Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I know that you do not hold a seat when you are sitting in that chair, but I particularly want to acknowledge the events happening in your electorate as we speak. It's somewhere I've visited regularly. My nephew has just bought a house in Porepunkah and had his wedding there last year. I know what a beautiful community it is. I'm devastated for the community and for the members of the police force who've lost their lives. I know that you will play a very important leadership role in helping the community post all of these events. I want to acknowledge that.

It is an enormous privilege to stand here before you today as the re-elected member for Ballarat. I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands of my electorate, the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung peoples, and pay my respects to elders past and present. The past few years in particular have taught me even more about the resilience of our First Nations people, and how we, as non-Indigenous people, have so much to learn from them. I thank the local traditional owners for their ongoing generosity in sharing their culture and the grace and wisdom with which they conduct themselves and support community each and every single day.

My electorate, like all of the 150 in this place, is a very special place—one of history, diversity and opportunity. I never take for granted the incredible honour it is to represent my community here in our nation's capital. I'll continue to work every day to get the best outcomes for the people of Ballarat and for every Australian. While I have other responsibilities across the whole of the nation, it never escapes me that the only reason I have the opportunity to be a minister—a cabinet minister in this government—is because of the people of Ballarat. While I have other titles, the one I am most deeply proud of is being the member for Ballarat.

I'd like to say a special thank you to every person who helped and supported me during the campaign—my family, my fabulous staff, my friends and my volunteers. I'm extremely grateful to all of you for your contribution; I could not have done this without you. I'm not going to name everybody. I have done so in the past, but today I have only a limited amount of time. I particularly want to acknowledge my electorate office staff and my personal staff, who worked incredibly hard, as well as people such as Craig Fletcher and the local union movement, who also assisted so diligently.

Throughout the 2025 campaign, I had the privilege of standing on prepoll for two weeks, pretty much continuously in the same spot—I didn't move—speaking with many different people from our community. I met young mums and dads worried about the rising cost of child care and how they can balance work and family life. I spoke with students anxious about their growing HECS debt and how it might impact their future opportunities. I met young people eager to build a career by learning a trade but worried about the cost and availability of apprenticeships. I met doctors and nurses working tirelessly in our hospital system, telling me how much they need more funding for health services. I spoke with older Australians concerned about the cost of living and the quality of aged-care services.

These are the people who make up our Australia, and they are exactly who I am working to deliver for, as part of the Albanese Labor government. Our policies ease the pressure on families, support education for the next generation, strengthen our health system, back regional communities and ensure dignity and security for older Australians, because we believe in building a fairer, stronger future for everyone.

We've done this by delivering on our promised tax cuts for every taxpayer, helping you keep more of what you earn. We've opened 87 bulk-billing Medicare urgent care clinics, including one in Sturt Street in Ballarat, and I thank them for their excellent, excellent service. Many in our community, including my family, have needed to call on their services. We're investing an extra $1.7 billion to actually fund our public hospitals properly. We've started the largest housing build in Australia's history to get more people into a home of their own, including in my own electorate. We're wiping $3 billion of student HECS debt, saving the average person in my home town over $5,755. We've delivered free TAFE and I, like many people, have met young people and older people changing careers who have taken advantage of free TAFE. It is changing the economic opportunities for a generation, and it is unbelievably terrific to see.

We've provided $300 in energy bill relief for every household. We've delivered cheaper child care as well as pay rises for childcare and aged-care workers, and we've expanded paid parental leave. We've doubled the Roads to Recovery funding to $1 billion, meaning every single council in this country, including in and around my community, is now receiving double the amount of money from the federal government to fix our local roads. That is making a real difference across the community. We've increased the amount of money for black spots and for projects such as bridge renewals and heavy vehicle productivity. We're investing over $4 billion in women's safety initiatives, boosting and securing frontline services, delivering financial and housing support for women escaping violence, and delivering much-needed law reform. Just this week in parliament, we've protected the penalty and overtime rates of millions of Australian workers. Each of these policies has delivered and will continue to deliver real and lasting change for those in my electorate, but we know there is still more to do to build a better future for all Australians.

Throughout the election campaign, I worked with a number of local groups and organisations to commit to projects that will make a real and tangible difference for our community. These projects build on the commitments that we made in 2022 that are now well and truly coming to fruition.

I've spoken before in this place about Ballarat's history of institutional abuse and the way that it continues to echo through generations. For some time now, local survivors and supporters have been working together on the design of a memorial for our community—a place of healing, recognition and quiet reflection and a place in the heart of our city that acknowledges and honours all survivors of sexual abuse and assault. I was incredibly proud to commit $500,000 for the Continuous Voices Memorial in Victoria Park. This commitment from the Albanese government, together with previously announced support from the Victorian Labor government and the City of Ballarat, ensures that this worthy project will actually be built. This commitment assures survivors that we see you, we believe you and we support you. If the royal commission and recent events in my home town in Victoria, as well as in Queensland, have taught us anything, it's that we have to be eternally vigilant when it comes to child sexual abuse.

Ours is a proud and welcoming community and one where people support each other. The Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council operates out of an old high school building called the Ballarat Welcome Centre. It's a beautiful site. The building itself is pretty old, as a lot of buildings in Ballarat are. We're lucky that way, but it does mean that it is often hard to find facilities. We've pledged $500,000 to revitalise facilities for the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council to continue to do the amazing work that they do—welcoming migrants as well as showcasing our different cultures.

Our Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society—our Ballarat Show—has played an iconic role in Ballarat for over 170 years. The annual show is something many families look forward to, and it's always a brilliant day out. Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society doesn't just deliver the show, though. The organisation is run by a terrific group of volunteers, who play an integral role in supporting primary producers and showcasing agriculture through the region. They've big plans for the future of their new site and what the organisation can achieve, and we're pleased to back them with $1.5 million towards their new event and exhibition centre. It will be able to host the Ballarat Wine Show, agricultural workshops and private events, and, in essence, it'll ensure the sustainability of the showgrounds for years to come, having a stream of revenue to support the producers in our community.

We also committed just over $1.2 million for community soccer upgrades in Creswick and Daylesford. Maybe it started with the Matildas, or maybe it's because these two clubs are so welcoming and so inclusive, but both are seeing a huge influx of women and girls wanting to play soccer. Girls getting changed for soccer in cars or behind trees isn't okay, particularly if you're in Daylesford or Creswick now and you know how cold that can be—although if you're watching The Block, which is filming in Daylesford as we speak, it looks like it's sunshine every day. But that, unfortunately, is not always the case! Capping the number of girls who can play—which is what's actually been happening, because the facilities simply can't handle it—really isn't good enough. I know that there is lots of demand across communities, but our commitment has been to get these fantastic local clubs the facilities that they deserve, which will keep local kids active and connected.

About an hour south of Daylesford is the beautiful community of Teesdale, where we're also ensuring that everyone has the facilities that they need with the Don Wallace Rec Reserve, with a $1.5 million commitment to help deliver much-needed female-friendly change rooms, a new septic system, a new accessible toilet with baby-change facilities, power upgrades, and paths and landscaping to secure the site.

Finally, we've invested $3 million to establish a fit-for-purpose veterans, families and community hub in Wendouree. I'm really delighted that the City of Ballarat has made a premise available. It's one of the old council chambers from amalgamation that's really been sitting vacant for a long period of time. It is an ideal place for a veterans hub in our community, which has, sadly, been needed for a long time. It will be a place of connection and practical support for the service men and women to whom we owe so much and for their families and supporters. Thousands of veterans live in the Central Highlands region, and the benefits of this project will extend far beyond the boundaries of Ballarat. I've been speaking with the team behind the Ballarat Veterans Assistance Centre for many years now about this project. They are passionate and committed, and I believe in them and what they can achieve. I'm very proud to support this meaningful project, which will be delivered by the City of Ballarat and supported by the expertise of local government. Many thanks to Evan King—no relation to me, but the CEO of the City of Ballarat—and his council officers, who do such terrific work, often behind the scenes, to really work with communities in a way that delivers great outcomes for groups like the veterans community. I'm really excited to get to work and see the benefits that these projects will bring.

As I said at the start, alongside being the member for Ballarat, I'm very proud to have been reappointed by the Prime Minister as Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for a second term. It is an enormous responsibility and one that I'm very passionate about, and I thank the Prime Minister for trusting me to continue to fulfil that role. Through my portfolio, we'll continue to deliver for all Australians, with a significant agenda before us. We're delivering historic reforms, including legislating an aviation consumer protection scheme for the first time and ensuring that Australians living with disability can access essential transport services with the dignity that they deserve. I recently went to one of the co-design workshops, where the aviation sector and my department are working closely with those with a disability to actually design the new aviation disability standards so that we can actually get a better outcome with the treatment of people who have a disability and who want to travel by air to go and do all of the things that we love and enjoy.

We're also driving productivity through the freight and supply chain, and we'll continue to do that work. We continue to deliver a record investment in infrastructure across the nation. That investment stretches right the way across the country, throughout our regions, our cities, our towns and our suburbs. I've been very focused in our first term to ensure that this pipeline of projects is focused on enhancing the productivity of our industries, improving safety of our local road users, connecting us with our loved ones and saving us time when we're travelling to and from work, and that those projects are across the nation. We have increased funding, in fact, for infrastructure. Whilst we had to do a review of the pipeline to ensure its deliverability, I can assure the House that, despite some of the rhetoric from those opposite that still seems to continue, not a single dollar has been cut from the infrastructure pipeline. In fact, it has actually increased under the Albanese Labor government. It's important to understand that, whilst projects may have not been proceeded with, no money has been cut. In fact, there have been increases to funding for infrastructure everywhere across the nation.

In Queensland, we're delivering our record $7.2 billion investment in the Bruce Highway. The Rockhampton Ring Road is proceeding well. For the Olympics infrastructure in Queensland, which will leave a lasting legacy, we've signed the new intergovernmental agreement with the deputy premier there just recently.

In New South Wales, the Western Sydney airport is pretty much complete. It's looking fantastic, and the aviation agreements are getting in place. I'm looking forward to that opening. In addition to that, we're delivering that critical road and rail infrastructure, the roads being Fifteenth Avenue, Mamre Road and Elizabeth Drive. The rail line is well underway, and I visited the station box just recently out at the airport.

In Victoria, we're funding and working very closely with the Victorian government on the Melbourne Airport rail link and unlocking the Sunshine Station precinct, which is really important for not just enabling airport rail but also untangling the network to enable future electrification of the Melton line. We're also delivering significant investments that are continuing with North East Link, Suburban Rail Loop and the Western Freeway. There is, of course, more to be done.

In Tasmania, we've delivered and opened the Bridgewater Bridge. We're investing in the Mornington Roundabout—that's finally getting done—and the Lyell Highway.

In WA, we're delivering METRONET, a new ferry expansion and the Brooking Channel Bridge, and I'm looking forward to going and opening alongside Minister Saffioti the Byford line extension shortly.

In South Australia, we are delivering one of the biggest road projects—I think North East Link might be the biggest one, but the Torrens to Darlington project is huge. We're also delivering the Mount Barker to Verdun interchange upgrades and funding investments in heavy vehicle productivity.

In the Territory, we're improving the Tanami, and in the ACT we're expanding the Canberra light rail. Again, these investments come at a time when it is really important to keep that pipeline of work going but also when we know there are significant capacity constraints that continue with our workforce and with supply chain, and we're continuing to do the work in that space as well.

Finally, I want to thank very much the people of Ballarat for putting their faith in me to represent them once more and to look forward to another term of delivery for them but also for the opportunity that they have given me to deliver not just for them but also for the entire nation.

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