Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'll tell you what, that's the biggest own goal since Yeppoon versus Yeppoon, isn't it, putting the member for Aston up to talk about infrastructure—the architect of the carpark rorts scheme! There were carparks being built where there are no railway stations. He sits there and says, 'Oh, the eastern suburbs of Melbourne are missing out,' despite the fact they're getting $2.2 billion in spending. But what's great—and I want to get this on the record before the member for Aston scurries out—is that he is the man responsible for having claiming to fund extra lanes on the Hume Highway but then doing a dodgy deal separately and never doing it. It was never delivered.

He wants to talk about Camerons Lane. Camerons Lane is going to open up jobs and infrastructure for schools, health and all that. In fact, they committed to it, and now he's complaining because we're actually delivering it. This is just hilarious. Why the opposition would put him up as their lead speaker is beyond the pale. This is the man who was the architect of all the rorts and rip-offs that we had to put up with during the last election.

But now we have a government of mature members who actually want to go and get things done and work together. We know that they promised the Wallan ramps but never delivered them. In fact, in three years they hadn't even delivered the planning money to put them in, because, when it comes to infrastructure, that lot opposite were all talk, no action. We'd see more press releases than we'd see any delivery in the north or the west, and that's because this minister here—the former minister, sorry—is just an embarrassment, and, gladly, he is now a former minister. You wouldn't think he was from Victoria, would you? Really! The vast majority of money that goes to Victoria goes into the eastern suburbs, and he's complaining about it.

The East West Link was a prime example. He went to two elections saying, 'The East West Link is a referendum. If the Nationals and Liberals in Victoria win, it should be done.' Guess what? They lost them. In fact, Daniel Andrews has one of the largest majorities through that specific project. Talk about flogging a dead horse—it's over there!

But let's talk about what is happening. What is happening as that we are finally seeing governments working together. In regard to the Watson Street interchange, I was with the Deputy Premier, Minister Ros Spence and Lauren Kathage, Labor's great candidate for Yan Yean, as they announced $130 million to finish off the Watson Street interchange on the Hume Highway. This will save people up to 45 minutes each way when they are getting in and out of town, something those opposite promised and promised but never delivered. We've done that in five months. Not only did we commit to it; we've delivered the funding. Imagine that: having two governments working together to do the things that actually matter for our communities. That's what is happening with the Watson Street ramps.

We heard the Liberal candidates time and time again spread the lies: 'We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it.' Yet, after nine years in government, what did we receive? Nothing. In fact, that minister and his mate, the member for Hume, were out there saying that the Labor MP had delivered nothing for our communities in nine years. That was the nine years that they were in government. Yet every single thing we have promised is being delivered.

He talked about Mitchell and Macedon Ranges road problems. There are absolutely lots of problems, as a result weather and a whole heap of things, but that was money they committed to as well, so he's complaining about money that we are actually investing in communities—doing what matters for our constituents—that is the same money that they were going to invest. The hypocrisy is just amazing, and you really wonder how he sits on the front bench over there. I guess it's not actually an IQ race over there, is it? because they'd be struggling to get double digits at the best of times.

What we've seen is the Albanese Labor government working with state governments, including the Premier of New South Wales, who said he felt he'd been robbed because New South Wales didn't get everything. Well, we know the former Prime Minister for Sydney, the member for Cook, who was the Treasurer, the health minister, the office cleaner, the COMCAR driver and anything else you could think of, was loading money into Sydney left, right and centre to support Gladys Berejiklian and was ripping Victorians off. Victorians and the rest of Australia have said: 'Enough's enough. We want a government that actually does things that matter.' And that's what is happening.

Through this infrastructure spend that we have and that we have delivered through this budget, after a lot of hard work from our MPs and candidates working together and working with their state governments of all persuasions, we've actually got results that matter. Watson Street will happen only under a federal Labor government and a Victorian Labor government. It will not happen under a Liberal government, because it never has and never will, and it's about time those opposite apologised.

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