David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to talk about a critical piece of infrastructure for my electorate of Banks: the WestConnex project, which is absolutely fundamental to the motorists of my region. The record of those opposite in the space of the WestConnex and the M5 East duplication is appalling. It was, of course, the state Labor government that built the M5 East with two lanes when it really did not take a Rhodes scholar to work out that two lanes were inadequate. In fact, within six months of it opening in 2001, its capacity had been exceeded. It was built for a maximum of 77,000 cars per day; it is actually servicing more than 100,000 cars every day. As a consequence, the people of my electorate experience gridlock on the M5 East on a daily basis, and that includes Saturdays and Sundays.

It is a very bad situation that was exacerbated by the previous federal government which said to the state government: 'You know what, we will support you in your plans to build the WestConnex project, including the duplication of the M5 East, and we'll allocate $1.8 billion to it. But there are a couple of problems. There will be no money until 2018'—this was back in 2013—'and, in addition, we will impose a whole series of onerous requirements on the provision of that $1.8 billion in six years that will add $6 billion to the cost of the project.' That is not terribly helpful. As a consequence, New South Wales Premier Mike Baird rightly said that this was extremely unhelpful and that it was not a real promise of money. It was like saying, 'We are taking the family to Disneyland, but we have not actually bought any tickets.'

That is completely unhelpful, but so typical of Labor's record in the infrastructure space. If you look at the great monstrosity that was the NBN, under Labor, a theme emerges of mismanagement and a misunderstanding of how to do infrastructure. But this government does understand infrastructure. Led by the infrastructure Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, and so ably assisted by the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, we are getting on with the job of building infrastructure right around the nation.

Nowhere is more important than the WestConnex, the biggest infrastructure road project in our history. And critically for my electorate, the WestConnex will mean the duplication of the M5 East. An entire new tunnel will be built. You currently have two lanes in each direction, and a new tunnel with three lanes in each direction—six in total—will be built. So we will go from four lanes to 10. If you are living in Padstow, or Revesby, or Beverly Hills, or Mortdale, or Riverwood, or Oatley, or Lugarno or Peakhurst or a wide range of other places in my electorate, that is an absolutely critical reform. Because what it means, according to the best engineering advice, is that the peak-hour trip to the city will be reduced by 25 minutes or more. There are two elements to the benefits that flow from that reduction in time. One is the productivity benefit, which is great for the economy: less time sitting in traffic in doing nothing, more time to get to your meetings, to get to that next client, or maybe sell some more of the products of the small businesses in my electorate. And, of course, there is also the opportunity for people to get home more quickly at the end of a night's work and spend more time with their families.

So it is absolutely critical. Another great element of the project is the widening of the King Georges interchange at Beverly Hills. Anyone who has driven around Sydney much knows that Beverly Hills—and it is a point that I share in my electorate with a couple of other MPs—is a terrible bottleneck. This project will add an additional lane at the interchange and will make the entry and exit ramps much longer. So rather than there being a big amalgamation of traffic at that entry point, there will be a much more gradual transition to the exits at Beverly Hills. This is very important, and it will really save a lot of headaches for the people of Banks.

We are getting on with the infrastructure job. The WestConnex is critical for my electorate, and I am proud to be part of a government that will be delivering that important infrastructure.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It seems longer, but it was just 14 months ago that this government took office. On 7 September 2013 newly elected Prime Minister Abbott addressed the Australian people to claim victory in the federal election. He said:

In a week or so the Governor-General will swear in a new government. A government that says what it means, and means what it says. A government of no surprises and no excuses ... and a government that accepts that it will be judged more by its deeds than by its mere words.

Of course, the fact that millions of people watched this on live national television is apparently no longer any guarantee that an Australian Prime Minister will admit that he said these words, but we should hold him to them.

In their election costings this government promised a $42 million cut to the Indigenous Policy Reform program, which provided legal assistance services to Indigenous Australians. But on 6 September 2013, the then shadow Attorney-General, Senator Brandis, said that the coalition's cuts would not affect Indigenous legal assistance, only policy work carried out under the program. The incoming government promised repeatedly that front-line services would not suffer cuts. Like almost every other promise made by the Abbott opposition, this assurance that front-line services would not suffer has been flagrantly disregarded by the Abbott government.

The government has launched a shameful and devastating attack on Indigenous legal assistance funding. In MYEFO the government ripped $43 million from legal assistance providers, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, ATSILS, and Family Violence Prevention Legal Centres.

The Attorney-General cut more funds for vital legal services in the budget by taking a further $15 million from legal aid commissions and $6 million from community legal centres. In the budget the government cut more than half a billion dollars from Indigenous programs, including funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services.

In October Senator Scullion told Senate estimates that funding for unique service providers such as Reconciliation Australia, the Healing Foundation and the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services was not guaranteed.

And what of the government's assurance that its cuts would not affect frontline services? Rubbish, absolute rubbish. Mick Gooda, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, who as a commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission reports to the Attorney-General, has pointed out this broken promise in his most recent annual social justice report, tabled in parliament on 26 November.

Commissioner Gooda said of the budget cuts:

The impact on frontline services is already evident. ATSILS are losing staff and branch offices are being forced to close. This has already occurred in Queensland, with offices in Warwick, Cunnamulla, Chinchilla, Dalby and Cooktown closing down.

It is disappointing that these budgetary measures may also lead to the closure of many other ATSILS offices across Australia.

More than that, Gooda rejected the government's notion that any distinction could be drawn between policy work and front-line work. He said that the value of indigenous legal services is their ability to provide advice to government about justice policies that can reduce the shameful level of incarceration of Indigenous Australians. Gooda quoted NATSILS's chair, Mr Shane Duffy, who said:

… more people are going to end up in prison. It's as simple as that.

I want the government to reflect on that statement. More Indigenous people will go to prison as a result of their cuts. In this, as in numerous other policy areas, this government has shown that it cannot be trusted to keep its promises. What do front-line cuts look like if not sacked staff, reduced services and closed offices? What could be more 'front line' than working to reduce the level of Indigenous incarceration?

When he took office, the Prime Minister told us that the hallmark of his government would be that 'It says what it means and means what it says.' But, after 14 months of dishonesty and dissembling, broken promises and backflips, I am reminded more of Humpty Dumpty, who famously said to Alice: 'When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.'