David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Morrison-McCormack government's delivery of infrastructure is boosting regional communities and supporting our comeback from the COVID-19 recession?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyne for his question. Infrastructure, as he knows and as we on this side of the House know, is a core component of our nation's comeback from COVID-19. This government's record pipeline of investment—$110 billion over 10 years—is delivering jobs, delivering stimulus and making sure that we have the critical infrastructure in the right places right now.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure construction has continued. We thank the contractors and the workers, the men and women in the industry, for powering on, for getting on with the job and for making sure that they back themselves as we as a government have backed them too. This ongoing delivery is creating jobs and direct economic stimulus via the projects which are making sure that we transform the nation and the way we live, getting people home sooner and safer. More than $60 billion is budgeted over the next four years. Around 400 major projects have been completed since 2013—since, in fact, when Joe Hockey was Treasurer, and a fine Treasurer he was. I bet you he didn't think he'd come back from America and see me sitting in the chair. Anyway, we will move on. Two hundred major projects are under construction right now. Under—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

that's got them going, Mr Speaker—the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, we've approved more than 2,500 projects totalling $447 million.

In the member for Lyne's electorate, works have started on the Clarence Town Road. It's upgrading more than 17 kilometres of this important link, beginning construction across Woodville and Wirragulla. The president of the chamber of commerce of Dungog—a town made famous by Dougie Walters, who will celebrate his 75th birthday later this month and will probably get to 100 in one over—is Marion Stuart. She's the president of that fine district chamber of commerce, and she described the funding for that particular road by saying, 'This road is a major artery into town, and we are very happy works have commenced.' She said, 'We have seen a resurgence of visitors to Dungog, and these works will deliver a safer and more inviting welcome.'

Wherever you go across regional Australia, across urban Australia and across metropolitan areas, you can see the benefit of the infrastructure rollout writ large. It is getting Australians home sooner and safer. It is creating jobs. It is creating procurement for all of those regional, local, urban and metropolitan small businesses, which benefit so much from the infrastructure that this government is putting in place. This Treasurer's budget determined that and made sure of that, right now and going forward. That's what we're doing: building the infrastructure, whether it's in Lyne or in any other regional community right across Australia.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about the Calder freeway?

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

The member for McEwen! You ended up there? Some sort of sick joke by the whips!