Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to raise serious concerns about the failure of Victorian Labor MPs to stand up for their communities on a number of very significant issues, particularly in relation to infrastructure investment. I call out the member for Corio, Mr Marles; the member for Corangamite, Ms Coker; the member for Ballarat, Ms King; the member for Bendigo, Ms Chesters; and federal Labor members who represent communities in Melbourne's west, including the member for Gorton, Mr O'Connor; the member for Lalor, Ms Ryan; the member for Gellibrand, Mr Watts; and, of course, the member for Maribyrnong, Mr Shorten. I think it's fair to say that most in Labor also believe that Mr Shorten has failed them.

The failures are significant and they are deep, including the failure to back a better regional rail link. The Regional Rail Link has, for many years, been an absolute disaster. It has ground to a halt in so many respects over so many years, letting down communities in Melbourne's west, as well as communities in Geelong and beyond, all the way through to Warrnambool. It's only now, with our commitment of $2 billion for faster rail between Melbourne and Geelong, that our government, the Morrison Liberal government, has a solution to deliver faster, more efficient rail. It is regrettable. I've already spoken out about the fact that the Victorian Treasurer, Tim Pallas, has suggested there might be some clawback in relation to faster rail and has questioned the need for a high-speed, dual-rail tunnel between Sunshine and Southern Cross. This will not only impact on faster rail between Geelong and Melbourne—and, of course, that extends all the way through to Warrnambool—but also impact on the ability of communities in Melbourne's west to receive the rail services that they deserve, as well as communities in Ballarat and Bendigo.

Again, I call on Daniel Andrews and his government in Victoria to commit to the full fast-rail commitment, which is $2 billion—plus there is another $5 billion that our government has committed to the Melbourne Airport Rail Link. This high-speed, dual-rail track—this tunnel—is critical for all of those connections. The Labor members I mentioned have failed to back the East West Link. There was deafening silence in relation to Daniel Andrews's cancellation of the East West Link, which cost Victorians $1.3 billion. Our government committed $4 billion for the East West Link, in the east of Melbourne, but this was rejected by Daniel Andrews and his government, and none of these Labor members has said a thing, when we are crying out for better infrastructure in Victoria. All we have is the poor cousin, the West Gate Tunnel, which will save commuter time of only up to about 10 minutes. It's a massive infrastructure project which is simply not delivering for Melbourne's west and for the people of Geelong and Corangamite.

We now see Labor federal members doing nothing in the wake of Daniel Andrews's reckless decision to shut down the native forestry industry, which will cost nearly 5,000 jobs and $300 million—another terrible decision for regional communities across Victoria. Labor federal MPs are doing nothing. The member for Hunter, Mr Fitzgibbon, has called out state Labor over its failure to back onshore conventional gas exploration and extraction, but, again, local Labor MPs in Geelong, in Corio, in Ballarat and in Bendigo have done nothing. And, of course, we won't forget the words of the member for Corio, Mr Marles—which will haunt him, I think, for the rest of his days—when he said that it would be a good thing to see the collapse of global coal markets. I think that is one of the reasons that Labor did so poorly at the federal election. People working in our coalmines, working in regional communities, felt completely let down.

In so many respects, local federal Labor MPs are letting us down on infrastructure investment, on the investments that our communities need. I celebrate the incredible achievement that Avalon Airport is, as Victoria's second international airport, supported by a $20 million investment from our government. We know that, when Labor was in power, it stopped the development of Avalon international airport. I condemn Labor MPs for the damage that they are doing.

Senate adjourned at 19:57