Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I will seek to respond to a few of the members opposite and the issues they have raised. The member for Mayo raised some concerns about the Building Better Regions Fund. I can confirm that the government has committed a further $200 million to the Building Better Regions Fund from 2017-18 to 2020-21, which will bring the fund to a total of nearly $500 million. It will allow more regional communities across Australia to benefit from that fund.

The member indicated she had some concerns about the geographic eligibility. The program actually uses Australian Bureau of Statistics's significant urban areas of the major capital cities to determine the geographic eligibility of that program. We will seek to review the program, including that eligibility criteria, after round 1 of the funding.

In relation to Regional Development Australia, the member also inquired as to the government's approach in this budget. She would be aware that in 2016-17 the Australian government provided $18.3 million to the 55 RDA committees across Australia. The committees are designed to drive economic growth in regional areas. An independent review of the RDA program commenced in 2015 and reported back. Minister Nash is currently considering her response to that review. Obviously we seek to ensure effective regional planning going forward. I look forward to the minister's response in that regard as well.

The member for Grayndler raised the Bruce Highway once again. Members of the coalition right along the coast of Queensland have been extraordinary advocates for the Bruce Highway. I know the member for Capricornia, who cannot be here, is very keen on future projects on the Bruce. I will just set the record straight, because the member for Grayndler cannot help himself on this particular issue. The federal coalition government has allocated $6.7 billion to the Bruce, which is $1 billion more than Labor ever committed to the Bruce Highway. He knows that is true. He is not even interjecting on that point any more.

We are delivering on every single project in the Bruce Highway package of works that we promised. We are delivering on them. In the 2017-18 budget we announced an additional $844 million would go to new projects. The member is right in the sense that a smart government operates like this: when we were achieve savings we reinvest them in additional projects on the Bruce. The Pine River to Caloundra project will remove one of the last major bottlenecks on the Bruce Highway, in one of the fastest-growing areas of Queensland. There is the Pine River to Caloundra project and the Deception Bay interchange, $11.4 million for the Wide Bay intersection and $182 million for road safety upgrades. They are all projects that Queensland MPs have strongly advocated for. I can assure the member for Grayndler that when someone goes to work on a project they are not going to say to me, 'Is that new money or old money, Minister?' They are just going to say: 'I've got a new job. I'm working here and I'm delivering a better product for the people of Queensland.'

I will not be able to get through all the questions from the member for Indi—she did have quite a few—but I can assure her that my relationship with Victoria is patchy sometimes but going very well at the moment. We have had some very productive discussions in recent times. We have not reached a resolution yet on the $500 million regional rail package, but there have been negotiations since both budgets were handed down and the dust settled a bit. I had meetings with Minister Jacinta Allan in Brisbane a week or 10 days ago. We are very much focused on getting results.

The member correctly indicated that the people from the north-east—and I welcome your two constituents from that beautiful part of the world—just want results. They do not want to see silly political games. The $100 million that we allocated in the budget was a breakthrough in the sense that the people in the north-east have been waiting a long time for a decent rail service and this will be the start of the process.

I met with the chief executive of ARTC, John Fullerton, this week and impressed upon him the importance of securing a better passenger ride experience on that line. I can indicate that Mr Fullerton has a critical role in delivering that other project we have talked about a bit tonight, the Melbourne and Brisbane Inland Rail project. The member for Indi quite correctly reflected on that that it is an important project which will require additional investment—and I stress that—in providing for the double-stacking of trains along that route into the future.

So the $100 million is aimed at passenger rail investment. I want to use this opportunity to congratulate and thank my state colleagues Tim McCurdy and Steph Ryan for their fearless advocacy on this issue and also Senator Bridget McKenzie. Senator Bridget McKenzie, Steph and Tim were very active in making sure I was aware of the issues and inviting me to visit. I travelled on the line a matter of two or three months ago. I think the local community would be disappointed that I had a great experience that day! There were no delays on the day I was there. The only delay on the route was caused by a rolling-stock issue and the door would not shut at Wangaratta. It is about us investing in rail infrastructure but also the state government getting on board. There is no free ride. The Victorian government will have to invest in better rolling stock as well.

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