Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

That's right, you've got to start somewhere! We will just build half a tunnel and work out later where it is going to come up! It had better not come up anywhere near my place! This is a project that Infrastructure Australia has advised is not ready to proceed—and here he is, the fiscal messiah, giving a billion dollars to the tunnel when they have not even worked out where it is going to come up. They are not going to start building it for two years but you have given them a billion dollars before they even know where it is going to come up.

I think it is also worth reflecting on the government's Orwellian terminology of 'asset recycling'. Let us call this bill what it is—'encouraging privatisation'. That is what this bill is doing and that is what it should be called. As I said, Labor is not against privatisation. We support it when it results in an addition to productive nation-building infrastructure. We support it when regulation and competition can ensure benefits for consumers with a good return to government. On that, we note the recent comments from the ACCC chair about the risk of inadequate regulatory protections for the sale of monopoly assets in order to access the 15 per cent Commonwealth incentive before July 2016—and well should we note these comments. But, as is typical of this government, they want to hide what they are doing with spin and word-games. They should just own up to what they want out of this legislation and call it the 'Encouraging Privatisation Bill'.

Before I conclude, I want to say a few words about the coalition's short-sighted decision to abolish the $3.5 billion Education Investment Fund. This cut to the education fund comes on top of the government's $5.8 billion cuts to higher education and student support. It is a far cry from their pre-election promises of 'no changes to education'. We all remember the then Leader of the Opposition, Mr Tony Abbott, looking the television camera in the eye and saying, 'No cuts to education.' But the EIF provides funding for projects that create or develop significant infrastructure in higher education—research and vocational education and training institutions. Its abolition raises serious questions about this government's commitment to long-term sustainable infrastructure for teaching and research at Australia's public universities.

Mr Abbott looked the television camera in the eye and said, 'No cuts in education'—just another lie. This is not the government the people of Australia voted for. Mr Abbott made a great play over the last three years about trust—'Take me at my word' and 'I mean what I say'—and he lied his way through the election campaign. This is just another demonstration of the extent of the lies that Mr Abbott told to the Australian people to gain their trust and support going into that last election. That is why one of Labor's amendments to this legislation is to reinstate this fund. According to the Australian Technology Network of Universities:

EIF funding has been used to develop new research and education infrastructure across universities, VET institutions, research centres and institutes and the CSIRO.

That is what this fund is being used for. They go on to say:

To date 71 infrastructure projects have been funded by EIF to the sum of $2.4 billion.

They also say:

Without systematic and sustainable funding for research infrastructure, Australia will not be able to attract the best and brightest researchers in the world, nor commit to significant long term research and commercialisation projects as is done in our competitor economies.

This is another act from a government that does not understand or care about science and research.

Our amendments are important amendments that improve the operations of this bill and they make it more transparent for taxpayers. It will never be a perfect block to those pork-barrellers from the Queensland Liberal and National parties—nothing will ever stop them; they will find a way to get their snout in any trough—but this is as good as is possible to do in this chamber today. Our amendments will ensure that a vital fund is retained so that it can continue to support education infrastructure. These amendments continue the focus that Labor had when in government: that infrastructure decisions need to be based on what is best for Australia in the long run—for our national interests, not the National or Liberal party interest in pork-barrelling in marginal seats in Queensland and other states.