Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What an opportunity to correct the record. I know that Senator Smith is passionate about his state of Western Australia, but he served in a government that went out and, as a matter of routine, went into communities and promised that it was going to deliver infrastructure. The minute they put it in a press release and sent it out into the community, it was as if money to do that project just magicked out of nowhere. When you are a responsible government, as the Albanese government is, you don't make a commitment to deliver a piece of infrastructure if you can't pay for it. Families know. You might want to go out for dinner, but you don't go into a restaurant and order something that you can't pay for. But that's what that government did, under Mr Morrison, in particular. They made it an art form. I use the term 'art form', with plenty of colour and movement. They were so dedicated to creating a pretence across the country that they were going to fund every single good idea that came forward and they could say yes to everything, but the reality is: ordinary Australians understand, as this government understands, that, when you make a commitment to fund something, you have to have the money to do the job.

I really want to make sure we get on the record in support of my colleagues who are passionate advocates for the great communities that they represent in Western Australia. Tracey Roberts, Tania Lawrence and Anne Aly are my colleagues from the Labor Party from Western Australia. Let's be clear that it is a Labor Party government, under Mr Albanese, that is going to deliver additional funding to actually do really critical projects that were committed to by the previous government that would not go ahead if the money were not allocated. So irresponsible were the former government that they didn't have the money to do the job.

I can give assurance to the people of Western Australia that the Albanese Labor government is providing additional funding to critical projects. METRONET will get an additional $1 million. The Perth Greater CBD Transport Plan, which is the Swan River bridge, will get an additional $20 million. The Karratha to Tom Price Corridor Upgrade, vital for the northern part of Western Australia, will get $11 million. The Mandurah Estuary Bridge Duplication will get $13 million. The Thomas Road and Nicholson Road project will get $5 million, and the Thomas Road upgrade as well. These projects were so badly budgeted for that they were at risk of not being completed. But we've made sure that they will be completed, and it's the advocacy of those great champions of their local communities Tracey Roberts, Tania Lawrence and Anne Aly that is making sure that their constituents are heard in this place.

One of the misrepresentations that the opposition are trying to get on the record today is that somehow there's been a cut to the $120 billion of investment in infrastructure that was on the record. Let's be very clear: there were no cuts. A hundred and twenty billion dollars of investment in Australia remains $120 billion of investment in Australia.

Now, to actually deliver what you promise rather than just make an announcement, you have to have a funding program and a work program that is fit for purpose. We know that the independent review found that the infrastructure investment program designed by those opposite simply couldn't be delivered. We're not only going to invest in a number of projects in the states and territories where such bad management by those opposite has led to funding cost overruns; we're going to confirm really clearly our commitment to a range of existing projects. At 10 am today, that is exactly what Minister King did. So there's clarity for the sector, for those governments that are going to engage in delivering this, for the prime companies that are going to invest in this and for all the people— (Time expired)