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

I've received a letter from the honourable member for Riverina proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The comprehensive mishandling of transport and infrastructure policy under this government.

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker—

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He's going to explain himself!

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't have to explain myself at all, Environment Minister. It's the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government who has some explaining to do. Another day, another question time, and again we don't have any answers. That is why this matter of public importance today is so very, very important, because we need answers. We need answers to very relevant questions involving transport and involving infrastructure.

To think about infrastructure is to think about airports. During the budget address delivered in May by the Treasurer, the member for Rankin, the word 'airport' was not mentioned once in the entire speech. Nor was 'aviation'. Nor was 'dam'. Nor was 'highway'. Nor, in fact, were the words 'infrastructure' or 'plane' or 'rail' or 'road'—not once. It was the first time for a quarter of a century that the word 'infrastructure' was not uttered by the Treasurer at the dispatch box on budget night. Why would that be so? Because, just prior to the budget, there was a 90-day delay put on all of the infrastructure projects which were brought forward by the previous government. But did that delay cover the election commitments made by those opposite? No, it didn't.

There was only a delay on the infrastructure projects that—many of which were actually in play at the time. Bitumen was being laid, and it was stopped. States were looking forward to rolling out roads, and that was stopped.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Inland Rail.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Inland rail was stopped—thank you, member for New England—and, unfortunately, many of the workers on some of those projects then went and did something else. They are now no longer on those vital projects which are improving services, bettering communities and, most importantly, saving lives. All too sadly, the road toll is up in many of the states across the nation. I'm not blaming anyone or anything for that. It is a tragic blight on our nation, sadly, that the road toll is up.

The minister needs to explain—and I'm sorry that she's not in the chamber to do so—why a decision to allow Qatar Airways into Australia has been blocked. Yes, I did delay a decision on Qatar—that is a fact—but the decision was made to allow those flights into Australia, and those flights are now taking place into Australia. Those flights are now extending the number of services that Qatar makes into Australia and have now increased in various ports in Australia. They were allowed. The government is blocking them. They've put up any number of reasons—seven, I think, in total, was the last count—and they still haven't given a single solid reason in this place as to why Qatar Airways is being blocked. Qatar is a good airline. It wouldn't have won international airline of the year so many times if it weren't a good airline. What we're seeing across Australia is people wanting to fly overseas and, just as importantly, wanting to get their relatives to fly into our country, into our gateways, which are the airports—a word not used by the Treasurer during his budget speech, which was probably for good reason, because they haven't got a good track record when it comes to infrastructure.

Also, this government hasn't got a good record when it comes to the cost of living. One way that we could reduce the cost of living is to reduce the ticket prices for people wanting to fly to destinations and wanting get tourists into this nation. If there is one thing that we need to do as a nation, it's welcome more tourists. If there is one thing we want to do as a nation, it's improve the cost-of-living pressures, and the government is not doing that with his bloody-minded decision to stop Qatar Airways and not give a valid and justifiable reason for doing so.

It's not just me saying it. It's Peter Malinauskas, the Labor South Australian Premier, who wants to know why Qatar has been blocked. It's Steven Miles, the future, soon to be, Premier of Queensland who wants to know why Qatar is not being allowed to increase their number of flights into the sunshine state. It's Roger Cook, the Western Australian Premier, who wants to know why Qatar is not being allowed to fly more services into Western Australia. But, more importantly and, crucially, it is the people of Australia, Mr and Mrs Average, who are suffering under this volume of debt that they have got—thanks to this government and the higher cost of living—and who are wondering why they can't get cheaper airfares and why Qatar has been blocked. If you look at the stats, they are saying it right across the country. They are saying it in Labor seats. They are rusted-on Labor members who, when surveyed, said, 'Why aren't we getting cheaper flights?' It's a good question and it's the question the minister for transport needs to answer—cannot answer a simple question as to who she spoke to and why she spoke to them.

Yesterday we saw that very untidy moment when the member for McEwen was on his feet during the matter of public importance and was stopped by the leader of government business when the Prime Minister had to come to the dispatch box to make a really untidy explanation and addition to his answer given in question time. What did that untidy addition to his question time response entail? Well, it entailed the fact that he and the transport minister had not spoken. They had not spoken, and he was not aware of the decision having been taken.

Here's the rub: when I was the transport minister, I actually spoke to the now Prime Minister about aviation matters. If I was prepared, as the transport minister from the coalition government, to speak to the then shadow minister for transport, why isn't his own minister prepared to do that now he's the Prime Minister? What is going on between those two? Why isn't the transport minister telling the Prime Minister why she's making decisions? Why is this so? It's a question that people are asking right across the nation.

As I say, according to her RedBridge polling, amongst all voters, 56 per cent of people support extra Qatar services, 32 per cent are undecided and 12 per cent opposed. But here's the interesting aspect. Listen to this one: according to this polling, 59 per cent of Labor voters support extra Qatar services. Those opposite could only hope for those sorts of statistics on other polling that they want to do at the moment for certain other votes that are coming up to the Australian public. Not only are Labor not listening to the public; they don't even listen to their own supporters, who are even more inclined to support additional Qatar services.

Obviously, the Prime Minister is not getting the right information from his own transport minister, who has put a 90-day—now 125-day—delay on all infrastructure projects and programs right across Australia. We know that her title is 'regional development'. It should be 'regional delay'. The delay is causing hardship throughout regional Australia, throughout remote Australia, and it is not the thing that regional voters expect, want or deserve. It is simply not good enough. Nor is the minister's continual refusal to come to the dispatch box in question time and answer very valid questions as to why she has stopped more services from Qatar, an international airline which has won awards for its service and its delivery.

We've got Labor voters and Labor premiers clamouring for cheaper airfares, and what is this minister doing? She's delaying. She's obfuscating. She is saying that she is not going to give us a response. She's given seven reasons as to why it has not been so, and she's not even prepared to come into this chamber on another day—having had a very untidy question time today—but sends her junior minister in to make the answers and the responses that she in fact should be giving. She in fact has the portfolio to be producing, to be delivering and to be answering, and she's not prepared to do it. She ought to come into this chamber at some stage during this matter of public importance and tell not just the opposition but the Australian public, because they deserve better, they expect better, they demand better and they ought to be given better. This is not good enough, Minister.

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian people do deserve better, 100 per cent, and they voted for better in May 2022. What they voted for was transparency and a government focused on doing more than talking—on delivering. We on this side of the House don't need to issue a thousand press releases or say the word 'infrastructure' to actually focus on it. All those opposite did—frequently—were press releases. That's all they still do. I've had the shadow Treasurer, the shadow energy minister and the shadow veterans affairs minister issuing press releases in my electorate that have absolutely nothing to do with Eden-Monaro. I find it interesting that that is still their shtick: press release, press release, radio grab, defer, delay, deny—all of that. In the nine years of your government, you added so much to the infrastructure pipeline, but you forgot that you actually have to do more than just add some projects and do a press release and a 30-second radio grab, because none of those things actually work. None of those things actually get us things in our electorates.

What you did was deny communities what they had come to expect. You said, 'We will deliver you this,' and each and every time what happened was there was not enough money put towards it.

You mishandled transport and infrastructure policy. Communities were left with projects that weren't properly funded. The real benefits to communities were not approved. You left the pipeline clogged with delays and overruns, and nation-building projects didn't go ahead. There were so many projects committed to that you never had enough money to fund them. Communities rightly expected that they were going to get something, and they didn't. But we all know that the infrastructure pipeline was very much clogged with a spreadsheet that was colour coded, and there was no fairness or transparency in it.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You don't have to use your whole 10 minutes.

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Member for Gippsland, but I will use my whole 10 minutes because that's my right in this chamber and I'm elected to speak here, so I shall do that.

There is a new approach to the funding and delivery of infrastructure projects by this government. We are not going to pull out the tired, colour coded spreadsheet and deny members of our communities things because they don't have a particular member of government. We saw the pipeline blow out from 150 to 800 projects, but no additional dollars were put towards it. Decisions of the previous government were all pork-barrelling—commuter car parks, sports rorts and the entire list goes on. It was the same strategy over and over again: underfunding, mismanagement, poor delivery. The Inland Rail project is a joke. You ignored the advice on robodebt. You left funding holes across essential public services. So lectures from those opposite about mismanagement are ridiculous, to say the least.

The Albanese government is focused on delivering transformational transport and infrastructure in this country. Our government's investment in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics will leave a legacy for all Australians long after the closing ceremony. The Suburban Rail Loop is a once-in-a-generation infrastructure project which will transform how Victorians move around the state and will reshape the way Victoria grows. We're investing in projects that deliver resilience right across the country, such as sealing the Tanami, which will contribute to flood immunity, among other benefits. The new Richmond Bridge project in New South Wales will improve flood resilience, improve road safety for users and reduce congestion. The Kuranda Range Road upgrade in Queensland will improve road resilience and safety. And it it's not just in the cities; it's right across the country, in our regions, because we know how important they are for our economy.

We are investing in a stronger, more resilient economy, which means more opportunities for business and more opportunities for skills, jobs and infrastructure that will deal with our changing needs. Our government is committing $672.7 million over seven years from 2022-23 and $1.9 billion in equity to implement a number of major enabling public infrastructure projects which will harness competitive advantages while providing diverse and improved employment opportunities across the country. There are investments in marine, logistic and green technologies in Darwin, Alice Springs, the Pilbara and the Port of Bundaberg, and there's $100 million to support the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter region to become hydrogen ready.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Nats did that. What are you talking about?

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, you didn't. Member for New England, you talked a lot; you didn't deliver much. You were committed to making sure that you were up at the top of the leadership chain and did so by undercutting other people. If that's your record in government and you're happy with it, that's fine. But, when you go out there and talk to people, they're not interested in the political power games you want to play in the Nationals party room. What they're interested in is government delivering for regional Australia, something you talked about but didn't actually do because you were too interested in your leadership games when you were over here.

We are committed to investing, in partnership with regional communities. We want our communities to value what we help them deliver. We are improving livability across the regions. We're focused on responsible, deliverable programs and projects which will help our regions to grow their economies, to build skills and opportunity and to improve connections between and within the regions. And I have to say it again: it takes a Labor government to deliver regional communications—the largest investment in regional telecommunications and connectivity since the introduction of the NBN, which was also a Labor initiative. Who would have thought! Those opposite, who say they champion—'we're here for'—regional Australia, couldn't deliver regional telecommunications like people on this side can. It's absolutely ridiculous.

We take a strategic and holistic approach to what we do across government, and we know that means more than just grants programs in our regions. We know it means delivering services, we know it means making sure people have access to skills and training and we know it means diversifying our local economies, and that's what we're focused on. The Regional Investment Framework will help our government realise the ambition of no-one held back and no-one left behind. It requires specific investment across all portfolios, not across one. Our regions and their economies are diverse. We want to back them. We want to back their unique strengths and challenges. We want to make sure that we are collaborating with them.

We are doing things differently on this side of the House. On this side of the House, our Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program is now open, and we're going to work with local governments, state and territory governments, regional universities and not-for-profits. We want to make sure that we are utilising the expertise and the skills on the ground and delivering local priority projects, not projects that are thought of before an election campaign, to win votes. On this side of the House, our Growing Regions Program is helping our communities unlock some of the investment that they want to see in their communities. Every local council across the country is now eligible for a grants program, unlike what happened under those opposite.

We are delivering more for this country than those opposite did. We are taking people's unique skills and putting them to work. We are making sure that the infrastructure pipeline can be delivered and does not have random things like someone's local roundabout in it. An election commitment of a local roundabout going in a nation-building infrastructure pipeline—it just seems ridiculous! We want every community to be able to fulfil their potential, and on this side of the House we can do that by investing in them directly. We're going to do so transparently and fairly. We don't need a colour-coded spreadsheet to make sure communities get their share of investment.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You just need red pens!

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's very interesting. We're delivering on the potential of our communities and making sure that we work collaboratively with them, with place based decision-making that draws on the experience of those communities. Alongside local governments and regional bodies, we want to make sure we're working to deliver the priority projects that they want.

Our government, as I said, is delivering transparently, accountably and fairly, right across this country, whether it's in the regions or the cities. I am more than happy to take you through the numerous investments that this government will make, without a colour-coded spreadsheet, without the need for the carry-on or the pork-barrelling or all of the things that those opposite want to talk about but fail to deliver.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Name one project!

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Give me some more press releases, guys, because we know that's what you're good at. We know that the thing that you guys weren't good at was the actual delivery part. On this side, in the government, we're delivering for the whole country.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the member for Gippsland: in MPIs, I allow robust discussion, but I got pretty tired by the interjections in that debate.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I won't interject to him!

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't know if I'd take your word for that, but I do want to remind you. And, Member for Gippsland, you encouraging interjections was not helpful recently either, so let's just try and listen to the debate.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have four words for the member for Eden-Monaro: Eden Killer Whale Museum. I refer the member, as she walks out—

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Six hundred thousand dollars over four years!

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, do not interject as you are leaving the chamber, please.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I refer the minister, as she leaves the chamber, to her press release on 7 October 2022 in relation to the $640,000 grant given by the previous government to a $1.2 million project. The minister said:

I am thrilled to be here today to see this fantastic space and what our investment in critical regional tourism infrastructure means to the communities it benefits.

The minister was very keen to rush out and cut ribbons, to take credit for a project she had absolutely nothing to do with securing the funding for. Then she comes in here and pretends that the previous government did nothing. The previous government did nothing at all, according to the member for Eden-Monaro.

If you see a crane or a bulldozer or a grader working on any major public infrastructure project in Australia today that involves federal government funding, you can be sure of just one thing: this minister—this government—had absolutely nothing to do with it. In 15 months this government hasn't announced, designed, signed contracts on or started work on a single project. We asked the minister, when she gave her 10-minute address, to name just one project that she has started in her portfolio—or that the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has started in her portfolio—and, in the entire 10 minutes, all she could do was announce projects that the previous coalition government had not only funded but started work on months—and sometimes years—ago.

We are seeing Labor ministers and duty senators rushing out to stand beside bulldozers on projects that were fully funded by the previous government. They've been rushing out there to cut the ribbons—don't stand between any of those ministers and a ribbon-cutting exercise—claiming credit for projects they had absolutely nothing to do with funding. They've been going to their own social media pages, gushing and extolling the virtues of these projects, and then coming in here saying, 'The other mob did nothing.' If you go and look at their social media pages and media releases, you realise that two of the worst offenders are the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. They're taking credit for work they had absolutely nothing to do with securing the funding for. The hypocrisy is quite breathtaking.

The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government is probably best on ground at this particular skill. In a recent press release we have her referring to the Bruce Highway upgrade between Caboolture-Bribie Island Road and Steve Irwin Way, which secured $530 million from the Commonwealth. This is the minister's quote from just the other day:

The Australian Government's investment is making a real difference to the safety, flood resilience and capacity of vital infrastructure.

That is 100 per cent true, but she had nothing to do with it! Then we had the minister strutting around in Cairns for the Cairns southern access road. The Australian government committed $428 million for that project and the minister was gushing in her praise, saying:

Whether it's through improvements to the Bruce Highway or our investments in the Black Spot Program or Roads to Recovery, we are delivering the upgrades that get people home safely, get people home quickly and support connected a community.

Again, she's 100 per cent right, but she had nothing to do with it—not a thing! That work started years ago. The minister comes in here, struts around and makes outrageous claims with the most breathtaking hypocrisy I've seen in my 15 years in this place. She claims credit for projects she's had absolutely nothing to do with.

Unfortunately, this minister can't even deliver a review on time. On 1 May this year she announced a 90-day review of the infrastructure pipeline. It's now 128 days later and what have we seen from this process? Nothing—no report, no transparency, no workers starting on new projects, because the minister can't even deliver her review on time. I've got to say: nothing is getting cheaper by waiting. Our communities are after these projects that will save lives and change lives, and this minister cannot do her day job and deliver the infrastructure projects we need in our communities.

I have a news flash for the minister: stop blaming those opposite. You've had the job for 15 months. If it's too hard, just quit—it will save us all the pain of going through this MPI again. Lives are being put at risk because you simply cannot deliver the projects that state and local government expect in our communities.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you have a look over here, we've got two former deputy prime ministers, we've got a bloke that probably thinks he should have been a deputy prime minister, and I probably think—

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Go easy on Kevin!

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, the other one. National Party blokes just love screaming at women. They love it! We've seen a lot of that today, in question time and just then. I know it's a spirited debate, but I think the public watching question time today were probably a bit disappointed—firstly, with the level of interjections and the screaming and carrying on; it was an absolute fiasco. Secondly, you wasted half of question time when you should've been asking questions on behalf of the Australian people. Most of question time was wasted in this charade. Why? Because you basically didn't have anything else.

It was your one shot in the locker. The Prime Minister is away and you wanted to create some chaos. It was a disappointing sight to see, and I'm sure those up in the gallery were disappointed as well. I just wanted to put that on the record. You asked Minister King a question. She had to come back in and answer your question because you'd stopped her from answering the question earlier. The reality is that, deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you didn't really want to hear the answer, because you are so involved; you have so much history here that it's undeniable. So we went through that whole charade that wasted half of question time.

I think you need to focus. If you want some advice from me, you need to focus on asking questions about what's actually going on.

Opposition members interjecting—

Well, it's voluntary. What happened during COVID? Let's be honest. Those opposite were in government for over nine years, and the price of aviation, of getting tickets to fly around regional Australia, to be connected to the major capitals, kept going up and up and up, and then we had COVID. You gave $2 billion of taxpayer funds—the people who are up in the gallery—to Qantas and didn't take any equity. That is an absolute crying shame, and someone at some point has to be accountable for that. Ultimately, you did become accountable for that, because the Australian people said: 'We've had enough of the rorts. We've had enough of the dodgy grant programs. We've had enough of the improper governance of our nation.' Not taking any equity was a massive missed opportunity, and I hope, on behalf of regional Australia, you wish that you had. We're in a situation now where we have to make up for the mess that was created in those previous administrations. Whether you like it or not, you were involved around the cabinet table when those decisions were made, so you have to take some responsibility for that.

As with many other debates these days, those opposite are trying to muddy the waters, trying to put in lot of red herrings, but the reality is that Qatar Airways can come into Darwin and regional Australia. If Qatar wants to have more seats, it can come into the major capitals. To misrepresent that is unfortunate. It is true that their current flights aren't full, but you can't deny that there's a lot of competition in the sector. I'll be talking to Qatar about coming into Darwin; that'd be fantastic, and then they could connect to other areas of Australia.

In the time remaining, I need to talk about regional grants. The responsibility of working in this place, representing Australians, is a privilege. When governments have lost their way morally—when the Prime Minister holds five ministerships and talks to himself in the mirror about what to do on big decisions for our nation—that's a concern. What various audits of the regional programs have found is that they weren't fair or transparent. Under our government they are.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm quite confused about what the government is saying about our period in government. When we were in government and they were in opposition, the big claim was made that this minister, this minister and this minister were pork-barrelling. What does pork-barrelling mean? It means you're rushing money into seats that don't deserve it. So we're actually accused of doing too much. I'm sure the member for Casey, the member for Menzies and the member for Longman are accused of the same thing: 'There's far too much money going into your seats. It's just colour coded. It's not done properly. There's no rationale for it. You're pork-barrelling.' That's what we'd hear every day. When I was accused of pork-barrelling, I'd say, 'I'm just a good advocate for my community; I'm fighting for my community, trying to get programs and resource for my community.'

But now that's changed. I'm sure you've heard it. You heard it today from the minister, and you've just heard it from the member for Solomon.

It turned out that, no, we weren't pork-barrelling; we actually didn't do anything! We were just all press releases and no delivery apparently. So we were pork-barrelling when in government, with far too much money and far too many resources going into communities, and then we were all press releases and no delivery. That's very confusing. I think they're confused about how they are trying to attack us.

What is true is what the member for Gippsland just said previously. What is very true is what the assistant minister and the regional minister in this space love right now. Don't get them between them and a pair of scissors and a ribbon, because they want to open everything—and they are. The one fact about this is it's money and projects that were promised and delivered by the previous government. They will not miss an opportunity for doing that. In fact, in some cases—get this!—not only are they running to the scissors to cut the ribbon; they won't let the member who fought for that project attend. Because they want to go, they tell them then they're not allowed to come. So there's a lot of mixed messaging there from the government.

This is serious stuff. Infrastructure is serious stuff. Infrastructure is about roads. Infrastructure is about community assets. The minister's review going from 90 to 120 days is dangerous. It's dangerous for communities. I'll tell you how they think. I'll tell you how that side of parliament thinks. A previous Labor Prime Minister who is a hero of theirs, although I don't think he would agree with a lot of what they are doing, Paul Keating, cracked a joke. In deference to my Liberal friends, his joke was that all he ever heard from the Nat MPs when he was Treasurer was that they wanted to build roads to nowhere. They still think that's funny. It's not funny for us, because those roads are from our houses, our farms and our communities to hospitals. They are roads to get us to school. They're roads for when people have to get out of places in emergencies and they have to be able to do it safely and quickly. So it was a big funny joke from the Labor Party. It's how they still think, which is why they say money to regional electorates is pork-barrelling. It's completely unacceptable.

Let's move on to the other issue, and that is Qatar Airways. We've got a situation where an airline is flying into Australia. They have approval to fly into Australia and they applied for quite a modest increase of 28 flights a week. The minister has said no. That happens. We understand that. But we want to know why. We want to know what the department's advice was. Did the department advise this? We want to know the rationale for the decision. She's saying national interest. If it is not in the national interest for them to get an extra 28 flights, what is in the national interest for their existing flights? What is in the national interest that they don't get the extra flights? There has been no rationale for that. This is serious as well. We want to know who advised her of this. She's been asked about conversations with CEOs of other airlines and what motivated her decision on this. It's a dangerous decision she's made for the tourism sector. The international flight arrivals with international tourists are 40 per cent below where they were pre pandemic. Our tourism destinations need these extra international flights. They are going to make flights cheaper for Australians as well.

There is another aspect of this as well, and that is exporting. In the bellies of those planes will be export products. This minister has made a bad decision and needs to explain it.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am really pleased to be able to take the opportunity today to talk about many of the great roads and infrastructure projects that we are delivering on the New South Wales South Coast, projects that I have absolutely championed. I am proud that we have backed these projects with funding and that they have been delivered by the Albanese Labor government.

Let's start with a phone call I made a just yesterday to representatives from the Gerringong Surf Life Saving Club. I let them know that the minister had signed off on the $5.5 million commitment for funding for the new Gerringong Surf Life Saving Club. I can tell you that is one excited club and community.

Just last week, the lease was signed for the new Kiama headspace. After many tragic suicides of young people in the Kiama local government area, I committed to a dedicated headspace for Kiama before the last election. But, oddly, the Liberals did not commit to it. I can say today that headspace at Kiama is going well and is expected to be open early next year.

We are providing $7½ million to help Shoalhaven City Council built the new Sanctuary Point district library, another project the Liberals did not commit to. This is a much-needed new state-of-the-art library at Sanctuary Point which will really play an important part in learning and bringing the community together and offer so many opportunities for young people, the elderly and families.

Just last week I inspected the new composite bushfire-proof power poles that are nearly finished being put in from the Princes Highway at Benandarah all the way into South Durras. This was a result of the Durras Community Association advocating for this, my listening and the new government delivering—again, no commitment from the Liberals on this either. Last week I also got a progress update on the new emergency operations centre for Moruya: $5 million in federal funding is going towards this vital piece of infrastructure I'm proud we're delivering, while the Liberals didn't even commit to this at all.

Then there are the bushfire-proof power poles for the Mount Wandera transmission station that was burned down doing the Black Summer bushfires. These will go in next year, another infrastructure project that the Liberals did not commit to, that I advocated for and that we are delivering. The new microgrid at Bawley Point, protecting the power source for this community in times of disaster, is scheduled to be turned on towards the end of this year; a Medicare urgent care clinic at Batemans Bay—the list goes on.

Let's talk about roads: $752 million for the Milton Ulladulla bypass, $155 million for the new Nowra Bridge, $100 million for the Jervis Bay flyover, $400 million to upgrade the Princes Highway, $97 million for the Nowra Bypass—and I arrived at the sod-turning for the Nowra Bridge project. The Liberals hadn't even talked about the Nowra Bypass, so to have funding for the Nowra Bypass is excellent and I know is well received by locals. There is $40 million for local roads in the Shoalhaven, with the funding delivered in the last budget; $3½ million from the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program for the three councils; and funding for the Black Spot and Roads to Recovery programs. There's actually over $1.5 billion in road funding going into my electorate.

The list goes on. I just don't get it when those opposite go on about roads and infrastructure. We're actually getting on and delivering the infrastructure people in my community need. Whether people are in Kiama, whether people are in the Shoalhaven or whether they're in the Eurobodalla, we are taking the time, we are listening, we have committed to projects and we are proudly delivering those projects. I am absolutely proud to be part of an Albanese government, along with my colleagues here, getting on with it, listening and delivering.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by congratulating the government on a record they hold. No government in the history of the Commonwealth has put more infrastructure funding on hold than they have. It is an unbelievable achievement they have pulled off in their first 12 months of government, when they said, 'We're going to stop everything, hang on, stop,' and ground to an absolute halt over $100 billion worth of very significant investments in communities like mine. One of those projects that are part of their record building-on-hold program is a very important project in South Australia that would finally get Highway 1 out of the suburbs of Adelaide. Adelaide is the only city where Highway 1 runs through our suburbs, and it's absolutely ridiculous and it is a great injustice to the people of Adelaide, particularly in the eastern suburbs through my electorate. To get that heavy freight out of the suburbs we need to build the Truro Bypass, and we would've, were it not for the fact that we had a new government elected last year who put that project on hold. This is a project the state Labor government have stood by. The former Liberal government put the funding in, and it was all set to happen. But now it's on hold.

It's absolutely in the budget. You might want to look this one up. It's funded by—

Here we go. This is good. We're getting all this on the record. I'm very pleased about this.

The claim is that it was not funded. Apparently, the Truro bypass was not funded. I'll tell Premier Peter Malinauskas that that funding's not coming. He will be very interested to hear the interjections from those opposite about infrastructure funding into South Australia. I guess the principle is that everything under the review apparently is not in the budget and won't be funded. Like the Black Spot Program. That's all over, is it? Apparently that's not funded. The interjections have stopped now! I'm suddenly not hearing anything. I think it's dawned on them that their 90-day review was of everything.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We can keep going!

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Excuse me, but the member for Sturt's invitation for you to interject should not be accepted.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will not—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sturt, please continue.

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Now I am committed to getting investments into infrastructure in South Australia, and particularly ones that deliver productivity outcomes and safety outcomes. I'd like to get that heavy freight off Portrush Road in my electorate and have it not coming down the freeway and causing extreme risk, and at times death. It's not a safe road for heavy vehicles and it's not a logical thoroughfare for heavy freight. There's a way of rerouting those heavy vehicles and that heavy freight back around the Adelaide Hills, up to Truro and down into the north, either to Port Adelaide or to the other locations where the majority of that heavy freight is going. To do that, we need to start by building the Truro bypass and we need to invest in the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass program.

The previous government, with the state government in South Australia, announced commitments and investments into the Truro bypass. That is now on hold. That is part of what was a 90-day review—that commenced, curiously, more than 90 days ago, I might add—and we now don't know whether that project, and many other projects, are going to be scrapped by this government. If that project is scrapped then that means the heavy vehicles that go through the suburbs of Adelaide, that put at risk traffic from the local neighbourhoods, the schools that are located along the corridor, will continue. That will be on the head of the minister and the government that have undertaken a review and said, 'We're not going to proceed with that project and we're not going to proceed with getting heavy freight out of the suburbs of Adelaide.'

What's worse is that there's also no suggestion that anything else, if that is scrapped, will replace it. So the evaporation of economic activity out of Adelaide, as would be the case anywhere else if these investments being reviewed are scrapped, will be significant. We will have a valley of death when it comes to infrastructure activity in my home state of South Australia, and economic impact of that will be just as significant as the loss benefit from investing in that freight bypass which will get that heavy freight out of the Adelaide suburbs of my electorate.

I support the number for Riverina in bringing this matter to the House, and I ask those opposite to do the best you can to convince your government to change their tune and actually invest in the productive infrastructure this country needs.

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As others have said, those opposite just do not have a leg to stand on in this debate. They're the only beavers not to build a dam.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And Canberra's suffering for infrastructure, David!

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll get onto that. They should look into a mirror before they lecture this government on transport and infrastructure policy in this country.

Transport history will remind us that it was those opposite who stood by as Virgin collapsed into administration. It was those opposite who oversaw the mass outsourcing of jobs and a labour hire mess that drove down wages and conditions across the sector—a mess that we in this government are now fixing. It was those opposite who commissioned the Harris review into Sydney airport, only to spend almost two years sitting on it, leaving it to us to sort it out. It was those opposite who cut JobKeeper from dnata workers and left those families in the lurch across the country. They gave billions of taxpayer dollars to Qantas for nothing in return.

Those opposite have now suddenly decided that the Qatar Airways decision, the same decision they largely approved while in government, is now unacceptable. Well, before we start to feel sorry for this multibillion-dollar airline, it's worth noting that Qatar could increase their capacity into Australia tomorrow. I remind the House that Qatar Airways operated flights between Doha and Canberra via Sydney for several years before the pandemic.

Qatar could restart here, immediately gain an additional slot into Sydney, and be welcomed by the hundreds of thousands of residents in the capital region with open arms. After speaking with tourist bodies in this region, like the National Capital Attractions Associations, it's clear to me that the restart of long-haul international flights out of Canberra would be a commercial success. The same arrangements go for flights into Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns and the Gold Coast. The Albanese government is now delivering on its election commitment of an aviation white paper to set the scene for the next generation of growth and development across the domestic aviation sector because of a decade of wasted aviation policy.

Those opposite loved to announce infrastructure projects but always fell short of funding and delivering them. As I said before, there were lots of beavers that couldn't build dams. Over the first eight years of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, its broken promises on infrastructure alone totalled an incredible $7.4 billion. Under the former government, the number of infrastructure projects in the pipeline blew out from nearly 150 to 800. But their appetite for announcing projects wasn't matched with a commitment to deliver them. Projects were left without adequate funding or resources, projects without real benefits to the public were approved, and the clogged pipeline has caused delays and overruns in other important nation-building projects. Many projects under the former government were never even started. Some 160 projects had a commitment of $5 million or less. Yet again, the previous government were all announcement, no delivery.

The proper management of the $120 billion infrastructure investment pipeline should lead to projects that are able to be built and have a lasting benefit for Australia and enhance our economic and social productivity and prosperity. Instead, we're paying the price for a decade of economic mismanagement under those opposite. They left a trillion dollars of debt, dozens of essential government programs without funding and infrastructure projects substantially underfunded. Take the construction of the John Gorton bridge in the Molonglo Valley in my electorate of Bean. Three years ago those opposite got out the high viz and shiny shovels and announced the project. But the $172 million contract to actually build the bridge, which is jointly funded by the ACT government, was only signed in February this year under the Albanese Labor government. Those opposite announced it, but it was this government that committed the funding, and it will be this government delivering the project.

The former government preferred to invest in imaginary car parks in marginal seats over major projects with the potential to drive Australia's future economic growth. As the government, we on this side are committed to ensuring freight keeps moving, people can get home safely from work and the connections between our cities and regions are strong. The Albanese government's investment is already delivering critical nation-shaping projects across the country. Those opposite instead delivered announcements—many repeated announcements—rorts and nation-crippling debt.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The heyday of infrastructure in this country has dropped into one big dark pothole, thanks to this infrastructure minister. I want to thank my friend the honourable member for Riverina for highlighting the failures of this minister in her portfolio, not only the failures but the mishandling of transport and infrastructure. I have to say that Western Sydney is at the heartland of so many disastrous calls by the minister. Firstly, the government's sneaky announcement and lack of consultation about the preliminary flight paths for Western Sydney International Airport; secondly, the minister's 90-day infrastructure review, which could put at risk $5.7 billion of investment through the Penrith community alone; and, lastly, the $200 million stalling of funds for transport in Western Sydney, which was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald a few days ago. As the minister—as the member, who should be the minister, for Riverina just said, that is just not good enough.

After a short briefing with department officials, the minister, at midnight—when my community were sleeping— released the flight paths to the media, without giving MPs, community members or even the media a chance to ask questions of the minister. The minister for transport and infrastructure did this in an attempt to avert scrutiny and ensure her lines were the only lines in the media that morning. But I did a media interview that day and called on my friend the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Senator Bridget McKenzie, to force the minister into better consultation.

It wasn't the minister that came to my electorate to make this huge announcement that would see airplanes going over High Street of Penrith; it was the shadow minister that joined me on that day. But the minister then came to the table. She did a press conference, not from Penrith in Western Sydney, New South Wales, but from her Ballarat electorate office. She didn't want to be on the ground talking to locals about the release of the preliminary flight paths of Western Sydney International Airport. These flight paths are drastically different to those provided in the initial environmental impact statements in 2015 and 2016. So we have been literally blindsided by these announcements. My community of Lindsay is now the most impacted of all the flight paths, and we'd like to know why. At first glance, not a single community engagement and feedback session was even to be held in the Lindsay electorate. So I asked the department about this. Soon enough, the government backflipped, and there was one session held at Penrith Panthers, followed by another in St Marys.

Further, the Labor government is putting at risk not only the quiet surrounds of the Penrith community but billions of dollars of projects in and around Lindsay with its strategic review. The review is an attempt to stall funding for much needed projects that the coalition started and Labor don't want to fund, despite committing to many in the October budget last year. Some of the projects in my electorate which could be cut include: the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport; stage 2 of Mulgoa Road, another Mulgoa Road upgrade; the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport stage 2 business case; commuter car parks in St Marys and Kingswood, on which council already started work and had spent $60 million combined; Western Sydney road transport network development planning; four Coreen Avenue upgrades; $5 million for the Western Sydney Freight line; and Werrington Arterial stage 2 planning—really significant projects in a growing Western Sydney, where we're going to have an international airport. These are critical projects for my community and our connectedness to the rest of the country.

It's not only this. Through the media we've learnt that another federal government report which looked into Western Sydney's transport infrastructure was given to the government in April but is yet to be released. It is claimed to detail that $200 million of infrastructure investment was needed in the May budget but the money has not been confirmed to get on with a number of projects. This is not good enough. It's not just one issue; it's multiple issues. It is not being straight with my community about the Western Sydney International Airport flight paths and the impact. It is around the prospect of cutting multiple infrastructure projects for my community, big infrastructure projects that the coalition government invested in because we care about Western Sydney. Now, the government's not being straight with my community about further infrastructure projects. My community deserves better from this Albanese Labor government.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

MILLER-FROST () (): This is a fascinating choice from the opposition for a matter of public importance, but I guess it was set prior to the shenanigans of question time. Those opposite have so much baggage that they need to hide in the issues of transport and infrastructure. They didn't like it when it was raised at question time. Still, if this is what they want to discuss, let's do it, starting with transport and, since it's topical, air transport.

To recap, those opposite gave billions of taxpayer dollars to Qantas for nothing in return and watched the mass outsourcing of jobs that drove down wages for Australians and conditions across the sector. They stood by as Virgin collapsed into administration only to be snatched up by foreign private equity. And, of course, we all remember the purchase of the Leppington Triangle—$30 million for a piece of land valued at $3 million. And they think they're good economic managers! Back to Qatar. Despite the fact that decisions about flight approvals are made all the time, they've decided to make an issue about it. We heard during question time that the previous government and, in fact, the very same member for Riverina who has proposed this MPI faced the same request from Qatar Airlines and didn't make a decision on it for four years—effectively, a non-approval. Let's not forget that in Australia we have one of the most diversified airline sectors in the world. In addition to Qantas and Qatar, we have Vietnam Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air India, Singapore Airlines, eight international airlines from China, Emirates, Etihad, Malaysia Airlines and probably some more I haven't thought of.

However, if Qatar airlines would like to bring more tourists into Australia then I am all for that, and I would like to suggest to them: 'Put some additional flights on to Adelaide,' which I believe they can already do. We have an international airport. We also have amazing tourist attractions that would love to have some more overseas tourists coming directly into Adelaide as their gateway to Australia: five world-class wine regions within driving distance of Adelaide; Kangaroo Island, a unique environment with spectacular rock formations and a pristine natural environment; the Flinders Ranges, with their world-renowned Ediacaran fossils; and, of course, in my own electorate of Boothby, world-class beaches, including Adelaide's most popular tourist attraction, Glenelg Beach. So why not schedule more flights to Adelaide?

But today's topic is about not only transport but also infrastructure, so let's turn to that. As we are now aware, the previous government left the about-$120-billion infrastructure investment pipeline in a total mess—clogged with projects that were announced without the support of states and territories; poorly scoped; underfunded; designed simply to win votes. One in my electorate, the James Road roundabout in Belair, was, I am told, a last-minute election commitment at the 2019 election. But it was a very poorly-targeted cash splash, because it wasn't requested, and, frankly, the concept was widely hated by the local community. It was a bandaid solution to a complex traffic issue that actually involves four intersections. So, because the media release had happened but no work had actually started, it was able to be cancelled, much to the great acclaim of the local community. And this was only one infrastructure project mismanaged by those opposite.

But I don't want to be all negative, so I'd like to talk about some of the fantastic infrastructure projects that are happening. We have a tramline in Boothby that runs from Adelaide to Glenelg and crosses many major roads. Marion Road cross-road intersections are blocked by boom gates a third of the time every hour. Now, the previous government knew this. How do I know that? Because they promised to fix it at the 2016 election, but nothing happened. Then they promised to fix it at the 2019 election, but nothing happened. But we promised to fix it at the 2022 election, and we meant it, and works are underway. I have to say: it is a very popular project. The local community loves it. The neighbours love it. Commuter traffic loves it. So this is a very different approach from the previous government—not only promising, but actually delivering.

The other major project I'd like to mention is Majors Road on-ramp on the Southern Expressway. This is actually in the electorate of Kingston, but it will be of benefit to not only Kingston residents but also Boothby residents. What it means is that Kingston residents have access to the Southern Expressway and a much faster commute into the city. The benefit to Boothby is that all of that traffic comes off our local roads. So our roads will be for local traffic, and the Southern Expressway will be for those commuting. This is a fantastic effort, and, of course, again, we've actually got the work happening already.

I really don't have much time to talk about the ring route that the member for Sturt mentioned, but I'll just say: it was cancelled by the previous state Liberal government.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The discussion has now concluded.