Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

It's a shame that the minister couldn't fill in her full 10 minutes. I think she's a little concerned. She's coming up on some sleepless nights because, in a couple of weeks time, we have the Australian local government conference. I'm just wondering how she's going with her speech. Who was the local government minister that doubled the Roads to Recovery program during the drought? Me. Who was the local government minister when LRCI was introduced? Me. Who was the local government minister who got a standing ovation at the last ALGA conference he went to? Me. The minister will have some sleepless nights as she tries to work out what she is going to say to the 517 local government councils that are coming to Canberra in a couple of weeks time.

Today's matter of public importance is about pausing and cancelling infrastructure. One of the things that I'm particularly concerned about—and I certainly hope this is a pause, not a cancellation—is Inland Rail. At the moment, there is a cloud over the greatest infrastructure program that Australia has seen in 100 years. We've heard speeches over there about Aboriginal disadvantage, but, at the moment, in my electorate, we've got Aboriginal people who had jobs working on Inland Rail who now don't. We've got young guys having a go in my hometown who have gone to the finance companies and bought a truck and a couple of side-tippers and been working seven days a week on the Narrabri to North Star section. What are they doing now? They're lying awake at night, wondering how they are going to make their next payment as they are waiting for an announcement from the minister on what's going to happen with this project.

I can see what the minister's priorities are. She's actually banned me from attending sites in my own electorate. I actually had to write to the minister, 'Please, Minister, is it okay if I go and inspect the progress on the Narwonah infrastructure site at Narromine?' 'Oh, no, you can't do that.' Or: 'Minister, could I go to the soil turn for the new bridge at Dubbo that the previous federal government funded 80 per cent of?' 'Oh, no; you can't go to that.' Or: 'Minister, maybe I could open the new museum in Warren.' 'Oh no; we'll send some senator out.' Thanks to Google Maps these senators can actually find towns in my electorate. They would have had some trouble a few years ago.

But back to the inland rail: this is not just the Commonwealth's project. State governments have also put millions of dollars in. Private companies have put millions of dollars in, and local councils have. We've got the Special Activation Precinct at Moree that would basically give Moree an economic base that would see it through droughts and seasonal fluctuations. It's already a productive agricultural shire, but there would be permanent local jobs in that activation precinct. In Narrabri, at the inland port: connection to gas, so that we can start to develop the already strong recycling industry in Narrabri as well. And all the way through—Gilgandra, which was looking at turning one of its subdivisions into a village to accommodate the workers. But what about the 120-odd farmers between Narromine and Narrabri who are halfway through negotiating sale of property, access and all of those things? They are already uncertain about their future. Do they sell the property? Is this coming through? What's happening?

This uncertainty is causing an enormous amount of grief. The minister needs to come clean. If she's going to knock this project on the head—and God help us if she is—she should do it now, rather than drawing out the pain, the uncertainty, that is impacting hundreds of people across western New South Sales as we speak. This is a disgrace. This is a project that's going to build our nation. It's going to put cheaper groceries on the shelves in supermarkets in Melbourne and Brisbane, and it's now under a cloud.

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