Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely. The contract makes it absolutely clear that, if the project does not proceed, the money has to be returned to the federal government—and not to Victoria, I might add. The Greens' proposal to get rid of the East West Link and replace it with a bike way will have to withstand an assessment by Infrastructure Australia as to its merits relative to other projects—not just other projects in Victoria, but other projects in the rest of Australia. As with all Commonwealth commitments to states for road or rail projects, they are for specific projects. They are not just grants of money that they can spend as they like. In this particular case, if the money is not spent on the East West project that was submitted to the government as a priority for Victoria, then the money returns to the Commonwealth.

So we have a genuine commitment to making Infrastructure Australia work. I think the bill before the House makes significant improvements, and I acknowledge the fact that it was supported in the second reading vote without dissent. I think we can make further progress. I repeat that I will look at the amendments that the opposition spokesman has moved and see whether the government is able to accommodate them between now and their introduction to the Senate. In all conscience I could not accept them without having the opportunity to examine their impact.

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