Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Maybe, Senator Scullion, by osmosis! Maybe we can ‘will’ the freight across the Nullarbor—maybe that might work! How did the Howard government think goods would be transported? How will we service the towns and mining sites that need these resources to harvest other precious resources? It must be by trucks and it must be by road. You will not see an ocean liner sailing up the Great Northern Highway, I am sure of that. Senator Nash, for your benefit: I certainly cannot see carrier pigeons carting the freight across New South Wales. The transport must be done on bitumen.

At last we have a federal government that is able to conduct meaningful dialogue with all levels of government and has the support and involvement of all sectors of the economy, public and private. Let us seize this opportunity and rectify the problems of the past 10 years. This bill will establish Infrastructure Australia as the body that will revolutionise the way infrastructure is addressed in this country. I commend the bill to the Senate.