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

I rise to take note of the minister's comments around OPD No. 761, relating to the Stronger Communities Program. I move:

That the Senate take note of the explanation concerning the response to the order relating to the Stronger Communities Program.

It seems it's another day, another effort by the government—who promised so much on transparency and integrity when they came to power—and another week of them hiding behind redacted copies, legal advice and, 'We can't talk to you, Senate, about the documents the Senate has voted we must provide, because it will somehow discriminate in our discussions with states and territories.' I can tell you that Catherine King screaming down the phone at Jacinta Allan about infrastructure funding in my home state of Victoria is not doing a lot for state-Commonwealth relations, and I would suggest tabling the documents requested by the Australian Senate. For these ministers to continue to hide behind flaccid words and legalese is an absolute abrogation of their responsibilities to this chamber and their responsibilities as ministers of the Crown.

Catherine King's pathetic response on the Stronger Communities program round is just the latest case. This is a program which is supposed to support volunteer community organisations, such as Men's Sheds and emergency services, in buying microwaves, shade cloth and pie warmers so they can actually support their local communities and really build community involvement along the range of things most Australians like to do, which is not to listen to politicians; it's actually to get out there and play sport and help their fellow man and fight fires and floods together. That is actually what Australians want to do. Under the Labor Party, getting access to that much-needed funding for simple things like volunteer organisations just got a lot harder. Under Catherine King—guess what?—you don't just have to prove that you're doing a great job in your local community and you do need a pie warmer or a microwave; you actually have to report on how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are in your particular community group. What about your gender related activities? That's a bit tough if you're a men's shed. I hope that won't affect you getting the funding you need so much, remembering men's sheds were set up to assist with men's mental health needs and with having a safe space for men to participate in activities and chat to each other. No—they're going to have to disclose that they are really just about guys helping guys. You also have to report on your renewable energy sources and storage if you want to access grants between $2½ thousand and $20,000. It's an absolute joke.

But, on the OPDs that weren't responded to by this minister and that the opposition has put in, requesting an understanding of Rex Airlines funding from Minister King, how did you put $80 million on the table to not find a solution for regional aviation services to places like Wynyard, Whyalla and Albury, where I come from? We need to make sure that regional communities are supported no matter what happens with Rex, and the fact is that we have 40 other aviation service providers wanting to assist in affordable and accessible regional aviation services. This government really has only got one stakeholder they listen to—if it's not Qantas, it's the TWU—instead of the 40 other businesses that employ 10,000 Australians that want to help. Instead, this government has put $130 million on the table with no solution for regional communities, and now they want to simply buy Rex without telling the Australian taxpayer how much more money that will cost and how many other small, regional aviation service providers will be put out of business as a result.

The other question the opposition sought to get answered by the government is on an announcement made by the Prime Minister about $7.2 billion dollars towards the Bruce Highway in Queensland. Obviously, we are huge supporters of the Bruce Highway getting up to safety standards. It is not in a state that we would expect of a road for passenger vehicles or the freight tasks it is expected to undertake. After the derelict oversight of the Palaszczuk-Miles state government, we are absolutely committed to that project. However, there was a bit of misinformation and confusion amongst government ministers, with Senator Gallagher, the Minister for Finance, going on 7:30 over the summer holidays saying that it's not in the forward estimates. For those playing along at home, that means there's no funding flowing in the next four years on the ground to get this fixed. But the Prime Minister is saying, 'We're going to get money out the door this year.'

So who was right? Good question. I thought, 'Why don't I ask the minister?' The Senate agreed with me: 'Why don't we ask the minister? What is the profiling for that Bruce Highway funding?' We got stall tactics from the Labor Party and stall tactics on transparency from Minister King's office. Okay, we will come back to the Senate. We'll give them more time. We'll be considerate. This is not a hard document to find, because the minister would have had to have it all profiled when she went off to the Expenditure Review Committee to get the okay. The Prime Minister would have had to tick it off so they could make the big announcement in Queensland. And yet somehow the Prime Minister, Minister King and Minister Gallagher all had different answers around the profiling of the Bruce Highway. We want to understand what it was, and, unfortunately, this government, again running from transparency and accountability in the Australian Senate, has refused to provide that profiling. So we're none the wiser. Now we learn that neither the minister nor her department has formally written to the Queensland government regarding the proposed Bruce Highway. They're in partnership together. They're supposed to be fifty-fifty on this; we're on board for eighty-twenty. The Prime Minister makes a big song and dance. He wants 80-20. No-one has told the Queensland government.

Is this how you run the show? Is this how you run a $120 billion infrastructure pipeline? Apparently under the Labor Party that is how you run it. Don't talk to the states unless you're screaming down the phone at Jacinta Allan about: 'Will we fund the Suburban Rail Loop or won't we? How much do you want? Do you want another lazy $9 billion? We're getting the $2.2 billion out the door, Jacinta. Can you give us the Melbourne rail link? Can you give us the Melbourne Airport rail? We really want to go and announce that, because we know you've really stuffed up the working-class suburbs in western Melbourne. That's really going to cost us at the federal election.' And Jacinta is saying no. Jacinta is saying, 'I want the whole $9 billion, thank you, Catherine King.' I wonder where this stand-off will end up? That's going to unfold over the coming days, I imagine. Watch the Prime Minister swoop into Melbourne and make a big announcement about the Melbourne airport rail when he finally convinces the Premier of Victoria to get on board his re-election train.

Unfortunately—I'm coming to government—the Labor Party supported a big transparency game, and yet, as we've seen in this chamber time and time again, when it suits their political purposes, they refuse to release the detail. Ministers hide behind letters of legalese and commercial-in-confidence instead of actually treating this chamber with the respect it deserves—and, indeed, the Australian people we represent—when we ask legitimate questions about how their tax dollars are being spent, particularly around Rex and particularly around this Prime Minister's decision to nationalise Rex if he gets the chance. I wonder if Alan Joyce is going to come back as his CEO. He might get Joyce back in the saddle—in the cockpit, shall we say. They've always been great mates, and Albo—the Prime Minister; sorry. Not only does he want his own shipping line—I like to call it 'Albo's armada'—but now it seems that's not enough to have his own fleet of ships. He now wants his own airline. This is a guy that's never given up the transport portfolio, and I hope to kick them out at the next election.