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

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will the Deputy Prime Minister cooperate with the National Audit Office investigation into the allocation of $3 billion to the East West Link, including a $1½ billion advanced payment without any assessed business case? Does the minister regret cutting funding for Infrastructure Australia recommended projects, including the M80, managed motorways and the Melbourne Metro rail, in order to fund the East West, which had a BCR of just 45c for every $1?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course my department and the government will cooperate with the Auditor-General's investigations, but I am surprised that the opposition would raise this job-destroying decision of the Victorian Labor government at a time when we are desperately trying to boost our economy through substantial investment in infrastructure and to get those projects moving as quickly as we possibly can to provide jobs for people whose task building some of the new mining infrastructure in our country is coming to a close. We need to provide those jobs and big projects like the East West Link were significant parts of that plan.

Labor is walking away it seems from this major job-creating scheme. Labor is walking away from 7,000 jobs. We want to revolutionise the movement of traffic around the city of Melbourne. They now seek to criticise those who want to get on with the job.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. The minister was asked why he cut funding for projects—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. The Deputy Prime Minister has the call.

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

I seek to help him by tabling—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Resume his seat.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Resume his seat!

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Resume his seat!

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Through his interjection the shadow minister is inviting me to again refer to our $50 billion infrastructure program—scores of new projects around the nation that create jobs for Australians in every state, jobs that will make a difference to the quality of the infrastructure in our nation and indeed in many instances projects which Labor oppose and would certainly never have funded. The reality is that the East West project was one of those, a project that could have made an enormous difference to Melbourne's traffic flow and of course created 7,000 jobs, which would already be being created now. Labor ought to not seek to draw attention to their disgraceful record in this regard in seeking to destroy the job opportunities of Victorians and the chance to build a stronger economy in that state and across our nation.