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

Can I thank the member for Leichhardt for the question. It was an absolute pleasure to stand with him, with the member for Braddon and with Minister McBain this morning to announce up to $5 million to support regional and remote airports that supported Rex. Many local councils and their regional airports were left short-changed when Rex went into administration, but they continued to support regional travellers across the country, ensuring that Rex could continue to fly in. That funding will go some way to covering the shortfall for regional airports across country Australia, including in Cairns, and I encourage local councils and members to encourage their local councils to apply for that funding.

As the member for Leichhardt knows well, though, we are not just investing in his electorate's airports; we're also making record investments in Queensland, in particular in Queensland's longest highway, the Bruce Highway. It was just over a year ago now that I joined the Prime Minister in Gympie to announce an additional $7.2 billion into the Bruce Highway to improve the highway north of Gympie, up to Cairns. That takes our government's total investment in the Bruce up to $17 billion. I'm really pleased to be able to see the progress that is happening.

So imagine my surprise, and I can see him interjecting, when I read comments from the member for Dawson, who at the time was an occupant of the opposition benches—he is now over there—that our investment, being jointly delivered with the LNP government and my good friend Brent Mickelberg—we work well together—that this money was 'just a stunt', with him saying: 'Let's be honest—this $7.2 billion was made purely for politics.'

So, seeing as the member for Dawson thinks investing in Queensland is just a stunt, I thought I'd tell you about some of the delivery.

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