Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton for his question. He is a big supporter of infrastructure projects like the Ipswich Motorway and the Cross River Rail in Brisbane. We are investing real money for real projects to make a real difference to communities right across Queensland—projects like the Cross River Rail, recommended by Infrastructure Australia because it stacks up; a project that will take 14,000 cars off Brisbane streets and allow an extra 17,000 people to travel on the rail network during peak hours. It has benefits for western and northern suburbs of Brisbane as well as the Gold and Sunshine coasts. It is a smart investment for our future that will keep our economy strong.

This did not come out of nowhere. This took two years of negotiation, a 2,000-page submission from the Queensland government, face-to-face meetings between ministers as well as discussions between our respective departments. What happens when you have an agreement between different levels of government is that you have an exchange of letters. I have here a letter from Scott Emerson, the Queensland minister. He asked for the project to be delivered as a PPP: we agreed. He asked for $715 million from each level of government: we agreed. He asked for 50-50 funding towards the availability payment: we agreed. He asked for the Queensland government to cover the operating costs: we agreed. He asked for the Australian government to guarantee private sector debt: we agreed. He had a final condition, that the project be subject to concessional treatment with the Australian government payments, and we agreed.

Each and every ask: we agreed. The state asked and we delivered. They got exactly what they asked for. I table the letter from Minister Emerson and I table my response, agreeing to the position, on behalf of the government. We have had a position, as a result of the opposition's intransigence and statements to the Queensland government, whereby they put their political interests before the interests of people in Brisbane and those who are stuck in congestion in South-East Queensland. We have firmly put our position on the table. The Queensland government agreed and we are in a position to move forward. But the opposition says, 'Don't fund any public transport.' So the Queensland government, in spite of the fact that the MOU had been agreed to by both departments, has now walked away from that project, meaning that there will be gridlock in Brisbane and South-East Queensland in the coming years.

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