Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

Acting Prime Minister, I want to mention Inland Rail. This has the potential to be a very important nation-defining project. The last Labor government committed a considerable amount of money towards its design and construction. We were very supportive of it. We think it's got great potential. But we are very concerned that it has gone off the rails, if I can put it like that. This is a project that, much like the national debt, has seen blowout. You initially allocated $9.3 billion, and now it's $14.5 billion. I'd like to ask some questions in relation to it and how it impacts my local area.

One of the things I've got to say is that the consultation has been very poor. I've been at multiple meetings in my electorate in relation to this issue. Local farmers, local businesses and local constituents have raised concerns in relation to issues in terms of the direction, where the track will be laid, the fact that it will be very high, and the fact that some of these areas had been flooded quite significantly in floods in 2011 and 2013 across the Ipswich region. There has been a lot of comment, including by the Mayor of Ipswich, that this has a high impact but low benefit for our area. There is major concern about that.

One of the great things about our region is the Ivory's Rock conference centre, where thousands of people come for peace conferences, which contributes millions of dollars to the economy of Ipswich for the small businesses around Ipswich. People stay there. This has been a really important venue. We've got nothing like it in the West Moreton region. But this track will go 500 metres from the conference centre. You can hear the Ipswich Boonah Road from the auditorium at the back of the conference centre, so imagine the rail going that close. But when the Ivory's Rock consortium and group had been talking to your government and the ARTC in relation to it, and made submissions in relation to it, there was simply no offer or opportunity for noise attenuation. None at all. The camping grounds are right beside where the rail will go. I'm asking, Acting Prime Minister: what sort of contribution will be made to assist the Ivory's Rock conference centre, which is such a vital part of my electorate? How can you address the issue of consultation and support for local farmers across the Scenic Rim area, across the Lockyer Valley and across Ipswich in relation to this project? Can we get this project back to where it should be? I've got to say, I have never seen poorer consultation by any organisation in relation to any project in my 14 years in parliament. Can we do better? I urge you to do better.

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