David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The purpose of the Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Cost Benefit Analysis and Other Measures) Bill is to amend the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008 so that it is a function of Infrastructure Australia to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of all projects of an infrastructure nature which are nationally significant and which involve Commonwealth funding of at least $100 million. Infrastructure Australia was brought in with a lot of fanfare in 2005 by the now opposition but it took until 2008 for them to enact it. That is another problem: the structural set-up of that organisation was flawed from the start. This bill also introduces sound governance principles so that the Infrastructure Australia committee is separate from the department and the politicians, so we get a truly independent analysis and cost-benefit analysis of the projects that need to be undertaken in Australia.

We all know infrastructure in Australia needs an upgrade. It is a pity that Infrastructure Australia and the previous government did not look at one of the biggest infrastructure projects that the nation is undertaking, and that is the National Broadband Network. Instead of being developed on the back of a coaster, then put onto a whiteboard and rolled out as policy by press release, it should have had a rigorous analysis. It has only been since the coalition took on the responsibility of government that Minister Malcolm Turnbull has undertaken a root-and-branch review of it and done a true cost-benefit analysis, working out the best way to deliver it with the best value for Australian taxpayers and consumers of communication technology. It is a multi-modality mix of delivering fast broadband. With the expansion of wireless capability—which should expand even with the new spectrum that is available for telecommunications—wireless will be much more widely used. That is why we are using a multi-modality mix of fibre to the premises, fibre to the node, fixed wireless and satellite.

It is a pity this analysis was not done. The NBN and its costs do not even appear on our budget figures because it was set up off-budget. As opposed to this reckless waste of money—which is now getting back on track—look at what we have achieved with the infrastructure. We are rolling out improvements to our road infrastructure. As the Prime Minister has said many times: we are building the roads of the 21st century whether you are living in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or in the regions.

In our region, in the electorate of Lyne, we have $1.2 billion roughly being spent on the Pacific Highway. It is vital infrastructure that was the No. 1 priority of the New South Wales government. The NRMA had it as its No. 1 infrastructure project. The New South Wales Business Chamber saw it as the No. 1 infrastructure project that needed to be rolled out, and this coalition government is actually delivering on that. $1.2 billion is being spent on the Pacific Highway from the Oxley Highway intersection up to Telegraph Point and then on to Kempsey, and over the next four or five years we will see enormous civil engineering tasks being undertaken—bridges over the Hastings River and improvements on the Pacific Highway south of that—bringing the Hastings and the Manning closer to Brisbane. So all the goods and produce that come out of the Manning and the Hastings and the hinterland will have a rapid route to the north like they have to the south, down towards Newcastle. So it is improving that interconnectedness. If only this rigour and cost-benefit analysis had been taken by the previous government they would have seen past their bias against New South Wales coalition governments and rolled this vital bit of infrastructure out a lot sooner.

As well, I am very pleased to see that we have got other infrastructure rolling out in the Lyne electorate—improvements to the Bucketts highway which connects the Gloucester Valley to the Hastings and the Manning via a rickety old route. There is $8.7 million being rolled out in this first year to Gloucester Shire Council, which is managing the project, and the Greater Taree City Council. That road which has heaps of traffic is going to be improved significantly.

A 15-year planning register is also very important, and Infrastructure Australia will develop a 15-year plan independent of the government to inform the government with some rock-solid, cold, hard light-of-day analysis of infrastructure priorities. This bill will establish an out-of-department, out-of-government, freestanding Infrastructure Australia with its own governance and its own responsibilities to make fearless and frank advice. It will allow us to develop and deliver much more infrastructure than the previous government and in a much more cost-effective manner. I commend this bill to the House.

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