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

This government is making a record investment in infrastructure across the nation. We are spending and we have committed to well over $50 billion worth of major new infrastructure projects, including significant funding in Western Australia. There are big projects in all of our capital cities, including Perth. There are significant projects right across regional Australia, including in Western Australia. Those projects will make a real difference to the capacity of our economy to grow and take advantage of the opportunities in, for instance, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. We will need superior infrastructure if our industry is going to prosper and deliver on the potential of that agreement. By placing such a significant amount of money on the table, we have identified a large number of projects for which we have been prepared to make financial commitments. Any project over $100 million—where there is over $100 million of Australian government commitment—will have to be assessed by Infrastructure Australia. That is a part of the process. The planning for projects and the arrangements before Infrastructure Australia can proceed simultaneously. The work is advancing.

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