Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today as the member for a community which is absolutely held to ransom at the moment by large infrastructure projects. I also rise today as the member for a community which is frequently ridiculed for having been the beneficiary of pork-barrelling under the last government—dare I mention the famous North Sydney Olympic Pool that keeps coming back to haunt both me and my community.

What is true of us as a federal government and what I believe the federal government has the capacity to do is three simple things. Lead. Show the way forward for our country. Lead our states in what we want to believe as a nation is possible going forward. Coordinate, where that's possible. As the minister herself has said, try to set higher standards. Bring the states to the table on what is expected of them when it comes to agreeing and moving forward on large infrastructure projects. Finally, where appropriate, provide stimulus if it is warranted, whether that is human capital or financial stimulus.

In the case of North Sydney, we have a number of major infrastructure projects that are currently proceeding, many without clear business cases. While I take the federal minister's point that it is not the federal government's role to mandate infrastructure at the state level, I do think the federal government has a really important role to play to ensure that, overall, our nation is developing positively and is doing so in a way which is consistent with what voters want to see.

Australians are tired of having projects pushed through for political expediency. I would join with the member for Wentworth, the member for Fowler and the member for Curtin in really encouraging this government to be courageous and lead, which is the first thing we have the capacity to do. This is an opportunity to provide that power to Infrastructure Australia. I commend these amendments to the House.

See this speech in context