Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on action the government has taken to improve infrastructure in New South Wales? How will this create jobs and opportunity?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call the Prime Minister—I beg your pardon: the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no coup underway, I can assure you. Now, as the member obviously knows, investing in infrastructure is absolutely critical for New South Wales and indeed for our country if we are to have a prosperous nation with an economically bright future. Before question time we had New South Wales Labor members jumping up, frothing at the mouth and criticising the coalition. But they stood quietly by for 16 years while the New South Wales Labor government underinvested in infrastructure. They stood quietly by when the Carr, Iemma, Rees and Keneally governments allowed infrastructure development in New South Wales to stall. By contrast, our decision to work with the Baird and Grant governments and the rest of the New South Wales coalition has meant a revitalisation of infrastructure investment in that state.

You have all heard of our $50 billion plan to upgrade infrastructure across the nation. Almost $15 billion of that money is being provided for New South Wales. Already there are significant projects underway—for instance, $3.6 billion for the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan, which will upgrade major roads. And already we have started to generate some of the 8,000 jobs that will be created as part of that project. The member for Grayndler never proposed any road infrastructure upgrades for Western Sydney until last week—he must have met a photocopier along the way somewhere or other—and he went out with the New South Wales Labor leader to announce that Labor was going to build the road that we had already started. If he had looked around while he was out there he would have realised that his announcement had been trumped.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Social Services will desist.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The roads were already under construction.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, a point of order: the member needs to be relevant to the question and not mislead and explain how the rail line—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. The minister has the call.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have already got on with the job. We have already got the roads under construction that Labor is just talking about announcing. But of course there are other projects as well: our $1.5 billion commitment to WestConnex, which will remove 52 sets of traffic lights from the journey and reduce the travel time between Parramatta and Sydney airport by 40 minutes, also taking 3,000 trucks off Parramatta Road; 10,000 jobs will be created as a part of that work. What about NorthConnex?—15 minutes taken off; 21 sets of traffic lights will be bypassed. And of course Labor is now saying that they are going to stop this project. It is not bad enough for them to be lagging behind. Your own candidate got out there and said, at a big public meeting, that he was going to stop the project. The reality is that, under Labor, infrastructure will grind to a halt just as it did under the previous 16 years of Labor government.

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Member for Grayndler.