Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Advice to me and other new parliamentarians on giving our maiden speeches suggested that the theme be: who are you, where you are from and why you are here? There are a number of reasons why I'm here, but the key one is that I really believe in regional Australia and regional Australia's future in helping to deliver for and build this nation. The electorate that I come from is such an amazing example of a proud migrant history and of people coming with not much to have a go. I really reject the assertion that there's anything about race in this, and that's certainly not the experience in my electorate.

The people who came to my electorate from an incredible array of places, including Albania, Greece, Italy and, more recently, the subcontinent and the Middle East, and built businesses and got ahead did so because governments helped build infrastructure in regional areas, and that's what I want to do in this place—build infrastructure in regional areas. My experience is that the previous government, the coalition government, with a lot of great leadership from the Nationals, lived up to this.

There are some great examples in my electorate. One is the Shepparton Art Museum, which was opened by the member for New England. With the leadership of Senator Fiona Nash, it is a great investment in a cultural icon in the Shepparton area. Another is the Echuca-Moama bridge, which the member for Gippsland, when he was transport minister, drove. We actually built a bridge. We didn't talk about building a bridge. A bridge now exist between Echuca and Moama, and it has drastically improved the lives of everyone in that region. The Shepparton rail corridor, which was funded by the then Deputy Prime Minister, the member for Riverina, is being built right now, and it's going to mean that the people of Shepparton and all along those areas can get to Melbourne and back on many more train services.

So I'm really disappointed that those opposite don't seem to be as focused on regional infrastructure as the previous government was. One example is the Shepparton bypass. It's a really important project. The previous coalition government made a commitment to it. The Victorian government sat on its hands and has not been serious about the project. But in my electorate what they've said—and this is serious—is: the floods really impacted, and are still impacting, the people in my region, but it would have been business as usual had we had a second river crossing. Now, that bypass gives us a second river crossing. I implore those opposite: think about the wealth that a place like Greater Shepparton delivers to this nation, through the agricultural produce and through the hard work of people who came from all over the world to build great businesses; fund infrastructure that will help continue that agricultural production in the region, and one of those is the Shepparton bypass and the second river crossing.

I can't tell you how hamstrung we were by having the only bridge over the Goulburn River cut. It was terrible for our perishable produce. It was really dangerous for our emergency services, who couldn't get across. This is the sort of infrastructure we need to build, and it's in your 90-day review. I'm disappointed that the state and federal Labor governments aren't more committed to this project, but we need to build it. And we really need to focus on what makes Australia great.

In my maiden speech I also mentioned the fact that Germany has 80 million people, yet its biggest city is three million people. It has a really good set of industrial manufacturing centres in cities connected by high-speed rail. That's a country that has taken its regional infrastructure really seriously. And they are benefiting as a result.

I think we can do the same thing—I really do. Don't cancel airport rail. Increase airport rail, so we can get regional trains in via Tullamarine airport and into the city. Get serious about Inland Rail. Don't pause it. Let's build it and lower emissions from transport of goods between Melbourne and Brisbane. These are exciting projects that are important for building this country, which is what we should all be doing. I implore those opposite to take infrastructure, particularly regional infrastructure, seriously.

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