Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I don't have to explain myself at all, Environment Minister. It's the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government who has some explaining to do. Another day, another question time, and again we don't have any answers. That is why this matter of public importance today is so very, very important, because we need answers. We need answers to very relevant questions involving transport and involving infrastructure.

To think about infrastructure is to think about airports. During the budget address delivered in May by the Treasurer, the member for Rankin, the word 'airport' was not mentioned once in the entire speech. Nor was 'aviation'. Nor was 'dam'. Nor was 'highway'. Nor, in fact, were the words 'infrastructure' or 'plane' or 'rail' or 'road'—not once. It was the first time for a quarter of a century that the word 'infrastructure' was not uttered by the Treasurer at the dispatch box on budget night. Why would that be so? Because, just prior to the budget, there was a 90-day delay put on all of the infrastructure projects which were brought forward by the previous government. But did that delay cover the election commitments made by those opposite? No, it didn't.

There was only a delay on the infrastructure projects that—many of which were actually in play at the time. Bitumen was being laid, and it was stopped. States were looking forward to rolling out roads, and that was stopped.

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