Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that it is now over 130 days since the Government announced a 90-day review into the Infrastructure Investment Pipeline;

(2) recognises that:

(a) investment in infrastructure is essential to reduce congestion and improve productivity and safety; and

(b) delaying important infrastructure projects while we await the results of the 90-day review is holding back the productivity of our nation and putting much needed safety upgrades on hold;

(3) acknowledges that costs continue to rise and delays to the commencement of infrastructure projects as a result of the review will result in considerably higher costs than originally estimated; and

(4) calls on the Government to complete the review process and unlock the infrastructure investment that our nation desperately needs.

What has Labor delivered on infrastructure? It has started a 90-day review that has put the productivity and safety of our nation on hold for—wait for it!—169 days and counting. More than 400 congestion-busting, productivity-enhancing and life-saving projects are threatened by Labor's razor gang review, projects like the Truro freight route in my electorate of Barker. This project is incredibly important to my electorate. The Truro freight route is important to our state and to our broader nation. This project is part of the freight route between Adelaide and Sydney via the Sturt Highway. Major freight companies currently travelling through the main street of Truro know exactly how important this project is. The 500-odd residents of Truro know how important this project is, and they want trucks off the main street too.

Indeed the residents of Adelaide that I doorknocked with the member for Sturt, who has only just left the chamber, know how important this project is, because it's a key part of the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass that will get heavy vehicles out of Adelaide. The former coalition government knew how important this project was because we funded it in the 2021 budget. Unfortunately, the Truro freight route is one of 400 projects across the country that is facing the chopping block under this Labor government. The best case we can hope for is that Minister King acknowledges its strategic importance in our nation's road network, but even if the project is saved from Labor's axe, it will have been delayed six or more months, and we all know the costs of road construction aren't getting any cheaper.

I was advocating 12 months ago for more funding for the Truro freight route to ensure it could be a dual-lane carriageway. Now I'm fighting for the project to proceed at all. This is just one example of the chaos this Labor government has inflicted on our nation's infrastructure pipeline. Hundreds of projects across the nation are in the same position. Recently, in my role as a shadow minister, I was in the electorate of Casey with their exceptional member. We met with communities there who are desperate to see the Montrose roundabout replaced with traffic signals. I also visited Groom, where I spoke to residents about the need for turning lanes on the New England Highway at the Borneo Barracks at Cabarlah. Right across the nation there are infrastructure projects under threat, and it's holding back our nation's productivity.

Importantly, I've heard loud and clear from my own community in Barker as well as the communities I've visited with colleagues about road safety improvements that are expected to come from these projects that are now on the chopping block. Australia's National Road Safety Strategy sets out a commitment to reduce annual fatalities by at least 50 per cent by 2030. After years of declining road tolls, Australian road deaths have risen significantly in the past 12 months, and the strategy's targets are well off track. The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics' data shows Australia's road deaths have increased 8.4 per cent over a 12-month period. Despite these alarming statistics, investment in road infrastructure has been put on pause while this government reviews projects under the infrastructure investment pipeline and redirects funding to Labor's pet projects in suburban areas. I repeat: 169 days later, we're still waiting on the outcomes of the 90-day review, and that's after the government had 13 months before they announced their review at all.

It's not just specific projects; it's programs too. It's Roads to Recovery, $500 million of funding that local government relies so heavily on. It's the Black Spot Program and its $110 million. Local governments and state road authorities are waiting for calls about that. There's the Bridges Renewal Program and the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program.

Let's call this what it is. The 90-day infrastructure review is a sneaky, cost-cutting tactic so Labor can fund pet projects in metropolitan centres like the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne and other city based stadiums. Labor's infrastructure priority is becoming clear. It's to cut road projects to help fund stadiums and transmission lines such as Brisbane's live music arena at $2.5 billion and Tasmania's $305 million. These are the wrong priorities. We just had a national conversation about the wrong priorities, and the Australian people have said that this is not the right path.

While those opposite kowtow to their state Labor counterparts, local communities are left in limbo, waiting for the next accident to happen. We know the review has been completed. The document is sitting on the minister's desk. I repeat: that's a 90-day process that is now approaching 170 days. It's now understood the report needs to be made public, and it should be made public now. Let's get on with it. The government have these results. They have them to hand. Release them. That's as well as telling states and territories what's in the report and what they can expect. We need this to provide communities with certainty about their future and to deal with hard-fought-for gains on road safety upgrades.

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