Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities. Will the minister update the House on how the government is delivering on its record $75 billion investment in transport infrastructure? How will this infrastructure pipeline support economic growth, including in my electorate of Brisbane? Is the minister aware of any dangers to this growth or the creation of jobs?

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brisbane, who is delivering for his constituents. He has been instrumental in the Turnbull government making a commitment to invest $300 million in the Brisbane Metro, along with a commitment of over $600 million from the Brisbane City Council—an organisation of course led by the LNP, with a very capable track record of delivery. What the member for Brisbane is going to deliver to his constituents is a high frequency metro network, some 21 kilometres of existing busway, links between Eight Mile Plains and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, between the University of Queensland lakes and the Brisbane CBD. This will address congestion on the Victoria Bridge. It will improve travel times, reliability and convenience for Brisbane commuters.

I'm asked by the member for Brisbane, presciently, if there are any dangers to the implementation of the government's $75 billion infrastructure program. The principal danger I need to inform the member for Brisbane of would be if this hopeless rabble on the other side of the House were ever to form government! We need to be clear. Their record of rank incompetence is by no means limited to transport and infrastructure. You can look at the NBN where, in six years, they spent $6 billion—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Members on my left!

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and barely 50,000 premises were able to connect to the fixed network after six years.

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

The minister will just pause for a second. The member for Burt has been warned, amongst others. He will leave under 94(a).

The member for Burt then left the chamber.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was going through a brief list of some of Labor's most comprehensive and egregious implementation stuff-ups. There was the chaos of the pink batts and, my personal favourite, the member for Adelaide's contribution with the double drop off. Who remembers the double drop off? A 2007 promise, they were going to build 260 early childcare centres in schools all around the country. How many had they delivered when they finally slunk away from that program in 2010? The historical record shows that it was 38. So Labor cannot deliver; their implementation is hopeless. What about the 12 rail lines that state Labor promised in New South Wales? They delivered not one of them. What about the Gawler line electrification? That was a comprehensive stuff-up by the Weatherill Labor government that has taken the coalition to fix. We're committing funding for the Gawler line electrification. Labor's track record of implementation in transport and in every other portfolio is egregious and hopeless, and that is a huge danger to the Australian people.