Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the motion moved by one of my South Australian parliamentary colleagues and electorate neighbours, the member for Barker. I take note that the notice for this motion was given in late November last year. Given that this is the first sitting day for the year, it gives me a bit of pause to think about the passage of time generally and about contemporary history.

Admittedly, this, the 47th Parliament, marks my first term in this place, and the same can be said of my colleague the member for Hawke, who has also contributed to this debate today, However, we, like millions of Australians out there in the community at the time, saw just what the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government's record was when it came to infrastructure funding and a swathe of other policy areas that are just as vital to our country. So, like the member for Hawke earlier, I too will be ensuring that we do not allow any historical revisionists to come into this place and pretend that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government's approach to infrastructure was anything short of disjointed, visionless and short-sighted. This is by no means an attempt to stifle or discourage debate in this place on infrastructure, but it is certainly important to outline the plain and simple fact that the Albanese government has been elected to not just implement its vision for Australia but also clean up the mess, the policy quagmire and the malaise left by the previous government, the ATM government.

I've also noticed that, during the brief life of this current parliament, those opposite have often come into the chamber and made reference to our government 'making a bad situation worse'. It is at least some evidence, and cold comfort, that those opposite are slowly but surely approaching the point that the previous government got it so dreadfully wrong on so many areas of public policy that even those who were part of it call it out for what they left us: a bad situation. I'm not entirely sure they intended to highlight this by using that phrase, but, if it is the case, I certainly do appreciate their candour.

And what a bad situation it was. But, upon its election, the Albanese Labor government took a much closer look at a number of schemes and projects that were green-lit under the previous government—a line-by-line, root-and-branch look. One of the main mechanisms for doing this was the waste and rorts audit. This is in addition to the many investigations conducted by the Australian National Audit Office, which uncovered a number of startling revelations as to a number of schemes and projects under the previous government. What was found were many projects recommended by a ministerial or prime ministerial office, rather than by a department on its merits.

And what does that leave us with? Imaginary car parks, and projects that were under-costed and over-egged and increasingly difficult to complete in a time of rising inflationary pressures and supply chain issues.

The Albanese government is taking responsibility to correct the course of the nation's infrastructure vision and to put Australia back on the right course after nearly a decade of reckless mismanagement by those opposite. Thankfully, we are now led by a prime minister who intimately understands infrastructure and the importance of getting it right, not just in the here and now but for generations to come. Having been an infrastructure minister himself for close to six years certainly helps with this.

As we all know, under the last government, we had the former member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, and then the member for Gippsland, the member for New England, the member for Riverina and then back again to the member for New England. That is a startling turnover—seldom a recipe for success—in a portfolio area that desperately requires stewardship and long-term vision. I remember former prime minister Tony Abbott touting himself as the 'infrastructure prime minister'. As history has shown us, this could not have been further from the case.

But we certainly have one now—a prime minister who also knows the difference between Yeppen and Yeppoon; a prime minister who, in his government's last budget, delivered a $123 billion infrastructure pipeline to be delivered over the next 10 years.

Lastly, I take the member for Barker's sincerity at face value. But, as the shadow assistant minister for infrastructure and transport, he should take stock of his former government's inglorious legacy on infrastructure—perhaps in one or two of his many media releases—because, unlike the member for Hawke and me, the member for Barker has been in this place since the 44th parliament. Perhaps the land transport he is looking for is a DeLorean. Hopefully, he has found the flux capacitor so he can travel back in time to blame the real culprits for this mess—the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government.

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