Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mallee for her question. Five years before Federation, the Swan Hill Bridge was completed. This bridge is still operating today, although it needs repairs. When it does get those much-needed repairs, there will be interruption to traffic, and, of course, that affects the community. The Liberals and the Nationals, as part of our $100 billion nationwide infrastructure rollout over the next decade, are getting on and replacing the bridge. The local mayor, Anne Young, is absolutely delighted with what she is doing. The member for Mallee and I were there when Councillor Young described replacing the Swan Hill Bridge as 'a budget winner'. A budget winner, indeed! I'm sure the Treasurer would have been delighted to hear those words. Councillor Young also said:

The Federal Government has already invested heavily in our region, and this bridge funding is the icing on the cake …

The bridge has been a long term aspiration of our community, and this funding will help us achieve a new bridge much sooner.

Of course, she is right. There has been a lot of funding going into the member for Mallee's electorate, because she is a fighter, she is determined and she wants her community to be the best it can be.

Whether it's the member for Mallee's or any other electorate right across this country, they are all benefiting from having a budget going towards surplus. They're benefiting towards our delivery of infrastructure across this nation. We have committed funding to thousands of projects across the country, including up to 900 major projects, of which 280 are already completed and some 160 are already under construction. That's delivery. Of course, we work with the states and territories to make sure that this funding becomes a reality.

In the member for Mallee's electorate, we've committed $350 million through the Roads of Strategic Importance initiative across six projects, and we will deliver this in full. We've put funding on the table to make sure that these crucial freight enhancing projects are possible. The member for Wright knows this, because in his portfolio area he hears every day how important these regional roads are not just for road safety but also for freight supply chains. In Tasmania, we've commenced construction on the Murchison Highway corridor upgrade, with bridge strengthening along the corridor already complete. Labor would never have designed an initiative such as the Roads of Strategic Importance.

The member for Mallee asked me about the opposition to this. I'm looking at the opposition. It would never have happened under Labor, because they don't care about the regions, and less do they care about infrastructure in the regions and those important roads. Not necessarily national highways, but the byways which provide such vital linkage points— (Time expired)

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