Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. I refer to the $9.3 billion in delayed or cancelled infrastructure funding in the budget, including $208 million already committed by the coalition to stage 1 of the Goulburn Valley Highway bypass at Shepparton. Will the government guarantee funding for stage 1 of the Shepparton bypass, or has Labor simply abandoned regional Victoria?

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much for your question. I know that the member means well in asking that question.

This government has inherited an absolute mess when it comes to the infrastructure investment pipeline. This government is investing $123 billion in the infrastructure investment pipeline over the next 10 years and increasing funding to regional communities by over $4 billion over the next 10 years. I'm very proud of that investment.

But what we inherited from the previous government, and the mess that I had to clean up, are projects that are undercooked, underfunded and simply under-deliverable. I can give example after example of projects which are billions of dollars underfunded and where there was no information provided to the state governments before the previous government decided to go out and announce funding.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will pause, one minute in, and I will hear from the Leader of the Nationals and ask him to state his point of order.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's on relevance, Mr Speaker. The question was very tight, about a specific project: the Shepparton bypass and $208 million. There has been a big prelude here, but it was very tight and the minister needs to come back to the question.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the point of order: I thought the question finished with a full reference to regional Victoria?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question did mention the bypass—

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! I'm trying to rule on the Leader of the Nationals' point of order. The minister has the call.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was actually asked about projects under the infrastructure investment pipeline, including projects in regional Victoria to which I am referring. And it was an absolute mess. The money for the Shepparton bypass remains in the budget and we are fully committed to that project. It remains in the budget.

But this is typical of what the previous government did: all announcement and not able to deliver the projects. Completely underfunded, undercooked and under-deliverable, because the previous government was more interested in going out and getting an announcement in the papers and putting the press release out. You can't drive on a press release and you can't actually build a road if you don't have enough money for it!

That is the problem: the legacy that you have left is of undercooked, underfunded and under-deliverable projects because you mismanaged the infrastructure investment pipeline.