Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

Infrastructure is something that really was in the too-hard basket for the Liberal Party over the 12 years. We now know the fact that there was a 20 per cent fall in investment in infrastructure as a share of national income during their time in power. Looking at infrastructure, there were 20 Reserve Bank warnings about capacity constraints in the economy. Where was the former Treasurer then? Infrastructure was on the backburner.

When the global recession hit, the government acted and acted decisively, and at the forefront of what the government was doing was infrastructure—the largest school modernisation project in the country’s history. Every school across the country will be getting funding. Every school will be getting upgrades. Every primary school will be getting new buildings—new libraries and new halls. On top of that, we are rebuilding roads. Senator Bushby raised Tasmania. In terms of Tasmania, let me tell you that one of the first projects that came out of the stimulus package was the Brighton bypass. How many jobs will that support? Three hundred and seventy jobs. Three hundred and seventy jobs will be coming out of the stimulus package in Tasmania—the largest road project in Tasmania’s history. (Time expired)