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

On behalf of all those in the House, it was good to see Mr Wyatt get to answer his first question. My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. The government has punished Victorians for electing a Labor government by short-changing Victorians on infrastructure funding, with Victoria receiving eight per cent of federal infrastructure funding despite having 25 per cent of the nation's population. Why is the Prime Minister now holding West Australians hostage by threatening to withhold $1.2 billion of federal infrastructure funding because a future Labor government would not proceed with the discredited Perth Freight Link?

Mr Craig Kelly interjecting—

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

The member for Hughes is warned.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The honourable member has clearly overlooked the fact that Western Australia is a great exporting state and that it needs the infrastructure to get its exports to the market and to the port, and the Perth Freight Link is doing that. The honourable member seems to overlook the fact that strong support for the Perth Freight Link is coming from the business community. The business leaders in Perth recognise that it is going to give the economic infrastructure that that state needs. The honourable member should remember too that Western Australia has carried an enormous part of the export burden for Australia. It is a state that has had the benefit of a big boom, but it is going through tough times. It needs strong investment in its economic infrastructure, and that is what we are delivering.