Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Would the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on how the government’s plan for infrastructure is building the road and rail networks Australia needs for the future, including in my electorate of Moreton?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton for his question. I recognise what a great job he has done in representing the constituents of Moreton for many years, particularly given his 37-year history as a local in the area. He knows the people he represents—he is in sync with their aspirations and, having worked in the private sector, he knows what it is like to make a quid. That obviously cannot be said of his Labor opponent, who is another former union boss. His opponent has been put up in the electorate of Moreton. He does not know the constituency—the people in the electorate of Moreton. The member for Moreton has done a fantastic job over the years in advocating their interests.

The member for Moreton asked about our national road and rail plan. In this year’s budget we announced a further $22.3 billion to add to the existing $15 billion that is currently being spent on road and rail infrastructure across Australia. As a result of good economic management and running budget surpluses over the past 10 years, we can afford to spend money on infrastructure in Australia. We are in the process of investing $38 billion in infrastructure across Australia, including on relatively small projects such as the level crossing in Moreton between Beaudesert Road and the main north-south rail link at Acacia Ridge. It is only $25 million, but it is a piece of infrastructure that the member for Moreton has fought to achieve for a number of years to remove a major safety issue on Beaudesert Road. Those are the sorts of things you can achieve in office, particularly when you run a strong economy—you have the ability to spend money, without having to borrow it, on infrastructure that is very much needed across Australia.

The government’s plan goes right across all categories of roads and rail. It is about improving highways, making them safer, making them more efficient, driving the Australian economy and making it more prosperous. It also improves safety conditions on local roads for mums and dads taking their kids to school. Those are the sorts of things we are doing as a result of a well-run economy.

The alternative that has been proposed by the Australian Labor Party, if they happen to win office later on this year, is another bureaucracy—another inquiry. Instead of making decisions, they will have an inquiry for 15 months to find out what the priorities are. And the member for Batman will probably chair it! There will be a 15-month freeze on decisions, when costs are escalating and when there is a demand for investment to be made right across Australia. So, along with the 50 or so other committees, inquiries and bureaucracies that the Leader of the Opposition has announced, Labor will do the same with infrastructure investment: they will freeze decision-making so they can have a further inquiry. What Labor is offering is the establishment of committees and further inquiries to look at the options. Establishing committees in order to put off decisions is weak leadership. It is not strong leadership; it is weak leadership.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Gorton!

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is what the Leader of the Opposition is offering Australia. The coalition government is offering strong, decisive leadership and investment—investment that we are proving we can do as a result of running a strong economy in Australia.