Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have here in my hands the hot-off-the-press Infrastructure priority list from the independent—I am assured—Infrastructure Australia. I sincerely hope that this modest agency has not been politicised, but I have to ask. In my electorate, the Pacific Motorway—the key link between Sydney and Brisbane and between western New South Wales and the largest coal port in the world—is not even a high priority initiative; it's only a priority initiative. It hasn't moved for five years. When are we going to build the Raymond Terrace extension of this road? Looking at this document, it says itself that this is one of the main arterial roads in Australia. When is this going to happen? I am absolutely incandescent with rage about this decision.

As far as I'm concerned, at the moment, this list is hopeless. You have things like priorities and initiatives and projects. The language is confusing in the book. Why don't they design it better and why don't they have a better look at some of the priorities that they've given? This is clearly not good enough, Infrastructure Australia. As for the New South Wales government, why don't you get on and do the business case, Gladys, instead of building stadiums?