Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition today is making the completely false claim that the coalition government has underdelivered on infrastructure. But it cannot be ignored that this year's April budget brought total infrastructure expenditure by the coalition government up to $100 billion over 10 years. The coalition government is investing in infrastructure, from small black spots to major motorways and from soccer goals to sporting amenity upgrades on projects in regional areas and in urban electorates such as my own in the inner west of Sydney. Only recently, I joined the Deputy Prime Minister and the New South Wales Premier to open a core piece of infrastructure in my electorate: the first stage of WestConnex. This piece of infrastructure was possible only because of the coalition government's commitment of $1.5 billion and providing a concessional loan of $2 billion. This infrastructure will be getting residents of Reid home sooner and safer, residents of the broader Sydney area home to their families and, significantly, will be providing a new connection between Sydney's eastern CBD and the emerging western CBD. The later stages of WestConnex will link Sydney's western suburbs to Sydney Airport as well as diverting trucks off the very busy Parramatta Road.

In the 2019-20 budget we're providing $2.2 billion over 10 years for a local and state government road safety package. This includes a major boost to the Black Spot Program, which targets safety issues on urban and regional roads, and additional funding to the Roads to Recovery Program, which supports vital road maintenance to local governments. Though some of these projects seem quite small on paper, a new roundabout or road surfacing can have a huge impact on a local community.

In my electorate of Reid it's the back roads used by commuters that see the greatest benefit from these programs. Earlier this year the Morrison government committed $50 million from the $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund towards improvements to Homebush Bay Drive. This will improve safety and traffic flow on an arterial roadway that carries traffic from north of the Parramatta River to South Sydney. The Urban Congestion Fund will also deliver upgrades to the very busy King Georges Road in the electorate of Banks and $50 million for key commuter carparks across Sydney.

The Western Sydney Airport will open up new opportunities for businesses, for jobs and for trade. That reflects a $5.3 billion investment by the Morrison government, creating 50,000 jobs. Careful fiscal management has allowed the coalition to invest millions of dollars into Reid's local sporting infrastructure via the Community Development Program, including improvements to facilities at Strathfield Park, to netball facilities at Cintra Park, to rugby facilities at Goddard Park and to AFL facilities at Timbrell Park, all in my electorate. As a mother and a psychologist I know how important sport is to a child's development, not just social and emotional but physical as well. This investment in local sporting infrastructure will allow more children to get involved in team sports.

We also have the Stronger Communities Program with round 5 opening up next week. This program is hugely popular in Reid because it allows even our smallest community groups to improve their infrastructure and build their capacity to offer support and programs to our local community groups such as the Embroiderers Guild New South Wales and Eurella Community Services as well as Scouts groups, sporting groups, Lions groups and Rotary clubs, who all benefit from this funding.

Nationally over 7,700 programs have been funded since the establishment of the Stronger Communities Program. I can't wait to work with community groups and not-for-profit organisations in Reid on the next round in the coming weeks. Grants from the Stronger Communities Programs, the $22.65 million Communities Environment Program and the $30.2 million Local Schools Community Fund provide tangible local examples of infrastructure grants that have been announced by the Morrison government and that will deliver real benefits to my electorate of Reid and to all electorates across Australia. It's clear that the coalition government is delivering record spending on infrastructure as a result of a strong economy, careful fiscal management— (Time expired)

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