Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the government's High Speed Rail Authority Bill 2022. Let's be clear that this is a bill that does nothing to deliver even one kilometre of high-speed rail. In the tech sector, they call this 'vapourware'—something you announce when you have nothing substantive. Purportedly this bill establishes a High Speed Rail Authority as an independent body to advise on, plan and develop a high-speed rail system in Australia. But there is already the National Faster Rail Agency, established several years ago, with a significant body of work completed and substantial funding commitments made, as I will come back to and as the member for Fisher was referring to—because, of course, one of the projects that was developed through work by the National Faster Rail Agency was the line to the Sunshine Coast that he was speaking about.

Let's be clear, everybody loves high-speed rail. But, let us be honest, the economics of high-speed rail in Australia, normally understood to be speeds of 200 kilometres an hour, or more, are extremely challenging. How do we know that? Well, for one thing, from a study commissioned by the now Prime Minister when he was minister for infrastructure, which was conducted from 2010 to 2013. This study was not particularly glowing in it's findings. Indeed, at the time, he had this to say, referring to high-speed rail:

The reality … has a wide corridor, major tunnelling, significant noise impacts and that's before we consider the significant economic costs.

This study remains the most comprehensive analysis of the feasibility of high-speed rail in Australia, and it was undertaken from 2010 to 2013. The cost at that time was estimated to be $114 billion, in 2012 numbers, and this equates to approximately $131 billion, in current numbers, taking into account inflation. There have not been any more-detailed costings done since this time, but most credible rail experts consider that the real cost for high-speed rail from Melbourne to Brisbane would be at least $200 billion to $300 billion. Notably, while the study done from 2010 to 2013 found that, on certain, rather heroic, assumptions, high-speed rail would cover its operating costs. It would produce a return only if you assumed away the capital cost. That's a huge assumption. In other words, it's a hopelessly uneconomic project.

Another thing that the study said at the time was that operations would not commence on the Newcastle to Sydney part of the line until 2040. Almost 10 years later, that translates to 2050. It's interesting, to say the least, that the now Prime Minister made no mention of this fact when he made an announcement about Sydney to Newcastle fast rail in January this year, before the election. No mention of the fact that a study he had commissioned about high-speed rail when he last had ministerial responsibility said that, if the project started at that time it would be 2040 before operations Newcastle to Sydney would commence, meaning today it would be 2050. He was completely silent about that fact when, with a big song and dance, he made an announcement early in January in Newcastle, promising $500 million.

The fact is that the current Prime Minister had six years as minister for infrastructure to get moving on high-speed rail, should he have chosen to do so. He did nothing, and in all likelihood, we are in for a repeat performance from a Labor government and a Prime Minister that talks big when it comes to infrastructure, including high-speed rail, and yet consistently fails to deliver.

When the Prime Minister made his announcement in Newcastle, in January this year, he said that, if elected, Labor would commit $500 million towards this project in its first term. It's a little bit like somebody saying, 'I'm going to buy myself a house in Sydney, median price $1.5 million, and I'm setting aside $3,750 for that purpose, because that's the ratio. On any realistic assessment, the amount that is being set aside is as if you are saying, when buying a house with a median price of $1.5 million: 'I'm setting aside $3,750.'

Of course, if the Albanese Labor government does seriously intend to spend $200 billion to $300 billion, just exactly how they're going to pay for that? What taxes would have to arise as a result? According to the Grattan Institute, east coast high-speed rail, Melbourne to Brisbane, would cost each taxpayer $10,000 in higher taxes. You might live in Adelaide or Cairns or Darwin or Hobart or Perth and never use this high-speed rail link—that is supposedly going to be the outcome, at some point, of this authority which is being set up now, but you'd certainly pay for it, according to the analysis from the Grattan Institute.

I want to remind the House that there is a much better way, as the member for Fisher was speaking about, and that is the commitment that the coalition made and did a lot of work on the delivery of, the commitment to faster rail. What is the core idea here? The idea is to make practical upgrades to existing tracks between capital cities and surrounding regional areas, with a view to being to be able to run services at up to 140 kilometres an hour.

What sorts of practical upgrades would be involved? Well, it would be measures like replacing sharp curves with more gradual curves. Alternatively, or additionally, you could upgrade stretches of track from two to four tracks. That would allow trains to travel more quickly and frequently. Critically, it would also allow the running of both express and all-stops trains, using the four-track stretches to allow the express trains to pass the all-stops trains.

The coalition released its 20-year national Faster Rail Plan in 2019, and, at the March 2022 budget, committed a further $3.72 billion to deliver faster rail, bringing total commitments to faster rail projects to $6 billion. Now, one of the projects to which there was a commitment made was the $1.6 billion for the Brisbane to Sunshine Coast extension, as the member for Fisher was talking about. I want to emphasise this point. The extension from the existing rail line, which, as the member for Fisher rightly pointed out, travels inland, the extension from Beerwah to Maroochydore, has been planned, with the Commonwealth government working with the Queensland government, to use the CAMCOS corridor, which, thanks to some far-sighted work by the then Queensland government 20 or so years ago, has been set aside. This funding commitment has been arrived at, based upon pretty detailed planning work. Of course, critically, it will also support the Sunshine Coast—not just for its important and continuing long-term transport needs but also for Olympics needs, given there will be Olympics venues on the Sunshine Coast.

Now, one of the other commitments that was made in the 2022-23 budget was $1.12 billion for Brisbane to the Gold Coast. That is a route of approximately 90 kilometres, and, again, one of the key pieces of transport planning logic here was that, along a stretch of track of about 90 kilometres, roughly in the middle, you would upgrade from two tracks to four, and, again, there would be some straightening of lines and reduction in sharp curves and so on.

These very practical measures have significant benefits. They allow faster rail, faster and more frequent services, to be delivered, and for that to be done much more quickly than high-speed rail, which, on any view, has a very long lead time. Don't take my word for it; take the word of the study commissioned by the then Prime Minister between 2010 and 2013.

So the coalition developed, and worked to implement, a practical plan to deliver faster rail, with a particular focus on faster rail between our big cities and surrounding regional areas: Brisbane-Gold Coast, Brisbane-Sunshine Coast, Sydney-Newcastle—and I do want to come to Sydney-Newcastle, because we've heard a bit about this $500 million that is supposedly to be spent by the Labor government. It's very unclear how much of that would actually be spent on rail track or land acquisition and how much of it would be spent on establishing an authority and having plush offices, and fees for directors and advisers and all kinds of other things. But there is a sharp contrast to be drawn between that and the very specific and tangible billion dollars' worth of funding included for Sydney-Newcastle in the March budget—and again, the logic is to go from two tracks to four on a significant stretch in the middle of the Sydney to Newcastle corridor, Wyong to Tuggerah; and again, that could be delivered quickly, or certainly much more quickly than high-speed rail, and would deliver immediate and practical benefits within a reasonably foreseeable time frame.

So the coalition is certainly supportive of faster rail. It has a great capacity to improve rail services, with services that are faster, more frequent and more reliable. It has a great capacity to stimulate regional growth and to improve access to jobs and services and affordable housing. What we did was develop a practical, workable plan with specific funding commitments, working closely with state and territory governments. I have neglected to mention that we'd previously made a commitment of $2 million under the Faster Rail Plan for faster rail from Melbourne to Geelong. The focus of the coalition on these issues when in government was practical, deliverable, cost-effective measures to get an outcome.

So I have to say that I look with some scepticism at the nature of the measures that are contained in this bill. They won't deliver even one kilometre of very fast rail track. They'll set up an authority, and I'm sure it will have meetings in a range of desirable locations, and conferences and off-sites in a range of five-star hotels and so on. But the fact is that what matters in infrastructure is delivery. We know, for example, that we have a Prime Minister with a track record of talking big on infrastructure. He's talked about the second Sydney airport since the day he came into the parliament. He had all kinds of big plans for Western Sydney Airport. He was the minister for infrastructure from 2007 to 2013, and he could not get it delivered. He could not get through the trenchant, backward looking, head-in-the-sand opposition of a number of Labor MPs from Western Sydney, particularly the member for Chifley. He just could not get through that opposition. He could not get it delivered.

It took the coalition to get Western Sydney Airport underway, in 2014. It took the coalition government to make a decision to get Western Sydney Airport moving, and it took the coalition government to get us to a position where, when we left office, we handed over a project where the contracts had been let for the runway, the terminal and the landside works, and $2 billion worth of earthmoving had been done. If you want to see what $2 billion worth of earthmoving looks like, go out and take a drive along the Northern Road, which has also upgraded to four lanes all the way from Penrith to Narellan. That's one of the incidental benefits for the people of Western Sydney from the coalition government delivering on infrastructure and delivering on Western Sydney Airport.

So I say to this House that when it comes to infrastructure we do hear a lot of talk from Labor. We heard a lot of talk about the NBN—my goodness, they talked! It was fibre to the press release. When they left office, barely 51,000 premises had been delivered. Who was the minister, by the way, at the time they left office? It was the current Prime Minister. A bit of a theme there: a lot of talk, not much delivery. I say to you that this High Speed Rail Authority is perpetuation of that theme—a lot of talk, not much delivery. Look at the infrastructure record on this side of the House. With the NBN, we inherited a trainwreck of a project and we turned it around. When we left government just a few months ago, 8.4 million premises had been connected to the NBN, compared to the 51,000 connected to fixed-line NBN after six years and $6 billion from Labor. Similarly, there was practical delivery from the side of the House when it comes to faster rail, getting projects in place that won't take 30 or 40 years to make happen. By contrast, this High Speed Rail Authority is a piece of pure political window-dressing and vapourware from somebody who has made a bit of a specialty of just that.

See this speech in context