Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

What we did on this side of the House was that we went to last election with an additional $250 million for the program, more than those opposite ever announced, because they didn't announce any additional funding when they had the chance at the last election, which we had in 2022.

We have seen so many talking points from those opposite. They've delivered nothing and talked about a lot. The baseless fearmongering in our regional communities, playing politics with the future of our nation, is ridiculous. Resorting to fears on immigration and baseless claims about projects being cancelled, they've learnt nothing from a wasted decade, and they clearly didn't learn enough from the message that voters clearly sent in 2022.

It is outrageous that our infrastructure pipeline grew from 150 projects to 800 yet, at the same time, there was no additional money put into the infrastructure pipeline. It was always about a press release, an announcement or a 30-second radio grab. The problem is that you cannot build a bridge with a press release and you cannot build a new playground with a 30-second radio grab. If you want to build things, pull out a shovel. Better yet, grab your calculator and add some additional money to the infrastructure pipeline. That's how you get things done.

There are so many examples of failures from those opposite that we will not be taking lectures from those opposite about mismanagement and rorting taxpayer dollars. That's absolutely not going to happen on this side of House, because their failures are there and highlighted for everyone to see. There was the hopelessly mismanaged Urban Congestion Fund—imaginary car parks in marginal seats, with costs that were 200 or 300 per cent more to actually deliver. There were projects committed to under the Liberal and National government that hadn't even started because they could not be delivered. It was the same strategy with the Inland Rail, which was underfunded and mismanaged—a project that was meant to connect to our ports but didn't actually connect to the ports. What about the $10 million to the North Sydney pool, an inner-city pool getting regional water safety money? I've never heard of something more ridiculous. If the Nationals were so concerned about it, they should have done something, because I don't know how many constituents of New England are going to go and use the North Sydney pool. There are not a lot of constituents in Eden-Monaro who are off to use the North Sydney pool.

There was the Wellington Road duplication, with its $110 million allocation, in Alan Tudge's former seat of Aston, but it was actually $640 million to deliver. Do the maths. It's not enough. It's sad to see those opposite stoking fear in local government. Local government are absolutely the best delivery partners for us, and to go around running these lines that we're going to cut roads funding and put community safety at risk is absolutely ridiculous. We are committed to funding longstanding road programs, which are essential to keep our country connected. We know how important those road programs are to local communities, especially in our regions, and we are committed to the delivery of these programs through our community in the best possible way over the long term. We want to see our councils have more flexibility and less of an unnecessary administrative burden, and that is the reason that we are making sure those programs deliver better for them.

This year alone, there is $760 million in the budget for Roads to Recovery, the Black Spot Program, the Bridges Renewal Program and the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program. We want to make sure that our government is helping our communities deliver more resilient infrastructure. It is surprising that the Liberal and National parties do not support this given the damage done to our ageing road infrastructure during recent floods, especially in our regions and our remote communities. It's also surprising that the coalition would not support helping more local councils deliver programs in their communities in a more effective and efficient way.

After 10 years of mismanagement of the infrastructure pipeline, putting political priorities above deliverability, it is time for the Albanese government to fix the mess left by those opposite. Not only did they absolutely muck up our infrastructure investment pipeline; we came into office with another flailing program—migration. It was complicated. It was slow. It was an unplanned mess. The system was left in the lurch, with close to a million visa applications stagnating. We saw people desperate to stay in Australia, and already contributing in our local communities through jobs and through their taxes, completely abandoned by those opposite. Have you ever heard of a more oxymoronic term than 'permanent temporary visas'? It's an oxymoron. So many people in our communities filling jobs in aged care and child care or running their own businesses were not able to get a permanent pathway to citizenship in Australia because those opposite left them on permanent temporary visas. Employers were left in the lurch at a time when skill shortages were at their peak. Those opposite left us with no system, no plan and no way to give certainty for the future to their staff. Even the planning they did have saw the Liberal-National government forecast a bigger Australia than what we have today. So, as I said, facts might be a 'nice to have' in the toolbox of those opposite, but if they go and look at their own budget papers they were forecasting a bigger migration number than we have in our budget papers today. It was a migration system left to stagnate, with no plan, no direction and no vision for what Australia needs.

We will maintain our commitment to a 10-year $120 billion infrastructure pipeline. We will ensure infrastructure projects are delivered that are nationally significant and nation-shaping. The evidence is clear: the pipeline was broken. We are undertaking a short and genuine review, supported by the states and territories at National Cabinet in late April. It is not about savings; it is about being realistic and understanding the project pipeline and not selling false promises to communities, like those opposite did. We need genuine delivery partners. We need to make sure we've got funding for those projects that are there. We want to make sure that the projects can be delivered with the economic conditions that we face.

We are working with the states and territories through National Cabinet on a better approach to housing supply, infrastructure and migration. We are developing a sensible system through migration strategy and the long-term management of the system. We want a manageable infrastructure pipeline that we will work with the states and territories on and can be delivered in a way that eases pressure on costs and leaves room to deal with the new challenges we have.

There is a clear theme here—absolutely clear. Our national programs are needed for growth. They are needed for stability. They were left in an absolute mess by those opposite. Those opposite managed these nation-building programs without a plan, without a vision and without a clear understanding of what is needed for our nation. It's one of the reasons we've had to do reviews. It's because we need to make sure we can deliver for communities.

The other interesting fact today is that, of the 40 MPIs we've heard in this 12 months of government, the coalition have only let the junior partner do this twice. It's time for the Nationals to step up. Are you serious about regional development? Then come and work with us, because the Liberals don't take you seriously.

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