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

It's my great pleasure to speak on the appropriation bills, which form part of this year's budget. The budget is driving the delivery of nation-building infrastructure projects right across the nation. It's a budget which maps out the road of economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession, a budget which will create jobs and provide certainty for businesses over the long term and a budget which truly reflects the infrastructure needs of Australia and Australians now and into the future.

For the information of the chamber, I propose that, during debate today, ministers will hear a number of questions from members on both sides of the chamber before responding to questions. This will ensure that interested members can take part in the debate, and I acknowledge the Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure, and the member for Lindsay, who is, no doubt, interested in Penrith and Western Sydney and the outcomes we're achieving for those areas.

During budget week, I had the privilege of delivering the first-ever statement to parliament on regional outcomes in this year's budget. I made it clear that this budget works to generate jobs, generate exports and ensure the already strong regions of Australia continue to thrive. We're working to repair our economy, recover from the pandemic and grow regional Australia. Regional Australia will grow us out of and lead us out of the pandemic downturn.

A key element in this growth is the government's all-time record $110 billion transport infrastructure program, which will play out in every corner of Australia, from the regions to the suburbs and CBDs. These are not numbers on a piece of paper; delivery is visible everywhere. Already more than 600 major Australian government funded projects are underway, supporting thousands of jobs right across the country. To get Australians back to work and back in business, the 2020-21 budget includes new funding for projects and initiatives under this expanded program, which will support an extra 30,000 direct and indirect jobs over the construction lives of projects.

This new funding includes $2 billion under a new Road Safety Program. This program will incentivise state and territory governments, rewarding those which deliver their projects on time and on budget. This program is in addition to our existing half-a-billion dollar targeted road safety upgrades program. The 2020-21 budget will include a further $1 billion for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, on top of the initial $500 million we announced for the program earlier this year. Combined, these two programs will support 10,000 jobs. Together with what we've announced since the start of the crisis, we have committed $14 billion in new and accelerated infrastructure projects.

The pandemic has hit Australia everywhere. We as a nation have managed the virus well, particularly when you compare our response and what has happened in this nation with other countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Every region needs support, which is why this budget includes additional funding for critical transport infrastructure projects in every state and territory, including but not limited to an additional $490.6 million for the Coffs Harbour bypass in New South Wales, $292 million for the Barwon Heads Road upgrade in Victoria, $750 million for stage 1 of the Commera Connector in Queensland, an extra $80 million for the Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network in Western Australia, $136 million to progress stage 2 of the Main South Road duplication in South Australia, $65 million for the Tasman Bridge upgrade in Tasmania, $46.6 million for national network highway upgrades in the Northern Territory and $87.5 million for the Molonglo River bridge in the Australian Capital Territory.

However, our investment pipeline and our infrastructure pipeline aren't just driving road investment. There's considerable investment in rail as well. It's in full swing. To name just a few rail projects across the country which feature in this budget, there's the Melbourne-to-Brisbane Inland Rail; stage 2 of the Warrnambool rail line upgrade; $320 million in stage 3 of the Shepparton rail line upgrade; and the long-overdue Melbourne Airport rail link. We're investing $1.8 billion to build the Sydney Metro to Western Sydney Airport project, which will connect western Sydney's growing population and economy to the Sydney CBD, and there's another $200 million for the very popular Building Better Regions Fund. BBRF drives regional development. It drives jobs and it certainly helps the regional communities. It has in the past and it is now, and it's certainly going to in the future as we recover from COVID-19. What we want to see is local outcomes and local workers on local sites building local infrastructure, and that's what this government is delivering.

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