Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When we announced $390 million last week to pay half the cost of upgrading the North Coast Line between Beerburrum and Nambour, which is owned and operated by the Queensland state government, the Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad told her parliament that she would wait to see what was in the federal budget for the whole of Queensland before deciding whether or not to accept our offer. The federal budget has now been delivered and Queensland are winners big time. Twenty billion dollars is going to Queensland for infrastructure, including $5.2 billion for new projects.

I know our system of government is combative—I get that; it's inherent—but there are times when different tiers of government and different political parties need to work together to build modern 21st century infrastructure. I believe this is one of those times. I've been buoyed by the level of goodwill and cooperation between the Queensland state government and the federal government in exploring the possibility of fast rail between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. My hope is that that same spirit of cooperation, that same goodwill, will apply when it comes to this upgrade of the North Coast Line between Beerburrum and Nambour. Therefore, I call on the Queensland state government to work with us. I call on them to get on board.