Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) 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 Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories' statement, during the infrastructure portfolio consideration in detail this week, regarding Labor's first 12 months, where she claimed, 'We've done more in these 12 months than the former government did in 10 years.' How many of Labor's 448 community infrastructure election commitments have been assessed, funded and commenced construction within the past 12 months?

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

Can I thank the member for his question in particular. We have had a hell of a job to do in cleaning up the mess that was left by those opposite. Let me name all of that. Can I thank very much the Minister for—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! The minister will pause. Members on my left, the minister is 20 seconds into her answer. This wall of noise is unacceptable. A general warning now has been issued. I want to hear the minister. I cannot hear a word she is saying. I heard the question in silence. I want to hear the minister in silence.

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

I particularly want to thank the minister for local government for the fantastic work she is doing and, in particular, for repping me at consideration in detail while I was in cabinet. In particular, can I say that, in cleaning up the decade of mess that's been left by those opposite, the first and one of the biggest projects we've had to clean up, of course, is Inland Rail, a project that started, I think, at $4 billion, then got to $9 billion—

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

Order! The minister will pause.

Honourable members interjecting—

Honestly! The minister will pause. The member for Parkes on a point of order?

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance, Speaker: there was no mention of Inland Rail. It was a very tight question. There was no preamble, and if the minister spent more time on her job than trying to get me booked—

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

Resume your seat.

Order! The members for Riverina and Paige and the Leader of the Nationals—all three of you—just cool it. I want to 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

To the point of order: the question included the statement that we have done more in 12 months than the previous government did in 10 years, and the minister is certainly being relevant to that.

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! I'm just going to ask the House to come to order. The noise level is far too great. The minister in continuation, and I want to hear what she's saying.

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

Of course, the first of those projects we've had to clean up is Inland Rail, a project that started, I think, at about $4 billion and then $9 billion has blown out, we think, to $31 billion under the previous government's watch. We've had to do the work. It was a project on which there was no planning done. It was a project that was truly Inland Rail, as it had no end and no start point. It was a project that the National Party had their hands all over and that they should, frankly, be absolutely ashamed of.

We've then had to clean up the grants program—in particular the Community Development Grants Program, a $3 billion slush fund that we saw from those opposite and that, frankly, we have had to deal with. There were grants that went back to 2016 that had no proponent and no land, and we've actually had to clean up those and take the time to do that, which is what the grants hub has been spending its time doing over the course of the last few months—cleaning up that mess opposite.

Of course, we are cleaning up the mess those opposite left under the Building Better Regions Fund—again, projects that go back to round 2 and round 3 that simply cannot be delivered. We're also having to clean up the infrastructure investment pipeline, with the review to try and look at—

Did you want me to stop? Sorry?

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

The Leader of The Nationals, the member for Gippsland and the member for Page: you've had a pretty good go. If you continue to interrupt this minister one more time, I'll take action.

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

The infrastructure investment pipeline that we've had to clean up was riddled with projects that are underfunded and were all about a press release and actually not about delivering infrastructure, particularly into our regions. We've made sure that in the budget we have delivered on our election commitments, and we are working through that process to make sure that they are actually delivered with integrity and with proper guidelines, and I make no apologies for that at all. I'm amused, frankly, by those opposite, who seem to have no concept of the notion of competitive grants or merit in grants, which is what we're getting on with delivering.