Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let's be clear: the Albanese Labor government is delivering the beef corridor road project, something the coalition talked about but didn't deliver in their nine years. The funding for this project has not been delayed. This idea of funding profiles and being cut is simply nonsense. The coalition allocated fake funding to this project. It's another example of all announcement and no delivery from the former coalition government. The reality is that the Queensland government has undertaken rigorous planning for these projects, and they're now moving into the construction phase. Here's the thing: the funding profiles reflect the real deliverable milestones of the project. We're a government focused on actually delivering projects, not issuing press releases alone. Undertaking the proper design, consultation and procurement for these initiatives takes time and ensures the projects that are built are the right ones in the right locations and to the right budget.

We all know Central Queensland is Australia's heartland for beef production. The region is set to benefit from the development and progressive delivery of $500 million in upgrades to priority road projects that support the beef industry in Queensland. Queensland's beef corridor network extends nearly 218,000 square kilometres and runs east to west across Central Queensland—and, yes, I have been there. The strategic web of roads carries world-class beef products and contributes billions to the Queensland and Australian economies. Upgrading the beef corridor network will increase productivity across agriculture and the resource industry and improve safety.

The Australian government is partnering with the Queensland government and working with seven local councils and key industry stakeholders on the identification of short-, medium- and long-term beef road priorities to inform a 10-year Central Queensland beef roads investment strategy. This includes Barcaldine Regional Council, Central Highlands Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council and many others, who have been advocating for infrastructure investments to improve the road in forming part of the state's beef supply chain.

To kickstart the initiative, on 13 March this year the Miles Labor government announced the first stage of construction, with early works expected to commence progressively from 2024-25, and we're getting this done. The project is being funded on an 80-20 basis, with the Albanese government committing $400 million as part of last year's MYEFO and the Queensland government contributing $100 million, including the Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program 2023-24 to 2026-27. These roads upgrades provide safer and more efficient transport solutions across the area. We are engaging with the local councils and industry stakeholders to develop that 10-year strategy.

In my own electorate, we're investing $177 million in the Warrego Highway to improve the safety and capacity of this vital transport link. We're investing $470 million of funding for the entire Warrego Highway in the budget. Why is this critical? Because the Warrego is one of Queensland and Australia's main freight corridors and supports the beef supply chains. It's part of a $2.5 billion investment for Queensland in the budget, including $453.5 million in the central west corridor, $111.7 million in the Capricorn Highway pavement strengthening and widening packages 1, 2 and 3, and $45.5 million in the Springsure to Tambo upgrade. Make no mistake: we are partnering with the Queensland government, and we're backing the industry. It's really, really critical.

Not long after all of this back in May, including the Prime Minister attending Beef Week, we announced that China was lifting the suspension of imports from several Queensland meat-processing plants, including JBS Dinmore and Kilcoy Global Foods abattoirs in my electorate, along with other abattoirs and beef processing facilities in Caboolture and near Toowoomba, resuming red meat exports to China, one of our biggest export markets.

This is a great outcome for meat processors in my electorate and for workers in my electorate, not to mention the cattle producers and the wider red meat and beef processing industry in Queensland. I want to thank Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism, for the work he's done in relation to that matter. It shows that the Albanese government is delivering for Queensland cattle producers and for Central Queensland. The Liberal and National Parties should stop misleading the community and acknowledge the fact that it's this Labor government delivering more for regional Queensland and the Queensland beef industry in less than two years than the coalition ever did.

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