Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This coalition government talks a lot about congestion busting on infrastructure. Tonight I would like to engage in a bit of deception busting instead, because this government's approach to infrastructure is nothing less than smoke and mirrors.

The government sat on its hands when it comes to infrastructure projects. In fact, less than 30 per cent of the much-heralded $100 billion in infrastructure programs is budgeted over the next four years. That's right: less than 30 per cent. The government's so-called $100 billion includes programs like financial assistance grants components, which are a regular part of what governments do to fund local governments for roads; black spot funding, which is a bipartisan program which has been operating for many years; and the Roads to Recovery Program, which is also a program supported by both sides of parliament for many years.

When you look at the $100 billion, you can see it includes many programs that have been around for a very long time and very little in terms of new initiatives. If you look at the budget papers, you see that much of this so-called $100 billion plan is pushed out to the outer years—off in the never-never, to be honest with you. It is not even within this election cycle or the one after that. A project such as the M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace in New South Wales has only three per cent of funding budgeted. Others, such as the rail upgrade in South Geelong, won't commence until July 2024. The so-called $100 billion infrastructure program doesn't even add up, because it relies on projects that, frankly, aren't adequately budgeted for and are not even supported by state governments—for example, the Perth Freight Link, the East West Link in Victoria and others which need funding such as the Cross River Rail project in South East Queensland, a shovel-ready project that will deliver many jobs. This government won't even fund it. So the government continues to overpromise and underdeliver.

In their seventh year this government haven't even been able to deliver what they promised. We have seen an underspend of about $5 billion in the infrastructure budget, so it looks to us as though the so-called budget surplus which they claim they will deliver will be underspent in the infrastructure portfolio and others, like the NDIS, with a $4.6 billion underspend, or will involve reprogramming or pushing out expenditure in areas like defence, with rubbery figures and budget jiggery-pokery. When it comes to the so-called Urban Congestion Fund, this government have failed to spend a dollar in the 2018-19 year. It's like an episode of Utopia.

But they did manage to spend $11.6 million on taxpayer-funded congestion-busting advertising in the lead-up to the election. Talk about life imitating art! This is a fund the government has announced with great fanfare, out of which they are going to fund many projects, yet we have seen not one start. Analysis from Infrastructure Partnership Australia confirms the infrastructure spending as a proportion of general government expenditure will fall to 1.37 per cent over the forward estimates, down from 1.46 per cent over the last decade. So, the infrastructure spending as a proportion of general government expenditure is actually going down and will be weaker across the forward estimates, and the government's attitude is to say one thing and do another—or not do anything at all, to be honest with you. They are a third-term government in their seventh year, and they have no agenda and no plan for nation-building infrastructure.

They just don't get it. They see infrastructure as a state issue and see no strategic leadership or planning for the Commonwealth or any role for infrastructure providing economic stimulus. One of the best examples of that that I've seen locally is in the Warrego and Cunningham highways. The Cunningham Highway needs upgrading from Yamanto to Ebenezer Creek. The turn-off is the Willowbank interchange, which leads to the RAAF base in Amberley. Labor made a commitment of $170 million, and this government followed it but have done nothing in terms of negotiating with the Queensland government to get it done. I urge the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure to come to my electorate and meet with the local Willowbank Area (Residents) Group to hear what they have to say or meet with the personnel at the RAAF base at Amberley, who have to face the congestion every day. They'd like that busted if it could be.

This is a government which has ignored the fact that this road needs urgent upgrading outside one of the biggest military bases in the country, RAAF Base Amberley, in an area that's growing. Ipswich's population is set to more than double in the next 20 years. They need to sit down with the Queensland government, sort out the funding and get this done.

Also, with the Warrego Highway, there's money in the budget, they've said, but nothing has been allocated for the Mount Crosby interchange. If you live at Karana Downs, Karalee, Tivoli or any of the northern suburbs of Ipswich, you know this is a safety issue and a bottleneck. People take their lives into their hands every day by going through this interchange. It needs to be fixed, and the government needs to do it.

This government brags about infrastructure spending, but, if you look at the budget papers, you see they don't get it done. They don't sit down with state governments to negotiate better outcomes for the Warrego Highway and the Cunningham Highway. They've let the people of Ipswich down again and again. They're a government that talk big on infrastructure and congestion but they engage in deception—

Mr Thompson interjecting—

Mr Husic interjecting—

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Herbert and the member for Chifley!

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In addition to that, I'm concerned about the shortage of doctors in the Ipswich region going forward. On 1 July this year the government, without any fanfare, without much warning at all, decided to change the previous District of Workforce Shortage system, which used a simple GP-to-population ratio, to the new Distribution Priority Area system, which has adversely impacted my area and will continue to do so. I've met many GPs and GP practices in my area, and they are very concerned about what's going to happen in relation to this issue. Minister Mark Coulton, the Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government, wrote to me. After I had received his letter, I wrote back to him, and, to give him credit, he met with me to talk about the local issues. The problem in relation to this issue is that the regional areas in my electorate—and they are regional areas, country towns—will be adversely affected, and so will the city of Ipswich. So I wrote to the minister about it. I think what should happen—and I have the support of the member for Oxley in relation to this—is that these areas around Ipswich and the areas around the southern part of the Somerset region, such as Lowood, Fernvale and Karana Downs, should be included and recognised as regional areas.

Already 50 per cent of our GPs in the Ipswich and West Moreton region are not Australians. I've met with many of the local GPs and GP practices. It's been a topic of much discussion amongst the medical fraternity in Ipswich and the surrounding areas, and The Queensland Times has reported widely and wisely in relation to this. I wrote to the minister, I met with him and he wrote back to me saying that he won't do it, he won't change it; however, should the circumstances of an area change substantially, such as a dramatic reduction in the number of GPs employed in the area, resulting in a substantial drop in health services in the community, they may consider the community's needs. Seriously? You've got to wait until people in my area get adverse impacts on their health before you'll do anything about it?

You've got to listen to what the local GPs have to say in the area. I have the support, by the way, of the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN. Merrilyn Strohfeldt, the CEO, supports what I'm doing in terms of the reclassification. I also have the support of the West Moreton Hospital and Health Service in relation to this. Dr Kerrie Freeman supports me. They're supportive of what I'm doing, and the government won't listen. The government say: 'If we've got a substantial drop in GPs, we may do something about it in future.' Well, they're waiting for my community and surrounding communities to be adversely impacted in terms of health outcomes. They're completely ignoring the health needs assessments done in 2017, 2018 and 2019 by the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network. You can see them on their website going forward to 2021. I'd recommend the minister have a look at the issues of diabetes, poverty, heart disease, lung disease and a whole range of areas where we have real problems in our region. But the government say: 'If your health needs decline and you have fewer doctors, we may consider it.'

It gets worse. It is like that episode of Utopia. Guess what they say? They've established a 'distribution advisory group'. He's going to refer my request off to a committee. At the same time, in the paragraph before, he says: 'By the way, if you get adversely impacted by losing a substantial number of doctors, we're going to have a look at it at some stage in the future. But don't worry. There's a committee looking at it.' I'm waiting for Rob Sitch to come along—you know, Tony, who's in charge of the NBA? He'll help you! The minister says: 'No. We're going to refer it to a committee. We'll look at it at the next meeting.' Well, I'm still waiting for that. I've got that, by the way, in a letter dated 23 September 2019 and received on 27 September 2019. I'm waiting for the minister, waiting for the committee—the much-vaunted committee that'll sort out the problem. They're not worrying about the adverse impact on our area. They should listen to Doctors Cathryn Hester and Tony Bayliss from the Colleges Crossing Family Practice, or indeed the doctors from the Riverlink Family Practice. I recommend they go and talk to them or any number of other doctors I've spoken to. The government should do much better.