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

I thank very much the member for Werriwa for the question. I thank her also for her tireless advocacy, particularly for the people of Western Sydney in making sure they get the infrastructure they need to ensure that the jobs and liveability of Western Sydney are at the forefront of this government's thinking.

Of course, tonight the Treasurer will deliver a budget for every Australian, including when it comes to infrastructure investment—as well as investment and training for our construction workers and retaining our important apprentices in construction. Tonight's budget delivers on the hard work we've undertaken since coming to office to clean up the mess of the decade of what those opposite left us when it came to the infrastructure investment pipeline—the Liberal and National legacy of billions and billions of dollars of underfunded projects and an infrastructure pipeline that would have seen no new infrastructure projects announced in any of their seats, any of our seats or any of the states and territories for at least a decade. That was the legacy left by those opposite when it came to the infrastructure investment pipeline. It's very similar to that left in the infrastructure investment pipeline in defence.

I have been working hard with my state and territory colleagues to identify the priorities for this budget. For many states, that priority has been making sure that we are providing additional funding to actually deliver projects that are in the pipeline. That's why, in Victoria, I was proud to announce we're investing a further $3.25 billion for the North East Link, bringing our contribution up to $5 billion—a project that takes 15,000 trucks a day off suburban roads. I stood there with the Prime Minister. It's a terrific project.

We've also focused on some of the biggest growth areas. Last week when we were in Western Sydney we announced our package of $1.9 billion to cement Western Sydney's future as an economic powerhouse and a place for opportunity.

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