Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

Labor is delivering for Western Sydney. The NBN is rolling out, we are supporting thousands of local families with the schoolkids bonus and we are delivering record investment in infrastructure. That is what the Gillard Labor government is doing for Western Sydney. And, as some have already commented, we know where Western Sydney is, unlike some members of the opposition who think it is in Western Australia.

Last time the coalition won government, in 1996, the first thing that new government did was slash $2 billion off the roads budget and fail to fund infrastructure. That is the track record of those opposite: slashed $2 billion from infrastructure. I know that Mr Abbott voted against the economic stimulus plan, he voted against the funding of major public infrastructure works such as the Regional Rail Link and he voted against the NBN. A whole range of infrastructure projects in Western Sydney—and those opposite, with Mr Abbott, voted against them. So we know what will happen if Mr Abbott becomes the Prime Minister of this country. We know he will cut investment. We know he will slash and burn. We know that that is the form.

The Leader of the Opposition shifts the goalposts every time he talks about the WestConnex project. First, he promised funding was unconditional. Now, apparently, it comes with strings attached. The government has committed $25 million to assist the New South Wales government with detailed planning on the project as well as to develop a business case and identify a process— (Time expired)