Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is a growing nation, and with that comes a need for improved infrastructure. As the Prime Minister said last week, the coalition knows that building infrastructure means building the nation, and the federal government is meeting Australia's needs head-on and has increased infrastructure expenditure to a record $80 billion to get vital projects underway across the country. That includes $50 billion for transport infrastructure and $30 billion for other infrastructure, like the National Broadband Network, water infrastructure, regional grants programs and other major projects.

In Queensland, the federal government's current commitments towards Queensland's land transport infrastructure through the Infrastructure Investment Program is $11.4 billion from 2013-14 to 2019-20. This includes $2.2 billion in 2016-17. This government has committed $914 million to the Gateway Upgrade North project that will support economic growth, improve accessibility to the Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport, and improve safety and travel for motorists for my constituents and for my learned friend here, the member for Brisbane, and his constituents as well.

Outside of Brisbane, the Bruce Highway is our No. 1 priority. So far, the coalition has completed 10 projects out of our 10-year $6.7 billion commitment to upgrade the Bruce Highway. In my electorate of Fisher, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, the federal government to date has committed nearly $1.5 billion to infrastructure investment on projects both large and small, including $1.42 billion on major road projects, $22 million as part of the Roads to Recovery program, $5 million through the Community Development Grants Program and $10 million to the Sunshine Coast Council through the Financial Assistance Grant program.

In September, I was very pleased to represent the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport to announce the long-awaited upgrade of the $929.3 million Caloundra Road to Sunshine Motorway interchange project in my electorate of Fisher. With a booming population, this is a game-changing project and one that will help address one of the worst bottlenecks on the Sunshine Coast. The federal government is contributing 80 per cent of the money for this vital upgrade, which includes widening the highway to three lanes and an innovative new design to the Caloundra Road interchange.

However, the federal government understands that the infrastructure needs of the Sunshine Coast do not end there—far from it. I have consistently spoken in this chamber about the current Bruce Highway Upgrade Planning Study, currently being undertaken between the Sunshine Coast and Pine Rivers Bridge. The Australian government has provided $6.4 million, with $1.4 million coming from the Queensland government. The project will help determine the best way to increase the capacity and alleviate flooding and safety issues along that stretch of the Bruce Highway. This planning study project commenced in mid-2016 and is currently expected to be completed in mid-2018.

While I am pleased this project is underway, surely we can to better than mid-2018. People living on the coast and people travelling to the coast need this project, this planning study, to be done much sooner. I will take this opportunity, once again, to call upon the Queensland transport minister, Mark Bailey, to have this study fast-tracked. This is not a time for politics or point-scoring. Sunshine Coast residents and people travelling to the Sunshine Coast from the 'Bruce car park'—because that is often what it is—need this study done ASAP. Minister Bailey, this is in your total control. I ask that you work with me and my federal colleagues to deliver this planning study by mid-2017.

The Sunshine Coast is also pursuing a commitment to another transport infrastructure project, and that is the duplication of the North Coast rail line. This line is essentially the same as it was when it was built over 100 years ago. The upgrade was promised but never delivered by Queensland Labor governments in the recent past. It was the LNP that finally put in a proposal in 2015 to upgrade the line between Beerburrum and Landsborough to provide more than 150 extra weekly services, improve passenger and freight transport reliability, and create more than 3,000 new jobs during construction.

I am buoyed by the knowledge that the coalition government has an appetite for investing in rail infrastructure projects across the nation. On urban passenger rail projects from 2013-14 to 2018-19, the Australian government is currently scheduled to spend $95 million for the Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 2, $1.7 billion for the Sydney Metro, and $857.2 million for the Melbourne Metro, to name just a few.

There is no doubt that we need to get better at planning and building the infrastructure Australia needs, and to do that we have to work together—all governments, industry, stakeholders, consumers and citizens. Part of this equation is to closely look at some of the costs associated with some of our biggest contracts. It is a sad fact that many contracts are being greatly inflated by the tactics of unions—namely, the CFMEU. This is why, as a builder and a construction lawyer, I am so passionate about the return of the ABCC. I agree with the comments made just yesterday by the CEO of Master Builders Australia, Wilhelm Harnisch, that the return of the ABCC will mean schools, hospitals, roads and other essential community infrastructure will be constructed at significantly lower cost than they are currently. The reintroduction of the ABCC will deliver lasting benefits for the community and savings for taxpayers. Why? Under current industrial relations conditions, Master Builders estimate that construction costs are 30 per cent higher than they should be. However, from my own experience I would suggest that the Master Builders figures are grossly understated. Given my background, many builders and subcontractors have approached me since I became the member for Fisher. Many of their stories are tales of great sadness and great oppression. The evidence that has been presented to me is that the cost blowout on commercial union sites, as opposed to non-union sites, is somewhere between 60 and 100 per cent, rather than the estimated 30 per cent.

Mum-and-dad businesses are suffering because of the intimidation—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:02 to 18:22

Mum-and-dad businesses are suffering because of the intimidation and lawlessness of the CFMEU, and those opposite are complicit. Take, for example, the case of Andrew Bourke, who runs a small security and traffic control business for the construction industry. Andrew's business won a job with Grocon, which is one of the few tier 1 building companies whose management has the intestinal fortitude to fight back against the unlawful demands of the CFMEU. Because Grocon do not give in to the unlawful demands of the CFMEU, Andrew's business has been black-banned from every other building site in this country. Andrew is a very brave man. I suggested to him that he should remain anonymous, but he wants his story told. His hope is that the crossbenchers in the Senate will hear his story—an actual story of real people, real mums and dads with real kids going to real schools with real mortgages. The CFMEU shamelessly put the weights on other builders to have Andrew's business kicked off six other building sites, all because Andrew refused to bow to the demands of the CFMEU and continued to work for Grocon. Now, 20 people who worked for Andrew are out of jobs, and the Labor Party pretend to be the party for the worker. What a joke! The ALP is an absolute disgrace in the way that it continues to run a protection racket for the CFMEU. Shame on those building contractors who bowed to the unlawful demands of the CFMEU. Their lack of courage and of willingness to do what is right and stand up against the CFMEU is appalling, and they stand condemned for their appeasement.

Unfortunately, it is not just about building companies that are beholden to the unions. Around noon on Thursday, 8 September 2016, hundreds of CFMEU workers walked off Brisbane city construction sites to protest an industrial dispute in Victoria, and the Queensland state Labor government did nothing to stop them.

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