Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government is committed to securing the economic future of regional Australia;

(2) commends the $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund which implements the Government's commitment to start the detailed planning necessary to build or augment existing water infrastructure, including dams, pipelines or managed aquifer recharge, and welcomes the dedicated northern component of $170 million;

(3) notes that the $481.6 million Building Better Regions Fund supports the Government's commitment to create jobs, drive economic growth and build stronger regional communities into the future;

(4) praises the $600 million Northern Australia Roads Programme which enables upgrades to high priority roads in northern Australia essential to the movement of people and freight to support the north's economic development;

(5) welcomes the additional $272.2 million Regional Growth Fund that provides grants of $10 million or more for major transformational projects which support long term economic growth and create jobs in regions undergoing structural adjustment; and

(6) commends the Government for delivering infrastructure programs that are making a real difference to regional Australia's ability to diversify its economies.

There is one party that does more than provide lip service to regional Australia. There is one party that, regardless of the rhetoric, refutes and rebuttals, remains committed to regional Australia. Despite the childish attempts by the opposition to distract our attention over issues of little importance to the people of regional Australia, we remain on track to deliver our promises. The National Party went to the 2016 election promising to prioritise stronger and more secure regional economies, because we know that a secure and sustainable regional Australia creates a strong and secure nation. We approach our commitments with common sense and we deliver on our commitments with common direction. I'd like to touch on some of these commitments that speak to the very core of what the National Party is doing for regional Australia and how this benefits my electorate of Capricornia.

Australia is a big and fairly dry land yet has managed to create an agriculture export market that has fortified our balance of trade. It is the fastest growing industry and one that will strengthen our economy for generations to come. But we know agriculture can't happen without one essential ingredient: water. The $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, the most vigorous water infrastructure program in decades, will deliver once-in-a-generation opportunities for our regions. In just a few weeks, the Palaszczuk government will announce whether it will support the game-changing Rookwood Weir. We know that the business case stacks up and we know that it will deliver over 2,100 jobs. With $130 million already on the table, thanks to the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, it would defy logic that this project not proceed. I remain confident that the right decision will be made, but if it isn't then I'm sure my electorate will make the decision for the Palaszczuk government in the coming state election. But the regions cannot survive on agriculture alone. We need the value-adding industries that go with it, and we need diversity to shield the regional economy from the cyclical nature of mining, agriculture and tourism.

Building resilient communities and economies requires people. Australian people are notorious for being lured to the cities in pursuit of better paying jobs, advancing careers and better services. It's a chicken-and-egg scenario, and one the National Party is addressing by investing in communities to make them more appealing places to live. Already we have seen the $481.6 million Building Better Regions Fund support projects like the Yeppoon foreshore, the Rockhampton riverbank redevelopment and upgrades to the airport. Even as standalone projects, they are changing the landscape of city centres, but, more importantly, they are also inspiring a community to build a stronger future for themselves. As the additional $272.2 million Regional Growth Fund rolls out later this year, regions will be able to build on this landscape, think big and create a dynamic future. It is through this fund that projects like the Rockhampton CBD master plan will come to fruition.

By creating the right environment and focusing on the right industries, regions like Capricornia will have a fighting chance to build strong and diverse economies. But this can't be achieved without the right building blocks. The $600 million Northern Australia Roads Program has prioritised roads that will support economic development needs. Investment in infrastructure may not be sexy, but it's what makes the economy flow. We can't grow and export beef if we can't get the cattle to the airport or port. We can't get tourists to the Rockhampton riverbank or the Yeppoon foreshore if the roads are slow or flights are unavailable.

Investing in infrastructure allows the movements of people, goods and services, and underpins its competitive ability to do so. Our commitment will deliver a strong and resilient future for regional Australia. Our programs and policies are more than just pre-election lip service. They are carefully considered to create the building blocks for a regional Australia that has a diverse and secure economy, improves liveability so regions can attract the right people, and builds the right infrastructure to bind the two together.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Rather than drafting motions and reading speeches into the Hansardin this place, the member for Capricornia would make better use of her time by standing up for her local constituents in and around Rockhampton. The many poor policy decisions of this government over four years—whether it be in health, education, the National Broadband Network or energy costs—all have had detrimental impacts on her local constituents, but we hear nothing about those. When the Department of Defence was trying to take land from her local farmers, she went completely missing in action. When Rockhampton residents were denied sufficient natural disaster relief funding following the cyclone, she was nowhere to be seen. In an unseemingly shocking attack that was trying to shift blame, Barnaby Joyce tried to blame the Queensland government.

The question for the member for Capricornia, which she did not go to, is: does she support the south Rockhampton levee or does she not? If she supports it, will she fight for Commonwealth funding for that all-important project? Taking the fight up on behalf of her constituents is what the member for Capricornia position is designed to do. It's not designed to move motions here in this place that are simply designed to trick people into believing her and her government are doing something. Yes, most her points in her motion, if not all of them, are no more than a lick and a promise. The member for Capricornia, again, has had four years to deliver for her electorate. But in this environment where increasingly the parliament looks like House of Cards, she now wants them to believe that suddenly she's going to do something. Well, I don't believe they believe her. These projects mentioned are all on the never-never.

The National Party's modus operandi is to (1) claim credit for projects initiated, built and funded by the former federal Labor government; and (2) promise loans on the existence of matching contributions. These loans, of course, are designed to fail. Barnaby Joyce likes to say, 'I have money on the table.' Fine, if people have matching funding to go with it. The National Party tries regularly to create the impression of action, but is doing nothing. They want state governments to fund or match projects before any of the economic or environmental assessments are made. This is not policy; this is just misleading local communities. It's a shocking way to run a government. All these stunts are designed, as I said, to demonstrate or to give the impression that they are doing something, but all they have is the next election in mind.

I'm bemused by point 6 of the member for Capricornia's resolution, because I challenge her to demonstrate where these infrastructure projects that have been delivered are. Maybe her colleague might help her there, when he jumps to his feet next. The member for Capricornia couldn't even secure one of the Deputy Prime Minister's boondoggles or pork barrels—whichever term you would prefer. The APVMA is not going to Rockhampton—no, no. The Regional Investment Corporation is not being established in Rockhampton—no, no. Instead, they are going to New South Wales National Party seats, where the votes are needed more. They're going to New England and they're going to Calare, despite expressions of interest from locals in Rockhampton. I assume that representations were made by the member for Capricornia, although maybe she didn't make any representations at all.

Labor's National Country Labor Forum will be going to Rockhampton in October. We will be consulting with local communities there about their real needs in Capricornia and we will be asking them about what they think about the member for Capricornia's performance over the course of the last four years. I suspect they will say, 'Well, she's talked a lot, she's promised a lot and she's says she's done a lot, but the reality is that she's done nothing for us.'

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hunter, the shadow agriculture minister, really should be more interested in assisting regional Australia than coming in here and trying to attack someone who's a strong fighter for her part of regional Australia—the member for Capricornia. He can do something today because he's meeting with sugar cane farmers who are representing my electorate and also the member for Capricornia's electorate. The backbone of regional Australia in our area are calling for one simple thing: for Labor senators not to dismantle the sugar code of conduct. The member for Herbert, who's here today, should be in on this too because QSL port workers' jobs are also at stake in this. They work in her electorate and live in her electorate. This is very important to regional Australia, and I would call on them to instruct their senators—

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek to intervene. I ask the member whether he would like to explain to the House the operation and the application of the code of conduct to which he refers. How does it work? How does it—

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the member for Dawson happy to take that question?

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very happy to take that question. It works like this: there is an imbalance in the playing field between the farmers and millers. In any cane-farming community, there is but one miller. It's a monopoly. We do not want the situation where milling companies, particularly foreign-owned multinational milling companies, skewer the market so that farmers just have to do what they're told.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How does it work?

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It works because it provides a framework for negotiations between the mills and the farmers.

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

I know exactly how it works. I came up with it, Member for Hunter. The ACCC oversees it and can apply penalties when milling companies try to break that code of conduct. If the member for Hunter wants to do something for regional Australia and the member for Herbert wants to do something for the QSL port workers in her electorate, they can instruct their senators not to dismantle the code of conduct.

It's a pleasure to speak on this motion about infrastructure in regional Australia, but I want to acknowledge what a strong advocate the member for Capricornia has been for her electorate. She's delivered some amazing things—things that we never saw while the Labor Party were taking that seat for granted. That's why she was elected. She was the first National Party person to be elected back to back in that seat in yonks, because they recognised the hard work. I think that's why there's so much fire and brimstone from the other side.

The member for Capricornia achieved that $10 million contribution to CQUniversity's sporting precinct, which will go to helping all of her electors and constituents around the area of Plainland and out in Walkerston. The 75 per cent of funding that we've put on the table for the state government to take up for the Walkerston Bypass is going to help all of those constituents. There are two schools in Walkerston that desperately need those trucks off the main drag. The bypass is going to help, and that's being delivered by the member for Capricornia—a strong fighter. She's someone who actually delivered adequate and needed funding in the wake of Cyclone Marcia and assisted me in getting extra money out of the Commonwealth in the wake of Cyclone Debbie. She was the person who championed and actually got change for all of those residents in her electorate that were going to be affected by the Defence Force's purchase of land around Shoalwater. She has been a strong fighter.

In my electorate, we are going to see a lot of funding happen. We are already seeing it. We're seeing the construction of the Mackay Ring Road happening right now. That is creating jobs both in the short term with the construction of that road and in the long term by improving productivity. We have been the government that's delivered the Townsville Ring Road. We're going to move on, and we're going to fund the Haughton River Bridge—a bridge that needs to be replaced and made flood proof. We are contributing $412 million to the fixing of the Haughton River Bridge. These jobs are happening, and they're going to start very, very soon. In fact, we fast-tracked both of those projects when the state Labor government said that they couldn't be fast tracked. We fast-tracked them by putting the money on the table. They need to get on with Rookwood Weir as well. I've got to commend the member for Capricornia for this brilliant motion, because she is delivering in spades and this government's delivering in spades for regional Australia.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I find it passing strange that the members of the coalition always think they're best for regional and rural Australia. The facts tell a different story. During the Howard years the regional development department was actually abolished by your mob, and $103 million of a regional roads program was diverted to city roads, including $2 million for that wonderful country road, Campbell Parade in Bondi. That's the great job you were doing for regional Australia. What's more, most people living in regional and rural Australia are on relatively low incomes. This government, as we know, is no friend to wage-earners, with cuts to penalty rates, and flat wages. That's what you're doing for people in regional Australia who are on wages: flat wages and cuts to penalty rates. Many people in regional communities require income assistance, such as the pension or a carers payment. These are the very people that the people opposite are demonising and targeting in their crackdowns. People living in regional and rural Australia require access to services, such as health and education, which those opposite want to privatise, casualise and move into their cities. That has the effect of diminishing social capital and making it harder for country people to volunteer or join their local footy or bowls club. The work experience kid for Maranoa, good on him, he's having a bit of a go, the chickenhawk who squawks! Often I'll hear him in the chamber interjecting, 'Government funding doesn't create jobs; private business creates jobs.' I have news for the member for Maranoa: if he really believes that, he'll give back the hundreds of millions that various governments over the years have given to infrastructure projects in his electorate and others across the country.

Mr Littleproud interjecting—

Hand it all back, that's all government money, mate. At every turn the coalition fails regional Australians. Right now we're seeing before our very eyes the rollout of a substandard national broadband network which is delivering second-class broadband to regional Australia. There can be no better illustration of how the members opposite are failing regional Australians than what they have done to the National Broadband Network. Labor started the NBN in regional Australia with fibre to the premises. People forget this. Labor was making the point that country folk shouldn't have to expect second-rate broadband and shouldn't have to wait until the capital cities were done first. That's what Labor did.

What did they do? As soon as they got in, they reversed it. Labor rolled out fibre to the premises in Sorell and Midway Point in my electorate and in Smithton in the electorate of Braddon. It's not often that Sydney folk are told to wait at the back of the line, but we had a point to make—that people in regional Australia matter. That was forgotten by this mob. They came in in 2013, ripped it up, and said, 'Folk in regional Australia can get the second-class stuff.' They put more people on satellite, put more people on wireless towers and cut the fibre to the premises, so now people in regional Australia are stuck with second-rate broadband. They're going to be even further behind the capital cities. Capital cities get the gold standard, but people and businesses in regional Australia are not nearly as competitive anymore.

When it comes to Tasmania, the idea that this parliament should note the commitment of this government to regional Australia just rings hollow. In the 2017 budget, which boasted of being a national infrastructure budget, there was not one extra dollar for new projects in Tasmania. Every dollar allocated to my state was for projects previously announced, many of them initiated by Labor governments. Tasmanians can guess where we figure in the Turnbull government's thinking, when the Treasurer failed to even mention Tasmania in his speech. So no, Member for Capricornia, who has left the chamber, no, Member for Maranoa, I do not commend this government for its supposed commitment to regional Australia, because it has demonstrated that, when it comes to regional Tasmanians, it has none.

Then we come to the Community Development Grants, which under this government take pork-barrelling to Ninja Warrior level: 130 to one—what a ratio! Poor old Ros Kelly got bloody—excuse my language—raked over the coals over sports rorts, wasn't it? You guys are in a whole new universe, the Ninja Warriors of pork-barrelling. This is government money for all Australians, and you're using it to shore up your seats in the most egregious, disgusting, disgraceful display of pork-barrelling this country has ever seen. You should hang your heads in shame.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After that diatribe from the member for Lyons, let me give him a lesson on government responsibility: it is the government's responsibility to put environment and infrastructure around people to ensure they innovate and invest. This government has done that. We've put an environment around people in rural and regional Australia through trade agreements. The voodoo economics of those opposite is all about big government and they will spend their way out of things. But, do you know what? It's taxpayers' money—someone has to be creating wealth for governments to be able to spend. The trade agreements that we put in place for rural and regional Australians—because we represent rural and regional Australia—is putting real money into their pockets and allowing us to get the tax revenue to be the economic engine room of this nation. We have put real dollars into towns like Roma, Dalby, Longreach and Charleville because of those trade agreements we have put in place.

We've also put in the infrastructure to support that, to give us the connectivity to get our product around the world and take advantage of those trade agreements. That's what a good government will do. The return on investment that we are making is being put into infrastructure, and that is delivering returns for this nation. That is what every government should do. Those opposite want to put big departments in Canberra. When the government talks about decentralisation, those opposite say they don't believe in it. What a crazy idea, to think we might have a government department located in the area of the people who actually want it and who the services are being delivered to. This is absolute insanity from those opposite. We are putting the infrastructure in. You only have to look at the $500 million that we are putting towards the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. We haven't heard from those opposite whether, in the unlikely event they're elected at the next election, they would commit to that. There is that whole investment in driving water. I have lived in rural and regional Australia all my life, and have worked in agricultural finance. I understand the power of a megalitre of water, not just for the farmer but for the communities—the small businesses, the bricks and mortar businesses in those communities that support communities and employ people. If you take away that investment in water infrastructure, you tear away the very social and economic fabric of those communities. Those opposite don't understand that.

Only in the last round of the Building Better Regions Fund just under $5 million was put into one project in my electorate of Maranoa, in Southern Downs, to build a cold storage facility that will put into Warwick 150 new direct jobs, 136 indirect jobs and 80 construction jobs. That will mean a more than a one per cent increase in the population of Warwick but, more importantly, it has flow-on effects because it means we might need more teachers, more dentists, more doctors, more fuel bowser people. We are going to ensure that we are investing smartly, pulling the economic levers that drive the growth in our regional and areas.

In the little community of Morven, with fewer than 100 people, we are investing $4 million in a rail hub. It will ensure greater competition in the cattle industry and ensure we can get our product to the world quicker than we do now. Look at the Northern Australia Roads Program and the beef roads delivering for those in rural Australia, getting our product around the world. The people of this country are taking advantage of the environment we put around them. We are making sure that they can go and do a hard day's work and finally get the return that they deserve. It was our trade ministers who secured those agreements. With other roads funding, we have the $1.6 billion investment in the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing. That will get our product to the world quicker, as will the $500 million investment in the Warrego Highway. This is about investment and understanding that if you put the environment and infrastructure around people in rural and regional Australia, we will be the ones that drive the economy. That is something we, on this side, are quite proud of. I'm proud of my good friend and colleague the member for Capricornia, who is a champion of her electorate and for regional and rural Australia, particularly Central Queensland. She understands that, if we put the right infrastructure and the right environment around those people in Central Queensland, then they will prosper—and that is why she continues to be re-elected as the member for Capricornia. I'm proud to say that she is one of my colleagues.

Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I live in regional Queensland, and my electorate includes Palm Island, which is remote. We are all experiencing tough times. I represent regional and remote Queensland, and I know the challenges that we are facing, so there is no way on God's earth I can stand in this place and support a motion that purports to secure the economic future of regional, rural and remote Australia when it does not. The Turnbull government is not securing the future of regional Australia. The Turnbull government has not proved its commitment to regional, rural and remote Australia. The Turnbull government is not doing anything to act on issues directly impacting on those living in regional, rural and remote Queensland.

Madam Deputy Speaker Vamvakinou, I'll give you some facts about Townsville. Unemployment is just below 10 per cent; youth unemployment is around 25 per cent. There is growing unemployment in our ex-service personnel and veterans community and 55 per cent unemployment on Palm Island—one of the highest small-business insolvency rates in the nation. Traineeships and apprenticeships have severely declined with fewer enrolments in TAFE Queensland North this year than in previous years. There are level 3 water restrictions, and people are paying in excess of $34,000 a day to pump water from Burdekin Falls Dam. There are sky-rocketing electricity prices—the list goes on. So can someone from the Turnbull government please explain exactly how this government is securing Townsville's economic future? And please do not mention concessional loans or funds, which are doing nothing for Townsville.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility fund—or, as I like to call it, the no-actual-infrastructure fund—has not delivered one project. More has been spent on the board's wages than on funding projects. Can someone from the Turnbull government please enlighten the people of Townsville how this government has addressed the critical issues for our local economy that I have listed?

This government waxes lyrical about the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, but here's the kicker: this fund excludes the drought-declared regional city of Townsville. This fund prohibits Townsville from accessing any funding for water infrastructure and assistance with pumping costs. We are simply not eligible. How can drought-declared Townsville be excluded from the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund? What an absolute slap in the face to a struggling regional community on level 3 water restrictions. Again, I ask: can someone from the Turnbull government please explain to the people of Townsville how this assists our drought-declared community?

Then there is the Northern Australia Roads Program—talk about underdelivering and dragging your feet. This program was announced on 15 June, and 28 months after the program was first announced work is only now beginning on some of the projects. That's not to mention the Turnbull government's complete disregard for our Bruce Highway. The new official figures show that nearly halfway through the Turnbull government's 10-year upgrade program, it has invested only a quarter of the promised budget. Prior to coming into office in 2013, the government claimed that it would spend $6.7 billion on the Bruce Highway in the decade from 2013-14 onwards. However, the new figures show that four years into the program the government has only spent $1.7 billion. The Bruce Highway is Queensland's most critical road infrastructure and is central to the movement of freight and people up and down the coast. The Turnbull government might say that it's committed to upgrading the highway, however the figures show that their action does not match their rhetoric. The Turnbull government has completely underdelivered for regional, rural and remote Queensland.

The government is both the hare and the tortoise. They continually jump out quickly and make on-the-run policy announcements like the hare, and then, when it comes to actually delivering, they are slow like the tortoise or, if possible, even slower. On top of all of this, there is the Turnbull government's $17.3 million cut to fixing dangerous blackspots and local roads, $276.5 million cut to major roads upgrades, $20.2 million cut to upgrade roads the cattle industry relies upon, $50.7 cut to upgrade roads that connect communities and regional towns across Northern Queensland and $345 million to cut Queensland infrastructure spending—cut after cut after cut. So can someone from the Turnbull government please outline how any of this has helped Herbert? Can someone please highlight how this has addressed our unemployment rates, youth unemployment, energy costs, access to water security or jobs for our community?

Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great opportunity to rise this afternoon to talk to the member for Capricornia's motion in relation to her commitment from within her government towards regional Australia. I first mention the $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, which the Mid-Loddon pipeline in the Wedderburn region has been a huge recipient of. The $20 million contribution from the federal government, part of an $80 million project overall, will see over 270 farming businesses now supplied with clean, reliable water. Those farms have never had a clean reliable water supply and when the dams run dry the farmers have to cart water, which is a heartbreaking and expensive pursuit and one that certainly will be fixed and finalised forever once we have this pipeline linking the Grampians system with the Goulburn system.

In clause 3 of the motion, the member mentioned the Building Better Regions Fund. Shepparton, in my electorate, has been a huge beneficiary of this fund, with $10 million from the federal government going towards the Shepparton Art Museum. There will be an overall build of around $35 million. This will be a world-class museum. It already houses one of Australia's best Indigenous painting exhibitions and has one of the best ceramic exhibitions.

When it comes to delivering for regional Australia, my electorate has also been the beneficiary of a $97 million contribution for the Echuca-Moama Bridge, a bridge that has been talked about by various governments for nearly 50 years but was finally delivered by the National Party in government at state level—the National Party in government in New South Wales at state level—and the National Party in government at the federal level. All up, just under $300 million is being delivered to the Echuca-Moama communities to finally deliver them the bridge for which they have been waiting for all these years.

The big one is a project that has been ongoing for many years now that has to do with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. It is an investment in water efficiency programs. Over $2 billion has been spent in the Murray electorate in relation to a plan that was firstly called the Connections Plan. It is now, under another model, called the Reset. The Victorian government has carriage over this, but using federal money as well as some of their own. This is a great example of where water equals wealth. When you give agriculturalists and farmers an opportunity to create wealth they will do that, provided you can give them water at an affordable and reliable rate. This is something that has become incredibly important. We all know that the Labor Party, under a Labor government, has made it very clear that they want to take more water out of active and productive agriculture to send it down the river in the form of more environmental flows. They want to do this for 450 gigalitres over and above the water that has already left the region. They want to send another 450 thousand million litres of water down the river, irrespective of the damage that exodus of water will have on the Murray River and Goulburn River communities. This is something that we need to make everybody aware of—that we have to have a fight over this water—because, as I said earlier, water equals wealth and when you give productive agriculturalists the opportunity to create wealth, they will do that. They will create something out of nothing because they have the ability to use the water at its optimum level.

You cannot talk about regional Australia development and investment unless you talk about the Inland Rail. It is nearly a $10 billion project that will connect up all of the producers from within Victoria, through New South Wales, and right through into Queensland. Again, this is going to add income into all of those farming businesses, because they are going to be able to increase the farm gate price they receive for their produce. This is an investment made right here and now, but the benefits will be able to be enjoyed by farming businesses for the next four or five generations.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to repeat something the member for Murray just said: 'Water equals wealth.' He spoke about farmers. He said that if given the opportunity and given the right amounts of fresh, clean water for their produce then they would create wealth. That's not just true in regional Victoria and not just true in regional Australia; it's true in the Werribee irrigation district. I call on the member for Murray to support me in finding $11 million from the Commonwealth to support the growers in my electorate, who are getting $11 million from the state and who are left there as stakeholders to find two-thirds of the funding to improve, update and upgrade the irrigation system in the Werribee irrigation district. I have been talking about this since October 2015 and have been calling on this government and the minister, who obviously now can't be called upon because we're not sure what his legitimacy is at the moment. But I call on the member for Mallee and the member for Gippsland. The Werribee irrigators deserve Commonwealth support to ensure that they can continue to make a state and nationally significant contribution to leafy vegetables.

We have now been talking about this for a long time. The member for Capricornia put forward a motion to celebrate the $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. In my electorate, we are waiting for our fair share of those funds. We are losing 40 per cent of the fresh river water that is going through channels, which are 50 years old and completely and utterly dilapidated. We want to fix that. The farmers who I work with every week are desperate to fix that. They want a futureproofed irrigation system, they want affordable water for their farms and they want to ensure an environmental flow for the Werribee River at the same time. If you think about a 40 per cent waste and about how water equals wealth, then in Werribee this government equals waste. That's because the government hasn't come to the party for the Commonwealth to support what is a nationally significant part of our agriculture industry.

I go down there and visit those farms. I see the investment that they are putting into their businesses. They are building dams. The Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources likes to talk about building dams. Well, in my electorate the farmers are building the dams. There is no contribution from the Commonwealth. The farmers are investing in equipment. They are investing in transport and logistics systems. They are growing four crops a year. This is incredibly important work that the farmers are doing. They are doing work of national importance. I rise to speak on this motion today to highlight this, once again, and to call on members of the LNP. I call on Nationals members of the LNP and in particular the Victorian Nationals members of the LNP. I call on the member for Gippsland, who didn't hesitate to go down to celebrate the $20 million promised to Macalister. It is the Werribee irrigators' turn; they deserve better. It is all right for members of this government to stand in the House of Representatives and quote the Werribee irrigators in their speeches. It is all right for them to talk at the National Press Club about the national significance and the opportunities that the free trade agreement with China will create for these growers. But when it comes to putting their hand in their own pocket and putting $11 million on the table for the Werribee growers, they are nowhere to be seen.

I appeal one more time in this place for this government to show some commitment to the growers in my electorate, who currently are working as hard as they have worked in the last 60 years and growing four vegetable crops a year using the best scientific method they can. All they want is a co-contribution from the Commonwealth to match the state's contribution of $11 million and their own contributions. They want a modern irrigation system that will futureproof their area from droughts. I would remind the House, as I have reminded the House many times, that this is a group of people who have embraced recycled water. In times of drought, they have gone to that place and embraced recycled water on their farms and proven that it can work.

These growers deserve this investment in their future. The Werribee River deserves this investment to ensure environmental flows into the future and we deserve this investment locally to ensure we can maintain a million-dollar industry that employs thousands of people in my electorate of Lalor. I call on this government and those Nationals members that represent the state of Victoria to give us some support.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is another motion where the government can't even fill all of its spots. Here we are again. This is the second time this morning. This motion has been put forward by members of the National Party and the Liberal Party—the parties that claim to represent the bush; the parties that claim to be in the know when it comes to water—and they cannot fill their speaking spots. How hopeless is this government that it cannot even back in its own policies?

It is probably because the person in charge of this portfolio and this area is none other than our favourite New Zealander, the Deputy Prime Minister. Let's just be honest about it and where we are at. Perhaps it could be because the fund is defined on the departmental website this way:

The National Water Infrastructure Development Fund (the fund) implements the Australian Government’s commitment to start the detailed planning necessary to build or augment existing water infrastructure …

It says 'detailed planning necessary' and I agree. In fact, many people would agree that any infrastructure needs to be well planned, well resourced and of benefit to the vast majority of people.

But that is not what we see happening in Rockhampton. There was no business case put forward. There was no detailed planning done before the government announced that they would fund Rookwood weir, just outside of Rockhampton—another pork-barrelling exercise by the government. I congratulate the Queensland government for saying: 'We like the project but we are going to do the work that the federal government failed to do. We are going to do the research and the business case to work out if and where the water is needed and work out if this weir is the best way to provide water to Rockhampton and Central Queensland.' I had the opportunity earlier this year to visit the site and to talk with locals, farmers and state government representatives. They said: 'Whilst it's a great idea, we don't have any customers yet. We're not quite sure yet who is going to buy the water if we build the weir.' This is the kind of detailed planning that a government should do before it commits millions and millions of dollars towards a project. The government have been out touting how brilliant they are, but this is $130 million towards a project where there is no business case. Rather than attacking the Queensland government, the Deputy Prime Minister and the member for Capricornia should be working with the state government to produce the evidence that this project is the best water infrastructure project for Rockhampton and the region.

Another project the government tout is $20 million for the south-west Loddon pipeline in Victoria. That is a project which the Victorian government has been championing, saying to the federal government, 'You need to invest.' However, as is so classic with the government, they have excluded Newbridge from the consultations. Newbridge, which is part of the Loddon shire, is just outside of Bendigo. It is only a 20-minute drive from the heart of Bendigo and is at the base of this region. They don't have town water or sewerage. They have asked that they be considered in any redevelopment of the Loddon shire when it comes to water and pipelines. There is enough money in this plan to support all the communities of Loddon shire to get the water infrastructure that they need. It is not just about ensuring that the township of Newbridge has sewerage and town water. It is also about the towns of Bridgewater on Loddon, Tarnagulla and Laanecoorie and all of those communities within the Loddon shire having a secure water resource and access to water going forward.

Many people in this place don't acknowledge that the City of Greater Bendigo, the Loddon shire, the Macedon Ranges and Mount Alexander are part of the Murray-Darling system. Our rivers feed into the Murray-Darling system, yet we have seen no commitment from this government to those rivers that feed into those shires or to those communities. We know from talking to people in those areas that there is a real worry about water and having infrastructure around water that will support their towns going forward. They are worried about contamination. In communities around central Victoria, such as Kyneton and Woodend, they are worried that the growth there is going to impact on the quality of the water in the Murray system. I urge the government to work with our state governments to get this right. Water infrastructure is critical. Stop the pork-barrelling and work with states to get it right.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.

Sitting suspended from 13:14 to 16:00