Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for his question. Let me start by clearing up an inaccuracy in the previous information he provided to the parliament. Page 133 of the budget papers contains the allocation of $600 million for the Infrastructure Investment Program. It is disappointing to see these kinds of misleading statements being made.

Now, I am asked about Cross River Rail. I note that the Queensland Coordinator General's report on Cross River Rail contains half a page describing the differences between the version that was approved in 2012 and the version that has now been lodged. This is not the same project. It has changed materially. And what is important is that we have a proper process for assessing this business case. That is the process we are working through with Infrastructure Australia. Infrastructure Australia is a body that was set up by indeed the shadow minister when he was the minister. This government is committed to a proper allocation of taxpayers' funds and to properly and carefully assessing projects before there is a commitment of Commonwealth funding. That is a proper process. We have already committed $10 million for planning, and there is a careful and thorough process underway. So, it is very important that the parliament be provided with the facts with a series of, regrettably, misleading statements.

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