Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Victoria is the fastest-growing state in the nation. It is home to one in four Australians. Why is Victoria only receiving 9.7 per cent of the federal infrastructure budget in 2017-18?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member, the Leader of the Opposition, for his question. It was interesting this morning when we were going through the briefing on Victoria. It's always such a shame that, when $1.5 billion was offered to Victoria, they rejected it. On the road east from Melbourne, where this money was supposed to be spent, they decided not to spend it. Instead, they chose to spend it on the Monash Freeway. Of course, expenditure on the Monash Freeway was not actually in the terms and conditions. So, when we have a government in Victoria that wishes to negotiate with us in a proper form and in good faith for what is in the initial agreement, then we will have much better capacity to deliver the infrastructure that's required.

Whilst we are on the subject, I think it's very important to discuss other major infrastructure projects for Victoria, such as the Inland Rail, which is a corridor of commerce running from Melbourne—which is definitely in Victoria—through Wodonga and up to Brisbane. You'd think, for such a major piece of infrastructure as that—for which a huge beneficiary would be Victoria—that the Australian Labor Party, led by the good member for Maribyrnong, would put money on the table. But, of course, they haven't. They don't believe in the Inland Rail. They've put no money on the table for the Inland Rail. To say that it is a 'useful idea' is as far as they have gone. Well, there are many useful ideas, but it's not a useful idea that's going to actually pay the check for it.

You have no money on the table for Inland Rail. You have no vision for our nation. You are going to take money for the dams process off the table. And I can see the new leader of the Labor Party coming in—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left! Has the Deputy Prime Minister concluded his answer? He has. We're going to the next question. The member for Grey has the call.