Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

High-speed rail has the potential to revolutionise interstate travel in this nation. Linking Brisbane and Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra is an ambitious project that requires legislators of today to show that vision, to think beyond the next election and ask what they can put in place for the future. The 1,748 kilometre line would, according to the high-speed rail study produced last year, cost $114 billion. It would require 80 kilometres of tunnels, including 67 kilometres in Sydney alone.

According to the study I mentioned, a high-speed rail line would also have major benefits. It would allow people to travel from Brisbane to Sydney and from Sydney to Melbourne in less than three hours. The study also found that, for the Sydney to Melbourne sector—which recommended should be built first—there would be an economic benefit of $2.15 for every dollar spent. In particular, high-speed rail would supercharge the economies of the regional centres through which it would pass, including here in Canberra. These also include the Gold Coast, Casino, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Newcastle, the Southern Highlands, Wagga Wagga, Albury Wodonga and Shepparton. These benefits would be significant and far-reaching.

After receiving the report, we indicated as a government that we would allocate $52 million to begin the serious process of planning for this project, including securing the corridor. This bill, the High Speed Rail Planning Authority Bill 2013, would put the mechanism in place to establish a high-speed rail planning authority to include representatives of the Queensland, New South Wales, ACT and Victorian government as well as local government delegates and railway experts. At the heart of this bill is the idea that, while high-speed rail is a long-term project, it is nonetheless a project whose time will come—for two reasons. Firstly, as the feasibility study noted, trips down the east coast of Australia are expected to grow by about 1.8 per cent a year over the next 20 years—meaning they will increase by about 60 per cent on current levels by 2035. It is not possible to handle that amount of traffic using roads and airlines. Secondly, while the current government does not believe in meaningful action on climate change, its position is unsustainable in the long term, as the reality of a carbon constrained future becomes more and more apparent as each year passes, the case for high-speed rail will become even more compelling. It would take cars off the road and reduce the number of aircraft that would otherwise be required.

This is a result of a considered view—a considered view from a group that included the former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer, Jennifer Westacott of the BCA, the head of the Australasian Railway Association, Bryan Nye, sustainability expert, Professor Peter Newman of Curtin University, the RTBU's Bob Nanva, the deputy secretary of my former department, Lyn O'Connell, and Professor Sue Holliday, a planning expert from the University of New South Wales.

This view was adopted unanimously as a recommendation to government and yet this government took the $52 million that was allocated for this process out of the budget in May. This is in contradiction of the current minister, Minister Truss's statement to the AusRAIL 2013 conference in Sydney after he was appointed, where he said:

You cannot designate a corridor through our cities, suburbs, towns and rural landscapes without being willing to purchase the affected lands and that will be expensive and without an immediate return.

The minister also promised to consult with state and territory leaders about the project. That is why we are putting forward this bill. That is why the government should reinstate the $52 million that it took out of high-speed rail—to support the high-speed rail authority and to coordinate the beginning of the preservation of the corridor for that project. For that you need planning, but you also need investment. The former government put that in place. The current government has removed it.

The day-to-day demands of this parliament are indeed great, but what the Australian people expect is a government that will look forward to the future. High-speed rail is about vision, it is about transforming our regions, it is about reducing our emissions, and it is about effectively being able to travel from our capital cities down the east coast. The study that we put in place indicated that it was viable and this government should provide that support. The start of that would be support for this bill. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.