Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, my question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. Will the minister update the House on infrastructure developments in my home state of Western Australia? Are there any challenges to the future of Western Australia's infrastructure development?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question. Her passionate support for the construction of infrastructure in Western Australia has certainly been influential in delivering the biggest infrastructure program that our country has ever seen. Our $50 billion towards major infrastructure projects around the country is at least $18 billion more than Labor committed at the last election, so there are many, many projects that this government is building that the other side has made no commitment to. That is why it is so important for the people of Western Australia to make sure that they vote for the coalition on Saturday in a crucial by-election, because that will be the vote of confidence that is necessary to ensure that this infrastructure program is maintained. Big projects like Northlink WA.

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

Yes, that was ours.

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

Projects like the Gateway WA project—

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

Ours.

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

the Great Eastern Highway upgrade, the Roe Highway and the Kwinana Freeway.

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

I opened that!

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler!

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

Our $804 million expenditure for transport in Western Australia in 2015-16, and a $5.4 billion commitment between 2013-14 to 2018 compares with just $493 million spent by Labor in their last year. There is a big difference already evident in Western Australia, and we have got many more exciting projects in mind, such as the Perth Freight Link—

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler will cease interjecting.

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

This will in fact employ about 2½ thousand people in construction and deliver economic benefits for the state, estimated at $3.9 billion. It is estimated to save $2½ billion in travel time by reducing the length of time taken to move freight to port, bypassing 14 sets of traffic lights, so it is an exciting project. And for those interested in protecting and preserving the environment, this project is expected to save 449,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2031. This is a project that is clearly good for Western Australia. It will deliver environmental benefits. It will deliver benefits to the state's freight industry. It is a project that the federal member for Perth, who I note is absent today, described as a 'scandalous squandering of taxpayer funds'. She thinks it is a squandering of taxpayers' funds; we think it is a vital piece of Western Australian infrastructure that will make it possible to move freight more efficiently around the state, and particularly around the capital city.