Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Wong. Given that it is now obvious that Labor's complex mining tax is a complete failure, with revenue collections 95 per cent below the Treasurer's original forecast, why should anyone believe the government's latest prediction that revenue from the mining tax will increase by an incredible 1,000 per cent over the current forward estimates?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would make a couple of points. The first is—

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One thousand per cent!

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She can't even make a point.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She should answer the question, not make a point.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! When there is silence on both sides we will proceed.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would make a couple of points in response to the question. The first is that, whatever criticisms the senator has of the MRRT, the revenue write-downs that are being seen in the federal budget are far bigger than what we see in the context of the MRRT. In other words, the write-down on the MRRT revenue is a fraction of the total write-down that the government has confronted in putting this budget together—a fraction of the total write-down. I would remind the senator: it is true that the MRRT has been written down, but it is also true that you see, in aggregate, much bigger write-downs from other profit based taxes across the board. So the fiction that Senator Cormann continues in this question is that, if there were a different MRRT, the budget position somehow would change. The reality is that the revenue write down from the MRRT is only a fraction of the $60 billion that confronts whoever is working on the budget. They would be the same figures if Senator Cormann were in government.

In terms of the MRRT, the budget makes clear that the revised projections are for a net of $5.5 billion over the new forward estimates. Obviously, resource rent taxes are, by their nature, difficult to forecast. Some volatility in revenue relative to the estimates is to be expected. I would make the point that Treasury's outlook is consistent with forecasts by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, as well as market economists like Deloitte Access Economics.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. How can the government possibly assert that revenue from the mining tax will increase by a staggering 1,000 per cent over the next four years, when the government is predicting at the same time that there will be no major change to our terms of trade—if anything, there will be a slight reduction in our terms of trade—and that the Australian dollar will remain high?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I suspect that Senator Cormann should also then be yelling out to the Parliamentary Budget Office, which projects revenue slightly higher than Treasury and Deloitte Access Economics—who he has previously liked to quote—who also projects a revenue forecast that is slightly higher. Obviously, the volatility of resource rent taxes is an intrinsic aspect of their design. The PRRT is also a profits based tax. It has been around for about 25 years. The volatility of collections under that revenue head exceeds that of any other revenue head.

I would also like to make the point that the MRRT is less than a year old. We have seen some recovery in the spot prices. It will take time for those to be fully reflected in mining contracts and therefore in revenue. We have also seen an increase in capex and— (Time expired)

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. How can anyone have any confidence in the revenue estimates in this budget, when they are based on such unbelievable revenue assumptions and when this government's previous revenue forecasts have turned out to be so wrong?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is that it? I mean, seriously! The opposition's response to the budget, which lays out a plan for the future, is to try and distract attention away from their failure to come clean with the Australian people about what their real plans are. Let there be absolutely no doubt about this: the commission for an audit—which the opposition is proposing—is a smokescreen to cover up a raft of Liberal cuts to health, education and services that Australians need.

They come in here and try to distract attention from it by saying, 'The figures are actually wrong.' What they are really trying to do is distract attention from their plans. Their plans are the same plans that we know Liberals always have: cut too hard and cut in the wrong places—just like you see in Queensland. If that is not right, why don't you come in here and tell everyone what you would really cut?

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Senator Ludwig. Can the minister advise the Senate how infrastructure investments in the budget build a stronger economy?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. It is in my new representative portfolio of infrastructure. Can I say then that the 2013-14 budget builds on federal Labor's record investment in the nation's roads, rail and urban public transportation. We have already doubled the budget for roads; we are building and upgrading over 7,500 kilometres of road. The government has increased rail spending tenfold and is building—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is good news. We have also committed more in public transportation infrastructure than all of our predecessors since Federation combined. In five short years, Labor has turned around declining investment in the nation's infrastructure and begun building for the future. We have replaced the neglect, buck-passing and short-termism by the Liberals and Nationals with a comprehensive national plan—unlike what the Liberals have demonstrated. That is why, in this budget, the federal Labor government is injecting a further $24 billion into our Nation Building Program. This takes our investment in the nation's road, rail and urban public transport to a record $60 billion over the 11 years to 2018-19. But the job is not finished there; there is more to be done.

This year's budget will get the missing link between the F3 and M2 in Sydney to market within months. We will assist the New South Wales government to deliver the M4 and M5 extension, in partnership with the private sector. In Brisbane, in my home city, Labor will upgrade and widen the Gateway Motorway to six lanes between Nudgee Road and the Deagon Deviation. In Melbourne, we are investing to widen the M80 to a minimum of three lanes, in both directions, and to install the latest technology for managing traffic flows along the entire corridor. In Adelaide, we will upgrade and widen South Road between Torrens Road and the River Torrens. In Perth, we will see the construction of the Swan Valley bypass, which will replace the Great Northern Highway as the main freight route for going in and out of the city from the north. (Time expired)

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister provide an outline of the government's investment in our regional roads and highways?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Gallacher for his interest in rural infrastructure as well. Labor's investment in Australia's vital infrastructure extends beyond the limits of the cities—where the Liberals stopped. In fact, two-thirds of our infrastructure budget will be for projects in rural and regional Australia. The 2013-14 budget builds on what is already the largest road construction project since the creation of the National Highway Network some 40 years ago. This budget locks in the funding for Labor's $4.1 billion plan for a better and safer Bruce Highway to begin; it will continue and complete a range of improvements to this vital road. It continues the substantial progress towards the full duplication of the Pacific Highway. I add that that is one of the largest and most complex road construction projects ever undertaken in this country. It delivers a dedicated package of works along the Midland Highway in Tasmania. All of this is about supporting— (Time expired)

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister explain how important it is for the government to invest in these infrastructure projects?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): This government has a plan for the future. Investing in roads and rail increases productivity, reduces congestion and increases time spent at home. I heard some little laughs from the opposition during the last question—very concerning from the doormats to the Liberal Party. The Liberals and Nationals only know one thing when it comes to investing in the nation's infrastructure: neglect, neglect and neglect. Quite frankly, they are not up to the job of investing in nation-building projects about relieving congestion and ensuring that we have good-quality roads and highways. After 12 years of the Howard government, a lack of investment cut almost one percentage point off annual growth and more than $2 billion was slashed from the federal roads budget atop the slashing of the $1 billion from the health budget. Australia ranked 20th out of the 25 OECD countries when it came to investing in public infrastructure— (Time expired)