Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

The infrastructure Prime Minister was convinced by Steven Marshall, the leader of the Liberal Party in South Australia, that we should do the whole corridor in a decade. We looked in the cupboard, we looked for the study the former minister had paid for and it was not there. There was no plan. So we funded a plan and we asked for it to be done by the end of February. In the meantime, there have been several cost estimates. Today, we still do not know what the cost estimate is for this project. In 2008, when the then minister announced it, it was $750 million. Then in August 2013, the minister in the South Australian government, Minister Koutsantonis, the next leader of the Labor Party, said the project would be a billion dollars. In fact, standing next to the member for Grayndler in the election campaign, Minister Koutsantonis said it was $1.8 billion.

On 21 January, in Labor's jobs plan, the Premier of South Australia said it was $600 million. Then in February this year Premier Jay Weatherill said it was $830 million. Then last week, Tom Koutsantonis said it was $600 million. So they do not know and this is the problem. Last night, Jay Weatherill, adopting the Mark Latham tactics to debates, attacked again the infrastructure Prime Minister, rather than talking to the infrastructure Prime Minister as Steven Marshall is doing.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

See this speech in context