Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Good investment in infrastructure is good for Australia. The government makes significant investments in infrastructure, communication, energy, water, transport and social areas that need regular upgrades and resources to be kept up to date and available when demanded. Infrastructure Australia was established by the Prime Minister, who was then infrastructure minister in the former Labor government. Infrastructure Australia was and should be an independent body that provides expert and independent advice to government on infrastructure investments that Australia requires. But today, sadly, Infrastructure Australia is a shadow of its former self. It is an example of how destructive government can be in the wrong hands. Infrastructure Australia has been stretched and pulled by the previous government and lacks the intent it was designed for in the first place. One of our significant election commitments was to have an independent review of Infrastructure Australia, and this legislation is part of that review's response.

The Albanese government has introduced an amendment to the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008 to restore Infrastructure Australia as the Commonwealth's main adviser on major infrastructure investments. It will make changes to the Infrastructure Australia Act that provide a framework to implement the government's response to results of the review. It will reverse the damage done over the past nine years and bring Infrastructure Australia back to achieving what it was set up to do in the first place: provide expert, independent advice to the Australian government on major infrastructure needs that help build the nation, now and into the future.

The bill seeks to return Infrastructure Australia to being the premier advisory body to the Commonwealth on nationally significant infrastructure. It will keep its independence from government, ensuring impartial advice on infrastructure selection and their priorities. The bill will align the outcomes of Infrastructure Australia with what the government needs to make informed infrastructure investment decisions. It will receive a new governance model, with three commissioner roles being given on merit to experienced members of the infrastructure sector, supported by an advisory council in place of the existing board. It will be a truly independent body of reliable resource to this government. The board's functions will be more focused, prioritising nationally significant infrastructure proposals for consideration by the government.

We can compare this to how it was treated by the former coalition government. Over the past nine years, the Liberals and Nationals watered down the effectiveness of the body, putting its advice in the pending tray, where it was left. Lamentably, they stacked the board with mates, and not enough direction was given for the board to be effective. The member for New England, who was then infrastructure minister, had a fun old time destroying Infrastructure Australia, devaluing it and giving jobs to his mates. Even the chair at the time described himself as a 'solid Barnaby supporter'. Other members put in place were the vice-president of the Queensland LNP, Queensland LNP candidates from 2011 and 2015, and a Liberal branch president.

The coalition was simply not interested in quality expert advice from Infrastructure Australia. They didn't look to seek assistance from people more skilled than them. To them, infrastructure was a big lolly bag to be drawn from, not something to help build the nation. Those opposite had the audacity to believe they had enough skill in infrastructure to do the job themselves, with the words 'independent' and 'expert' thrown out the window. They had more money invested in imaginary car parks than they did in funding future economic growth. The shadow minister has previously had the audacity to criticise the need for an independent review of Infrastructure Australia.

We've seen this attitude from the former government play out in my own electorate of Lyons and in Tasmania more broadly. Dare I mention the Bridgewater Bridge, a site where many a politician, over many years, has taken many photos of the long-promised but still not built new Bridgewater Bridge? The replacement of the Bridgewater Bridge was first talked about back in 2001, if not before, more than 20 years ago. Both the former coalition federal government and the current Tasmanian Liberal government have spent years wasting time, bungling consultations and not delivering on what is a major infrastructure project which holds high importance as the gateway to Hobart and the southern region of Tasmania. I'm pleased to say it's now well underway, and I'm looking forward to seeing that progress. There's a bet on in Tasmania between me and the former Tasmanian Liberal premier. He reckons that cars will be running over it by the end of 2024, but my Akubra is up for grabs. I've said I'll eat my hat if I see cars over that new bridge by 2024. I must say it's a bet I'm happy to lose. If we get cars on the bridge sooner then I'll happily tuck into the Akubra. But I'm confident it's a bet I won't lose.

But the Bridgewater Bridge is not the only major infrastructure project the Liberals have failed to deliver in my state. In 2008, the then opposition leader, later the Liberal Premier, Will Hodgman, pledged to make the Midland Highway—which is the main spine highway running from Hobart to Launceston and runs right through the guts of my electorate—a four-lane highway from start to finish, and he put up the big signs on the highway: 'Four-lane highway'. That promise was later backed up with a commitment from the then Liberal Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, in 2013. All these years later, the Midland Highway remains a hodgepodge of single lanes and maybe two lanes here and there. It's a mess of half-done roadworks. In fact, some roadworks have been done under state government management, and they've had to be torn up again because the surfacing has been so poor that they've had to redo roadworks that were completed just a few years ago. So it's still a mess, and people running along the highway at the moment are sick and tired of the 40-kay and 60-kay zones that seem to be taking forever to finish. It's a very, very drawn-out process under the management of the state Liberal government. The often spruiked plan to ensure the highway is fully upgraded to four lanes seems to be long forgotten by the Liberals, who are always big on their premises but small on their delivery.

Another poorly maintained highway in Tasmania is the A3 or Tasman Highway—or, as the state Liberal government calls it, the Great Eastern Drive. It's a lovely marketing name. It conjures up wonderful images: the Great Eastern Drive. I guess it is mirrored on the Victorian experience, the oceanic drive. I must say the views from the Tasman Highway are beautiful off the east coast, but the highway itself is a goat track. It's an absolute goat track It's single lane pretty much all the way, each way, and the shoulders are ripped up by caravans and trucks. It's a state government highway. Frankly, it's an absolute disgrace. Signs on either side of the so-called Great Eastern Drive allude to a calming trip along Tasmania's east coast, a beautiful part of the state, allowing you to take in the views and the sights of beautiful Tasmania. If the road were properly invested in, that would be the case. It would indeed be a Great Eastern Drive. But travellers along the A3 currently endure pothole-filled, narrow and winding roads, with little time to appreciate the scenery unless they want to risk their safety. It's another example of a major piece of infrastructure in Tasmania being neglected by the state Liberal government, which simply doesn't deliver—and, when it does deliver, it delivers late.

Fortunately, the Albanese government, I'm pleased to say, has reaffirmed a commitment to investing $100 million into the Tasman Highway along the Great Eastern Drive, which will ensure the condition of the highway matches the status that the marketing portrays. Finally, under our government, with our government's support, people will be able to safely enjoy the sights of the east coast of Tasmania from the safety of a solid roadway. It'll further boost tourism and the regional and local economies along the highway. It's happening now because this Labor government understands and appreciates the need for investment in infrastructure, not to win votes or buy votes and not as a lolly bag but because it's important for the development of the state and it's important for safety. We will continue to fund infrastructure and grow our regions for the benefit of residents and tourists alike.

While we're talking about Infrastructure Australia, I note that the Albanese government is committed to Vision Zero: zero deaths and serious injuries due to road crashes by 2050. I have the great privilege of being the chair of the Tasmanian black spot committee, and I note that Infrastructure Australia says: 'We want all road users in Australia to get home safely from every journey, no matter the distance travelled. Improving regional and remote road safety are two priorities identified in the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030.'

The budget we've just brought down will provide funding allocated to maintain the $110 million per year Black Spot Program to work with state, territory and local governments to improve road safety across the nation. There is an allocation of $43.6 million for the new National Road Safety Action Grants Program over four years from 2022-23. It will provide non-infrastructure grants to help implement the action plan, with a focus on First Nations road safety, vulnerable road users, community education and awareness, technology, innovation, research and data. There is $16.5 million for the Car Safety Ratings Program to improve testing protocols for new light vehicles and provide safety evaluations for these vehicles. There is continual delivery of road safety improvements through the Road Safety Program, with $976.7 million available across 2023-24 and 2024-25, building on the more than 1,400 projects delivered to date.

I note—this is not strictly to do with Infrastructure Australia, but I will try sneak it in—the Growing Regions Program, opening in July, drives regional economic prosperity by providing access to funding for community focused infrastructure projects throughout regional and rural areas. Grants of between $500,000 and $15 million to cover 50 per cent or more of eligible expenditure are on offer to local councils and non-profit organisations for their projects. Indeed, commencing in 2024-25, the Australian government has committed $200 million over two years to establish the new Thriving Suburbs Program to deliver investment in locally driven urban and suburban infrastructure and community projects. That funding will be especially welcome in the peri-urban areas of my electorate, which aren't eligible for the regional program, as well as growing suburban areas.

I must say, a shout-out to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Minister King. Since the election—is it Rosie, the woman on the poster with the red scarf and her sleeves rolled up?

Rosie the Riveter. Thank you, member for Kooyong. That's Catherine King over the past year, her sleeves rolled up, fixing the giant mess she's been handed by the former government in terms of cleaning up the mess and the rorts. Infrastructure is so critical to our economic prosperity growth not just across the regions but across the entire country. Minister King has been doing a gargantuan job of cleaning it up and making sure that infrastructure in the country is delivered for the right reasons, economic reasons and expert reasons based on expert advice, and not as a political pork-barrelling exercise. That's what our government is focused on: economic growth.

I come back to the point I made originally: Infrastructure Australia is the brainchild of the Prime Minister, the then infrastructure minister. He set it up to be an independent, expert advisory body. It had a fantastic reputation, but then over nine years of Liberal-National government it was whittled away until it became a shell of its former self. Full marks to Minister King. She is breathing new life into it. She is bringing it back to what it should be: independent and expert. That's how we're going to make our decisions on infrastructure in this country, for the right reasons: to deliver growth, to deliver jobs and to deliver prosperity to our regions, cities and suburbs. The whole reason the Prime Minister, when he was a minister in the former government, delivered Infrastructure Australia was to take the politics out of infrastructure projects, taking sound advice from experts in the field on projects of national significance. That's what this bill will do. It will give Infrastructure Australia its purpose back. I commend the bill to the House.

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