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

I'm very pleased to advise the chamber today that the Albanese government is delivering to Queensland again. Today we are committing an extra $2 billion towards Queensland infrastructure projects in addition to the federal infrastructure funding that has already been committed. Whether it's the Bruce Highway, the M1, the Rocky Ring Road, faster rail to the Gold Coast or projects right across our state, from Cairns and Cape York through to Normanton and the south-east corner, we are delivering.

What a contrast with Peter Dutton and the coalition, who left us saddled with projects that had blown out by billions and billions of dollars, with no funding, with no business cases, with no skilled labour and with no chance whatsoever of being delivered. In contrast to that, the Albanese government is delivering $2 billion extra for infrastructure for Queensland to deliver 15 projects—where costs have gone up, but we will be delivering—in addition to 212 projects all up across Queensland that will proceed with funding from the Albanese government.

I am surprised and disappointed that the opposition doesn't welcome the fact that the Albanese government is delivering $2 billion in extra funding for Queensland infrastructure, rather than cutting the amount we're giving, and we are preserving every single dollar for the Bruce Highway up and down our state, to let these projects go ahead, rather than making the hollow promises that we used to see from the coalition.