Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I know, Senator Duniam; it's hard to believe. It's a humble ask on behalf of the nine million Australians who do not live in capital cities. If consultation with affected communities and landholders is inadequate or non-existent, projects can be delayed, potentially for years. We're seeing that now with the rollout of transmission lines and renewable projects in rural and regional communities, because you don't do the consultation. You assume you can just roll into town and everyone's going to bow down and say, 'Thank you, Ma'am; thank you, Sir. Thank you for your attention,' while you destroy their lives and their livelihoods.

Just last week, we saw 70 farmers and landholders from northern Victoria travel to Canberra, to Parliament House, seeking an inquiry into the renewable energy infrastructure, and we can't even find out today whether it's going to be assessed by Infrastructure Australia—significant taxpayer dollars and significant impact on regional communities, and yet we don't know whether it's going through Infrastructure Australia. If it does, I'd like to be assured and have comfort that someone around that table understands where I come from and what the impact of that will be on us.

You need genuine consultation. It's very important for Infrastructure Australia, including at the level of the commissioners, to have an understanding of the regions and how to engage with them. It's also important that Infrastructure Australia, from the commissioners down, understand business case assessments and that they will need to factor in different reasons for large regional projects when comparing investment priorities for projects in heavily congested areas like capital cities. How do you say a major project, like sealing the Tanami, stacks up against something in a suburb when you're only going to use population as your base variable? I'm looking forward to the support of the Senate to ensure that someone, amongst those commissioners, has experience in the regions.

The opposition does not seek to frustrate the government's decision to replace a board with commissioners, even though it's not clear this reform will make material improvements to the organisation. We recognise that the independent review proposed three alternative models for governance of Infrastructure Australia. One of those models was to retain a board model, although streamline it. The panel's preferred model was to adopt the commissioner model before the Senate today. What we seek to do is strengthen the bill to ensure regional perspectives are not lost to the peak governing forum of the body.

In this context, I note there will be an advisory council established to provide advice to the Infrastructure Australia commissioners. This advisory council has not been referenced in the bill, and therefore parliament will not have oversight as to how the members of the advisory council will be chosen. There is no guarantee anyone from the advisory council will be from a regional area or have connections to the regions. We're not allowed to comment on that, because it's not part of the bill. That's why we've chosen the amendment that I'm moving now.

We do know that at least three of the six to seven advisory council members will be senior officials from PM&C, the Treasury and Infrastructure. The government's priorities will be well represented. The government's going to have its fingers all over Infrastructure Australia—deep state, right down into the heart of Infrastructure Australia. You'll be lucky to have a regular person's perspective or expertise on how to deliver a project or how to consult with communities, because it's going to be filled with government bureaucrats. There's no guarantee the regions will have a voice, and so it's all the more important that at least one commissioner has substantial connection to the regions. The amendment doesn't tie the government's hands to require at least one commissioner to live in the regions. It understands you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl. It is a world view. It is a perspective that is engrained in you from a very early age. It doesn't matter what side of the chamber you sit on. If you come from the regions, there is a recognition and an appreciation of certain things in life that I don't believe you can get through any other life experience.

The opposition want to be constructive contributors to help the government strengthen Infrastructure Australia. On that basis I have moved the opposition amendment on sheet 1980.