Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I must say, it is an interesting day to be talking about infrastructure. It's a day after the Treasurer didn't mention infrastructure once in his budget speech last night. It's a week after this government delayed significant infrastructure investments across the country, across Victoria and in my electorate of Casey. The residents of Casey know that this government doesn't value infrastructure investments in our community. They know that it is the Albanese Labor government that pulled funding from our local road-sealing program, roads for communities, despite their own department confirming that it would improve safety. They know that it is the Albanese government that pulled funding to upgrade Wellington Road and is now looking to cut Canterbury Road as well, resulting in more time in traffic and less time at home with their families and friends.

This bill seeks to amend the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008 to give partial effect to the government's response to the independent review of Infrastructure Australia. Infrastructure Australia was established by the current Prime Minister in the Rudd government when he was the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. My community knows all too well what else this Prime Minister did during his time as shadow minister for infrastructure. He matched the coalition's promise to seal roads throughout the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges. He put out a media release back in 2019. This was a 10-year project that he committed to, where the then Labor candidate for Casey, with the support of this Prime Minister, admitted that this project would 'reduce dust pollution every day for kids in schools and kindergartens as well as improving access to emergency services'.

The then Labor candidate for La Trobe—because this project also involved the seat of La Trobe—also admitted, 'These improvements to local roads are desperately needed in the area.' They were committed to by this Prime Minister for 10 years. We fast forward to four years later. The Prime Minister has broken his promise to my community and pulled that funding for road sealing. What's changed? In 2019, safer roads were important to Mr Albanese, but in 2023 the needs of my community couldn't be further from his mind. What hypocrisy.

The Albanese Labor government has abandoned the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges and left us driving on unsafe, unsealed roads, ending the $300 million project funded by the former coalition government. We last week found out via the media that Labor is now considering cuts to the much-needed Canterbury Road upgrade. They're taking a razor to more infrastructure projects across the state, and they're in here lecturing us about infrastructure. The Albanese Labor government is simply not in a position to be lecturing when it comes to infrastructure. There's no positive way to spin it. They've pulled vital funding from my community, prioritising their pet projects.

Interestingly enough, this review that they've commissioned sections off every Labor commitment that they made at the last election. That doesn't need to be reviewed by an independent commission. That's sectioned off; every other project needs to be reviewed. They're putting the priority of their pet projects, like the Suburban Rail Loop, over road safety in the Yarra Ranges, in the Dandenong Ranges and all across the electorate of Casey. Let's look at their track record.

It was the previous Liberal government that fought for upgrades for Wellington Road. Labor scrapped that commitment. It was the previous Liberal government that committed to sealing roads. Labor has scrapped that. Now they're talking about cuts to Canterbury Road and potentially to Killara Road. They're not willing to hold the Andrews Labor government to account, to deliver for that project, despite receiving that funding in 2019. How does this benefit the residents in my community? The answer: it doesn't. The residents in my community couldn't care less about a stadium in Tasmania and a suburban rail loop—two projects this government has failed to put through Infrastructure Australia before committing to funding. What hypocrisy. My community wants real investments that see them getting home safer and sooner. They want to see these projects delivered.

The bill before us today creates a new objective for Infrastructure Australia: to be the government's 'independent adviser on nationally significant infrastructure investment planning and project prioritisation'—great objective. We already know that this government will refuse to follow that objective. And it repeals almost all of the current functions of Infrastructure Australia and proposes new functions: to conduct audits or assessments of nationally significant infrastructure to determine adequacy and needs; conduct or endorse evaluations of infrastructure projects; and provide advice on nationally significant infrastructure matters.

It will also replace the current 12-member board with just three commissioners—12 to three. Who are these commissioners appointed by? The minister. As it stands, nine board members are appointed by the government and three are appointed by nominations agreed on by the governments of states and territories. By replacing the board with just three commissioners, the government is substantially reducing the diversity of expertise at the head of Infrastructure Australia. Commissioners, as I said, will be appointed by the minister and answerable to the minister. Talk about a guarantee of frank and fearless advice! Labor are taking away the independence of the agency, effectively creating more yes-people for their infrastructure projects, which do not exist in my community. In my community, as I've said, we know all about the infrastructure cuts of this government.

While those opposite claim this bill has given effect to the recommendations of the infrastructure review, it's always about the detail. You only have to look at the government's response to the review released on 7 December 2022 to see that the government have not supported eight key recommendations of their own review. They have not supported recommendations that Infrastructure Australia provide advice on social infrastructure. Alarmingly, they do not support key recommendations on enhanced transparency—not surprising, but very alarming. They do not support the recommendations for annual statements to be publicly tabled to report on the performance outcomes being achieved by the infrastructure program. They talk a big game, but we know they don't like accountability.

They also don't support the recommendation that would require them to formally and publicly respond to Infrastructure Australia's advice, findings and recommendations within six months. We know that this government is far more focused on shirking the number of projects on the infrastructure priority list than it is on transparency. They are proposing that Infrastructure Australia merely endorse project assessments submitted by state and territory governments. This is the government's way of walking away from providing an independent oversight and assessment of the priorities of state governments. Infrastructure Australia lacks the power to enforce assessment standards on state and territory infrastructure development departments.

The Commonwealth has an important role to play here: making substantial investments to state infrastructure, anywhere from 50 per cent up to 80 per cent in regional areas. Australian taxpayers rightfully expect the Commonwealth parliament to exercise reasonable oversight over state infrastructure projects to ensure they deliver a material benefit and maximum value for that investment.

The biggest one that comes to mind when we're talking about infrastructure investment is the Suburban Rail Loop. All Victorians know about the Suburban Rail Loop. We've already seen the government make some dodgy decisions on infrastructure in their first year. These decisions have been made without any reference or review by Infrastructure Australia to see if the projects stack up. After pulling $100 million from road-sealing projects across my community and axing the Wellington Road upgrade, Labor found $2.2 billion for Daniel Andrews's Suburban Rail Loop. They committed to this despite there being no business case for the project at all and no idea on how much this project will cost the taxpayers of Australia and Victoria before it's even finished. We're talking about the project that will see Victorians pay for record debt for generations and generations to come. We've already heard the Premier of Victoria talk about needing to make tough cuts in this upcoming budget in Victoria, yet he's got the money for this project that hasn't been tested. The business case does not stack up. The Albanese Labor government doesn't even want to make sure that the project checks out. They're happy to give the money to their mate, Daniel Andrews, as part of an election promise from the last Victorian state selection.

We've seen similar decisions by this government with the Brisbane music arena and the Tasmanian stadium. We all know Labor made massive cuts to infrastructure in its October budget. They cut $9.1 billion from infrastructure programs in the previous budget, with over $1 billion of that in Victoria. Surprisingly the Premier of Victoria has been very quiet in the media about those cuts. I wonder why. Maybe it's that fake barbecue with his friend, Prime Minister Albanese, that's keeping him so quiet.

But residents in my community are fed up with living on dirt roads. They are sick of the days of dust, potholes and mud. They were relieved that the Liberal government committed $150 million to seal their roads, only to have Labor come along and destroy their hopes by cutting the funding. This is having a significant impact on my community. I've been inundated with calls and emails. A petition of almost 3,000 signatures has been submitted. But the most impactful conversation I had was at a forum I had at Kallista with a mum who spoke about a dirt road she was on that was wet and it was pouring with rain. She was in a four-wheel-drive and in that mud. She was trying to get up the hill because there are steep hills in Kallista and in the Dandenongs. Every local knows that. That much mud had built up on her tyres that she'd lost grip and she'd started sliding back. She slid back onto the main road with her daughter in the car. About 20 seconds before she'd slipped back onto the main road a semitrailer had come through that intersection. She could still see the lights. So, but for 20 seconds, that mum and her daughter would not be with us today.

That's what we're talking about. We're talking about the safety of residents. We're talking about people's lives. This has been confirmed by the department. It was confirmed by this government when they made this commitment four years ago. They know that sealing these roads saves lives. They've made the choice—the absolute choice—to rip that money out of our community because they don't care about our community. They're willing to take that money away despite knowing it will save lives, and that's an absolute disgrace. Infrastructure investment like our promise to seal roads and to upgrade Canterbury and Wellington roads would have helped strengthen our economy as well as saving lives and helped Australians get to and from work safer and sooner. Instead Labor has taken the razor to infrastructure projects and has redirected those funds to policies that are inflationary and bloat the current budget.

Overall we recognise that there have been significant issues with the operation of Infrastructure Australia and, as a result of the government's leadership, there were five resignations from the board in September 2020. But I'm deeply concerned that this bill will result in an Infrastructure Australia that is less independent and more authoritative, resulting in infrastructure that will not be value for money for taxpayers and will not deliver the much-needed productivity gains for our economy. When you overlay that with a government that has shown that it's prepared to ignore the advice of Infrastructure Australia, you've got a government that is already going to stack this new board that has to report directly to the minister. How can an advisory board give independent advice if three people are appointed by the minister and can be sacked by the minister? It just does not add up.

We know that these changes are going to hurt and we know that this government will continue, like they have with the Suburban Rail Loop and the Tasmanian stadium, to put their political needs above the safety of the residents of Casey and many other communities across the country.

See this speech in context