Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Senator Watt. Minister, how will the Albanese Labor government continue working with the re-elected Andrews Labor government to deliver important infrastructure projects in my home state of Victoria?

Oppositi on senators interjecting—

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

It seems that even after the election the trigger words are still there: the Andrews Labor government. Sorry, I didn't mean to say Andrews Labor government. I thank the senator for the question. I know that he is a proud Victorian. I would hazard a guess that he personally voted for the Andrews Labor government on the weekend. Trigger warning: there are lots of references to the Andrews Labor government in this answer. I should really give you a trigger warning.

On Saturday the Victorian community came together and emphatically endorsed the Andrews Labor government and their agenda for Victoria's future. I would like to congratulate Premier Daniel Andrews on his success and the significant achievement of a third time in government. Despite what you may have heard in this place last week, it's clear that the Victorian community has strongly endorsed the work that Premier Daniel Andrews and his team have done to date, as well as the work to be done over the coming years. This was despite an increasingly desperate and personal scare campaign run by the Liberals and Nationals both in Victoria and in the federal government.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A point of order on relevance: I was wondering whether you might draw the minister's attention to the question.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt has been broadly relevant, but I will remind him the question was about infrastructure.

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

It is always good to talk about the Andrews Labor government. The Albanese Labor government will continue to work with the Andrews Labor government on infrastructure projects throughout the state of Victoria. Through the 2022-23 October budget we have gone line by line through the previous government's mess of an infrastructure portfolio and cleaned it up, while making sure we continue to invest in important projects for Victoria's future. We have put an end to the fake financing and ideological obsession with the East West Link. We are working with the Andrews Labor government to invest in the Barwon Heads Road upgrade stage 2, the Ison Road overpass, the Melbourne Airport rail link, the Gippsland rail line upgrade, the Camerons Lane Interchange at Beveridge and, of course, the $2.2 billion to the Suburban Rail Loop that will be delivered by an Albanese Labor government and the Andrews Labor government.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ciccone, a first supplementary question?

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the minister for that answer. How will the federal Labor government work with the Victorian Labor government to deliver important infrastructure projects such as the Suburban Rail Loop?

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

I am very pleased you asked about the Suburban Rail Loop, which was a core commitment of the Andrews Labor government. The Suburban Rail Loop is a once in a generation infrastructure project that will transform how Victorians move around the state.

And, while some still don't want to accept the reality of defeat after defeat, the Australian government will work with the newly elected Andrews Labor government—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Henderson!

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

to honour our election commitment to provide $2.2 billion—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Henderson, it is not okay to run a commentary alongside the minister's answer. I would ask you to listen quietly. Minister, please continue.

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

As I say, we will now honour our election commitment to provide $2.2 billion towards the Suburban Rail Loop east, which was yet again endorsed by Victorians on the weekend. But it's not just urban Victorians who will benefit from this project; regional Victorians, from Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley, will benefit, gaining fast access to Monash University and to Monash Health, including the Children's Hospital, all without having to go into central Melbourne, saving an hour of travel. This is an important project, and yet again Victorians have endorsed it.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ciccone, a second supplementary?

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again, I thank the minister. Minister, has the Victorian community expressed a view in relation to the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop by the state and federal governments?

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

In fact, Senator Ciccone, it's clear from the results of Saturday night that the people of Victoria have yet again made their view clear on the Suburban Rail Loop. Not once but twice this year alone, communities in Melbourne's east have voted emphatically in favour of this project. Whether it's Bayswater, Glen Waverley or Box Hill on Saturday night, or Chisholm and Hotham back in May, local communities have made it clear that they want the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop.

You really would think that the Victorian Liberals would have seen the warning signs after the 2018 election, when Victorians backed in the Suburban Rail Loop—but no. It's like a rail line with a big 'danger ahead' sign, and Senator Henderson and her friends just charged on. It happened again in the federal election, when a government that took the Suburban Rail Loop to the people was backed in. But again Senator Henderson, Senator Van and Senator McKenzie couldn't hear the warning signs. And now they've driven the coalition train off the track—a massive derailment. Stop digging; we've got tunnelling machines to dig the holes for the rail line! We don't need you digging, but you will keep doing so. (Time expired)