Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McKenzie for her question. This government is delivering on its commitment to build the infrastructure of the 21st century, and, in doing this, we will support economic growth, we will create jobs, we will link businesses to markets and we are delivering on our infrastructure growth package.

Last year, senators will recall, this government made a record investment of $50 billion in infrastructure. This was a record investment for any Australian government, and we are improving road and rail linkages in every state. In this year's budget, we have further boosted our funding for infrastructure. We have started work on 19 new major projects in 2014, and another 55 projects will now commence in 2015. A total of 382 projects across five states and territories have already been announced for 2015-16, with further announcements to be made in the coming weeks.

This government is building better infrastructure more quickly and, unlike those opposite, at less cost to the Australian taxpayer. How are we doing this? Through new financing and delivery arrangements for some of Australia's biggest projects, like WestConnex and NorthConnex in Sydney, and the Perth Freight Link in my home state of Western Australia.

Our $5 billion Asset Recycling Initiative is propelling state and territory governments to invest billions into new city-transforming infrastructure projects like the second harbour rail crossing in Sydney and the Capital Metro light rail project in the ACT. Of course, as you already heard from our finance minister, this year in our budget the government will establish a $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility that will be available for major infrastructure projects like ports, railways, pipelines and electricity generation. We are also investing heavily, Senator McKenzie, in our regions. (Time expired)