Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

NE KING (—) (): Again, the government won't be supporting the amendments. I do appreciate the spirit in which they have been raised by the member for Fowler, particularly in relation to amendment (1), which is reflective of the problems we have around settlement policy and around our urban centres at the moment. The intention behind the amendment is absolutely understood and appreciated. Having regard to population movement, particularly in relation to migration patterns, is a very important consideration when determining the adequacy, capacity and condition of nationally significant infrastructure. The existing wording of the bill clearly states that Infrastructure Australia must take into account population growth, so we believe that that adequately covers the intent of the amendment.

In relation to amendment (2), again, the intention behind the amendments is understood and very much appreciated, but the existing weighting of the bill, we think, already covers the broad breadth of what you are seeking to achieve in terms of cultural diversity. In terms of amendment (7), as well, we are committed to increasing cultural diversity. The way the phrasing around affirmative action is at the moment is consistent with government policy about what we are trying to do around boards. But of course there is a broader piece of work that we are doing around multicultural policy and multicultural strategy overall, which is led by Minister Giles. I think when you see some of that work you will see much greater improvements in the way in which we include people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in a range of projects.

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