew Guy, to shift the focus from building up a city state around Melbourne—a wonderful community and a wonderful capital city, which I am very privileged to represent and be part of—to make sure that we go from being a city state to a state of cities, empowering those rural and regional communities to realise their ambitions. The more the state and the federal governments work in concert to deliver those outcomes then the more we will develop and deliver the services that Australians want and the standards they expect, and the more we will build this great nation's future.

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