House debates

Monday, 2 December 2019

Private Members' Business

New South Wales: Roads

5:20 pm

Photo of Jason FalinskiJason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the Government’s commitment to reducing traffic congestion through:

(a) a $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund, removing traffic pinch points;

(b) better public transport, improving access and liveability in our cities; and

(c) the dedicated Commuter Car Park Fund aimed at improving access to public transport and taking tens of thousands of cars off our roads;

(2) urge the New South Wales Government to commit to further congestion busting infrastructure on the Northern Beaches including:

(a) commencing construction on the Beaches Link Tunnel towards which the Commonwealth Government has already provided $50 million;

(b) investigate the feasibility of a light rail link connecting the Northern Beaches to Chatswood and the city; and

(c) improve the public transport bus system, including extending the B-Line to Newport; and

(3) acknowledges the benefits of local communities having better roads and reliable transport infrastructure as including:

(a) less cars on the road and therefore less carbon emissions; and

(b) faster travel time, allowing the Australian people to spend more time with their families than stuck in traffic.

When I ask my constituents, 'If you could fix but just one thing, what would it be?' the vast majority respond in a time period that cannot be measured. 'Fix the traffic!' The area I represent is a beautiful—in fact, the most beautiful—part of the world and attracts millions of tourists every year. But people's lives are being made—

Mr Husic interjecting

The member for Chifley often flies over it! People's lives are being made miserable by spending hours each week sitting in traffic. In peak periods, it can take hours to get onto the peninsula and across the Spit Bridge and through Mona Vale Road. The Northern Beaches to North Sydney corridor has seen nearly 5,000 hours of delay so far this year, with Mona Vale Road commuters suffering over 7,000 hours worth of delays this year. That makes the southbound Mona Vale Road route the fourth most congested in Sydney.

But this issue is not just a matter of convenience. My constituents are spending hours each day sitting in traffic instead of spending that time with their families. We must say to ourselves as representatives: if we truly care about the welfare of the people we represent, then we must do everything we can to help people spend less time sitting bumper to bumper on busy roads and more time with their families. Improving roads, including widening and repaving; building new infrastructure, like tunnels and bypasses; and improving public transport are all ways in which we can help people.

State governments of the past have failed the Northern Beaches, have failed Sydney and have failed New South Wales. We've fallen behind the rest of the world for infrastructure development. The Northern Beaches are decades behind where they should be thanks to the Carr-Keneally Labor governments, which cancelled more infrastructure projects than they actually started. The Northern Beaches got nothing in terms of infrastructure for over a decade, other than increased housing targets. At a federal level, the government's $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund is going a long way to alleviating traffic congestion and removing pinch points in our road system, and I know Western Sydney has benefited greatly from this. The federal government have committed $50 million to the construction of the Beaches Link tunnel, and recent announcements prove that the project is moving in the right direction. However, the tunnel is not enough. We need more roads widened and better public transport, as well as new and innovative transport solutions.

There should also be an investigation into an east-west link between Dee Why and Chatswood, as well as Macquarie Park and Mona Vale. This could be in the form of a metro rail link or trackless trams. It is something that is being rolled out across China and could be a credible option for major cities in Australia. The evidence is in: the B-Line is helping, but in the next 10 years it will reach crush capacity, and we will be in yet another position of failure. Following the released Infrastructure Australia report, it is evident that simply adding more buses cannot solve our congestion problems, which is why we need to look to other transport solutions—not more regulation that would place more of a hindrance on people's lives but smarter regulation and smarter policies.

The government must look at other innovative solutions for alleviating traffic congestion. A few months ago, I met with Tom Piotrowski from Southern Cross Drones, who told me of his company's ability to transport medical supplies from Mona Vale Hospital to the new Northern Beaches Hospital, which is currently done by vans multiple times per day. A drone would not only mean less expense, less traffic and getting the blood test back to the patient and doctor faster but also reduce the number of vehicles on the road per trip, mean less pollution and be faster and more cost-effective. We've also seen trial dates announced for Uber Air in Melbourne.

These solutions are not fanciful; they are innovative and they are here now. Alleviating traffic congestion is not just a matter of convenience but also one of environmental sustainability. If we can get more cars off the road through shorter travel times and by diverting consumers onto more sustainable mass transport options, we will also reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The Northern Beaches have been neglected for long enough. It's time that they get their fair share, and I will continue to advocate strongly on this issue.

Photo of David GillespieDavid Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Do we have a seconder for the motion?

Photo of Julian SimmondsJulian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

5:25 pm

Photo of Ed HusicEd Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I wanted to start on a controversial basis and actually commend the member for Mackellar. He's doing his job. He should be standing up and speaking on behalf of his community, particularly in that part of Sydney, about the need for greater infrastructure investment. In a lot of communities across the country, there are a lot of representatives who think that there should be more infrastructure investment, particularly in crowded cities, to get people moving more. But the reality is, in this day and age, governments—particularly at the federal level—have not realised that if there was any time in which to invest more into infrastructure, this is the time. In terms of the cost and the opportunity to make a real difference, that time is right now.

The member for Mackellar, in doing so, is highlighting two things. The first is the inability of his own side to actually deal with the pressure points that are in his area and the inability to get that money flowing there. You would think the money could be there and it could be put in this time. But it's not happening. That's why he is bringing this resolution. The second thing is—I offer a ray of hope for the member for Mackellar—if you look at the way in which this government makes decisions on infrastructure, he won't have to wait too long. Based on what The Australian wrote on 23 November, when the government made its sudden announcement that it was going to be releasing all this cash for infrastructure, even The Australian acknowledged 'Roads cash splash a win for coalition seats'. The member for Mackellar doesn't have to wait too long. I'm sure if he waits in line, it will happen! It's clearly not being done on the basis of need; it is absolutely being done on the basis of political need.

In New South Wales, only $24 million was new money in the infrastructure spend that was announced by the government back at the tail end of last month. Only $24 million was new, and approximately $550 million had been brought forward. When I cast an eye over all the seats that got it: Page, coalition; Richmond, congratulations, that's a Labor seat; Calare, coalition; Parkes, coalition; Riverina, coalition—

Photo of Julian SimmondsJulian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

That's because we won more seats! There was an election!

Photo of Ed HusicEd Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Gilmore was one that got it from the Labor side, as well as Lyne and Farrer. I will take the interjection that claims that, remarkably, they have more seats. The nature of the parliament itself is very close in relation to the numbers on both sides of politics, but the reality is they have shamefully skewed their spending towards the coalition, demonstrating that it's politics, not actual need, for why this has happened. It was not need at all, and this is wrong.

The member for Mackellar might be closer to getting the money that he needs, but in Western Sydney—where we see people being crammed on trains and roads and where they don't have investment in local public transport that could be done by the federal and state governments together to, for example, improve the parking around train stations to encourage greater public transport use—it is not there. It is not there at all in the places that need it. Instead of decongesting the Western Sydney rail line, the New South Wales government is going to spend $20 billion on the Sydney Metro West, which goes to Parramatta—that's as far west as it'll go—but won't put in the money that makes a difference.

Today the 'minister for roundabouts'—I think Alan Tudge is his name—got up and announced that the coalition's idea of congestion busting in Western Sydney is to build an airport. I'm sure a lot of Western Sydney residents will catch a plane to the CBD! But the reality is that they're not serious. They cannot seriously argue that an airport is going to decongest Western Sydney traffic or public transport. They have not put in anything seriously in terms of the M9—the other major motorway that's needed—or opening up the major traffic pressure point between Mount Druitt and Parramatta every morning, which is one of the worst-congested roads in the country according to Infrastructure Australia. They are not putting in money to decongest the rail line. It is an absolute joke that they can claim, in urban infrastructure terms, that the building of an airport is going to make life easier for one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation.

This is not a government that is serious about relieving congestion through urban infrastructure investment. They're not seriously investing in infrastructure now to help the economy or to deal with infrastructure black spots. This is a government more interested in advertising itself than fixing problems.

5:31 pm

Photo of Julian SimmondsJulian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I will start off by seeking your indulgence, Mr Deputy Speaker Gillespie; I have a case of the man flu coming on, which, as you can understand, is pretty diabolical! But I never miss an opportunity to talk about how important it is that the Morrison government is investing in delivering infrastructure solutions for our local bottlenecks.

I would like to commend the member for Mackellar for bringing on this motion. We know the coalition's investment—$100 billion in roads, rail and airports to ease congestion, particularly to fix local congestion bottlenecks. I pick up the member for Mackellar's theme: as a government, we are not reducing congestion just for the sake of it or because we like changing stats or anything like that. We do it because it's important to the families in our electorates. Reducing congestion is not an end in itself; it's a way to get people home sooner and safer to the ones that they love. It makes sure they can spend more time playing sport or in the backyard with their kids rather than sitting in congestion. The way that the Labor member for Chifley has just derided the minister, in relation to focusing on urban infrastructure projects like roundabouts, shows just how out of touch Labor is. It is these local projects that will make the biggest difference in the lives of people, certainly in the lives of people in my electorate of Ryan, when they're going home.

We have two very significant local urban infrastructure projects. Before I get onto that, there are a couple of ways that the Morrison government's investment is benefiting the residents of Ryan. First of all, as part of funding for the dedicated commuter car park fund for my electorate of Ryan, they will see increased car parking available at Ferny Grove station. This has been a source of contention for quite some time. As our local suburbs continue to grow, more car parks are required at our local train stations. We have also made a significant investment in the Brisbane Metro. This is set to revolutionise public transport in Brisbane by ensuring we reduce the bottleneck for buses in the Brisbane CBD. It stands in stark contrast to the current Labor state government. We have $300 million on the table and the LNP-led council has the rest of the money on the table. We don't need any money from the Labor state government; we just need them to get out of the way and let us build this important project to improve public transport in the Brisbane CBD. But, despite literally hundreds of meetings between the Brisbane City Council and state Labor officials, Labor still can't see their way to putting pen to paper and letting the council and the federal government get on with these projects. Unfortunately, it is an example that we see time and time again.

The federal government continues to work very well with the Brisbane City Council, nowhere more than on the Indooroopilly roundabout. The federal government has committed $25 million to fix this local congestion hotspot and to work alongside Mayor Adrian Schrinner. For the last few months there has been public consultation about the best option to fix this notorious and dangerous bottleneck. With 32 incidents recorded between 2013 and 2018—10 requiring hospitalisation and a further 17 requiring medical treatment—I know how important it is to my local community that we get on with the job of fixing it.

Hundreds of locals have responded to my call for feedback about the best option to fix this important congestion bottleneck. Overwhelmingly—90 per cent—locals have gone with the overpass option. I provided that feedback to Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and just last week he announced that he will be progressing with this design so we can get on to fix this notorious intersection in the Ryan electorate.

Make no mistake, residents of Ryan, it is not bipartisan that you get home to your families sooner and safer. It was Labor's own lord mayoral candidate for Brisbane who came out and called this project a 'wicked, wicked waste'. So money is put in to reduce congestion in the western suburbs—which, for decades, have seen chronic underinvestment by Labor state governments—to finally get some projects kickstarted, thanks to this federal government, working in conjunction with an LNP council, and all Labor can do is to turn up their noses at it. It shows again how out of touch they are with local residents who are keen to see congestion reduced—not to mention, as I said, the importance of fixing this bottleneck as a safety issue.

We see it as well with the Kenmore roundabout project. As a federal government we have committed $12.5 million. Labor has been dragged kicking and screaming to match that funding but they show no signs of getting on with the job. I call on Minister Bailey to do that.

5:36 pm

Photo of Anika WellsAnika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Almost six months ago, the Reserve Bank governor urged the Morrison government to get infrastructure projects shovel-ready. That is a forewarning the governor has repeated seven times since the election. I don't need this warning and I know my peers here don't need this warning from the RBA governor to know that Australia's economy is in trouble. I hear it every week from my constituents on the north side of Brisbane, who are struggling to pay for both food and medicine at the same time or to have anything left for Christmas presents after they have paid childcare fees and power bills.

Despite all the confected fanfare of the past fortnight, the actual funding being brought forward in infrastructure for Queensland is less than a quarter of the total package promised. This continues the government's disappointing record on infrastructure. We know that, in the 2018-19 financial year, the Morrison government did not spend a cent from the Urban Congestion Fund. They have spent $17 million of taxpayers' funds on advertising the Urban Congestion Fund, but not a cent on actual urban roads.

The Australian economy needs responsible, proportionate and measured stimulus, not an ad man with no plan. We have seen zero dollars actually promised or spent from the Morrison government on federal infrastructure in my electorate of Lilley. Not a cent has been spent. Out of the 30 projects in the planning stage for Queensland, none of them are planned for the residents of Lilley, despite Brisbane's north side being a booming growth corridor.

The Morrison government has said that Gympie Road, which goes through Lilley and Petrie, will receive $16 million a year for three years for lane augmentation and safety. Go on, I say. In Senate estimates, it was revealed that only the constituents of Petrie—the LNP's Luke Howarth's electorate—will benefit from this investment: 'Deidre Chambers, what a coincidence!' In fact, like the member for Chifley before me has said, The Australian has commented, and reviewed the 'Roads cash splash' as 'a win for Coalition seats':

Coalition seats are the big winners out of Scott Morrison’s $3.8bn in accelerated and new infrastructure spending, while the key battleground states of Queensland and Western Australia will receive the bulk of the funding.

However, in Queensland, it is a cavalcade of LNP seats that are actually going to receive the money: Cunningham Highway upgrade, Maranoa, coalition seat; roads upgrade for the Hinkler Regional Deal, Hinkler, coalition seat; North Brisbane, Bruce Highway western alternative, the seats of Longman, Dickson and Petrie. It is hard when planning infrastructure on the north side or Brisbane to avoid Lilley to get to Dickson, Longman and Petrie, but they have managed it, and credit to them for being that sneaky.

In December 2018, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton and Michael McCormack stood on the side of the road in the rain in northern Brisbane and promised $100 million to the Linkfield Road Overpass upgrade. We are now one year on and the status of that project, by admission of the federal government's own website, is: 'Not started'. It is not even in the planning stage. It says, 'Not started'. Yet just a few weeks ago, Scott Morrison had the bravado to come back to Queensland and wave around more promises of accelerated infrastructure spending. What he failed to mention was that, of the $2.8 billion in funding for the bundle of five Queensland projects, only $225.6 million is actually being brought forward. This announcement was tricky, it was misleading and it wasn't good enough.

One of the Morrison government's favourite excuses is that roads and infrastructure are a state issue and not their responsibility, but just this weekend a number of constituents, including Roy and Marlene, came to my mobile offices in McDowall and Aspley and expressed their concerns that the Morrison LNP government and the LNP Brisbane City Council are teaming up to force a four- to six-lane motorway straight through quiet bushland in McDowall, Bridgeman Downs and Chermside West. The communities in McDowall, Bridgeman Downs and Chermside West live amongst the tranquil bushland and peaceful streets specifically because they have chosen this area to raise their young families or enjoy their retirement. They moved to the area specifically to avoid traffic and four- to six-lane motorways. They're now being told the Morrison government wants to put a motorway right through their bushland.

Why wasn't anybody asked about this? The Morrison government has completely bypassed the Queensland state government to give the LNP city council $10 million to do a case study on the feasibility of putting a motorway through bushland in what is a state corridor. It is absurd. The residents of McDowall, Bridgeman Downs and Chermside West rightfully have a lot of questions for their LNP representatives.

The federal government are happy to point the finger, play the blame game and say the state government is not doing enough, but I don't have a lot of patience for hearing what the states need to be doing when the federal government aren't listening to my constituents on the north side about what they actually want or need. We need infrastructure now, and we ask this federal government to do it.

5:41 pm

Photo of Lucy WicksLucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

The Morrison government is demonstrating its commitment to reducing travel times for our hardworking commuters, getting people home sooner and safer and allowing them to spend more time at home with their families instead of being stuck on our roads or our rail networks. So today I want to rise in support of the member for Mackellar's motion and speak about the importance of delivering vital infrastructure for local communities across Australia.

The Morrison government's $4 billion investment in the Urban Congestion Fund over the last two budgets will specifically benefit constituents in my electorate of Robertson through the government's $70 million commitment to the Central Coast roads package and $35 million for commuter car parking upgrades in Gosford and Woy Woy. In 2007, I launched a local roads petition to pinpoint the local roads that were in desperate need of fixing for residents on the Central Coast. The feedback I've received since that time has been absolutely unbelievable. There was extensive input from local residents and there were local roads identified as a priority by Central Coast Council. As a result of that, the Morrison government committed $70 million to fix 29 of the worst roads on the Central Coast, with work on at least 20 expected to begin next year.

Ken Campbell of East Gosford is one of the many local residents who signed my local roads petition, and I do want to thank Ken for his important advocacy. He has been advocating for upgrades to his street in East Gosford, Lushington Street, since April 1983. After decades of Ken's pushing for these upgrades and taking up the fight with other local residents, I am pleased to say that, through the Urban Congestion Fund, $6.6 million has been allocated for Central Coast Council to finally upgrade the road. Without this government's investment through the fund, these upgrades may not have occurred for many, many more years or—who knows?—even decades.

The Ocean Beach Road and Rawson Road intersection at Woy Woy is another important section of road that will receive a $16½ million upgrade under this package. The arterial intersection is one of the most congested places to drive through on the peninsula, as it is located right near a hospital, a high school and the local train station. For years locals have asked for a solution to this bottleneck, and I look forward to seeing the intersection fixed for the residents and commuters who use it every day.

As part of the Urban Congestion Fund, the coalition government has allocated $500 million towards the Commuter Car Park Fund to encourage greater use of public transport and reduce congestion on our local roads. In my electorate of Robertson this will see $30 million for commuter car-parking upgrades at Gosford and $5 million for upgrades at Woy Woy. Wherever I go to speak with commuters at one of our major commuter hubs in the morning, the one issue that comes up time and time again is the lack of available, close parking for commuters on their way to Sydney or Newcastle for work. Tens of thousands of commuters use the Central Coast and Newcastle line every day. These upgrades wouldn't have been possible without the feedback of those people who took the time to have a chat with me at our local train station. The upgrades will help to alleviate the stress of commuters trying to find a car park every morning.

The two car park upgrades are part of a fully funded commitment, unlike upgrades that were promised by Labor in the lead-up to the last election. Labor announced a total of $15 million to improve three commuter car parks. However, $15 million would have built only half a car park. I'd like to suggest to some of my colleagues opposite that, instead of complaining about our commitment to commuter car parking, they should find out how much it costs to fund these projects before pointing the finger at those on this side of the chamber who, like the majority of Australians, are looking forward to seeing these vital infrastructure projects underway.

Finally, the coalition government's commitment to reducing travel times for commuters is further highlighted through our investment in faster rail projects across Australia, with the faster rail business case between Sydney and Newcastle currently underway and due for completion very soon. This business case, in conjunction with the New South Wales state government, is investigating how we can reduce travel times for hardworking commuters through new rail infrastructure or upgrades to existing rail infrastructure. Any improvements that can be made to our rail network will not only reduce travel time but also open up the Central Coast as a region of great opportunities for future growth and development. This is just another example of how the Morrison government is working to cut travel times for our hardworking commuters on the Central Coast. I commend the member for Mackellar for his commitment to better infrastructure on the Northern Beaches, in his local area, and I'm very pleased to support his motion.

5:46 pm

Photo of Fiona PhillipsFiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this motion today and to talk about the importance of improved roads and reliable transport for local communities. In rural and regional areas like those in my electorate, this is even more so, given the great distances local people have to travel to reach school, work or medical appointments or to visit family and friends.

In my electorate, the train line ends at Bomaderry and bus transport is extremely limited, so good-quality roads become twice as important—important for car travel but also important for the only public transport option. Local and state roads provide critical connections for local people, businesses, schools and primary producers who use the roads every day to go about their lives. Farming and tourism are two of our biggest industries, and we are proud of them, but both can impact substantially on the state of the roads. Our arterial road, the Princes Highway, is the key connecter for our communities to each other and the rest of New South Wales. It brings in feed for our cattle and transports our exports to their national and international markets. It takes our kids to school, and many people use it every day to travel to work. But the highway can also be dangerous, and our community has been waiting a long time for some of the hotspots to be fixed.

Since I had the absolute honour of being elected member for Gilmore, I have been working with the community to call on the government to bring forward the funding it committed at the election to fix the highway faster. Last week I told the House about the success of this campaign, as the government has announced it will bring forward $145 million in funding for the highway, including the Milton-Ulladulla bypass. This is long-awaited infrastructure that will make a significant impact on the lives of our community and our visitors. I want to see the funding brought forward as soon as possible, and I will continue working with the government and the community in a positive manner until we see this bypass built.

Christmas is fast approaching. It is a time when many in our community feel nervous about being on our roads. People worry about the increase in traffic and congestion, but they also worry about the increase in accidents, injuries and worse—an all too common occurrence. The bypass is not the only project that is desperately needed in our community to address this issue, and I would like to touch on a few others.

The Jervis Bay Road intersection is another project where the community and I have been working together in an effort to secure funding. This intersection is regularly raised with me by local people as being in need of serious and urgent upgrade. This is a notorious and dangerous intersection that has, sadly, claimed too many lives and continues to be a constant source of frustration for locals. The problem only increases in peak times like the school holidays, when tourists naturally flock to the beauty of Jervis Bay. Local group Vincentia Matters have been working tirelessly on this campaign, and I will continue to support them on this. The Princes Highway duplication is another essential project that will improve travel times, reduce congestion and improve safety on this road.

The cost of fixing roads can be quite high in areas as large as the Shoalhaven. The Shoalhaven City Council have over 1,700 kilometres of council serviced roads to maintain, and support from the Australian government is critical to their ability to keep these roads safe. I'm absolutely committed to making sure that our roads are receiving funding and attention from governments at all levels. The Black Spot Program is essential in ensuring local governments have the resources to undertake these necessary repairs and safety upgrades. I will continue to support the projects of the Kiama, Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla councils under this program. I encourage them to continue working with me to fix our local roads.

Again, I say that I'm absolutely thrilled that the government has started listening to the communities of the New South Wales South Coast and will bring forward funding for the Milton-Ulladulla bypass, but the job is not over. Much more needs to be done to make sure that local people are safe on our roads. I promise the community that I will not stop. I will keep working productively with all levels of government to pursue these important road upgrades. I will keep fighting to make sure that our roads are safe.

5:51 pm

Photo of Melissa McIntoshMelissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mackellar for his motion because it gives me the opportunity to talk about the Morrison government's investment in congestion-busting road upgrades throughout Western Sydney. Busting congestion means getting to the jobs of the future that we are creating in emerging industries. The Morrison government is creating local jobs in defence, space, advanced manufacturing and more. It is upgrading roads to boost our local economy to continue to create more jobs.

I did the commute out of Western Sydney for 10 years. I know exactly how the 300,000 people currently commuting out of Western Sydney feel every single day as they are stuck in traffic or are getting on the train. They have told me at 6 am at the train station that they don't want to be doing that long commute for work. That's why I'm so passionate about creating the jobs of the future in Western Sydney and delivering the roads, transport and rail infrastructure to get there.

There are many young families in my electorate of Lindsay. For them, busting congestion means getting home sooner and spending more time with their families—experiences and memories that they will cherish forever. For our many small and family businesses, busting congestion means broadening their horizons and getting their world-class produce to more customers. There are almost 15,000 small- and medium-sized businesses benefiting from tax relief delivered by the Morrison government, and we're backing them even further by making sure our local infrastructure is equipped to meet the demands of the future. Soon the Morrison government's $5.3 billion investment in the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport will take their produce to new markets in South-East Asia and beyond.

Busting congestion means safer roads, and there is nothing I want more for our community than getting people home safely. The Morrison government's $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund will do all these things for people in Western Sydney—$235.5 million of which will fund projects in New South Wales. The $4 billion congestion-busting fund includes the $500 million national Commuter Car Park Fund. In Lindsay we're delivering more commuter parking in St Marys, Kingswood and Emu Plains. This will get more cars off our roads and make sure more commuters have access to public transport.

The Urban Congestion Fund is part of Australia's $100 billion 10-year investment in transport infrastructure. We're busting congestion, delivering safer roads, getting people home to their families quicker and making sure that business produce gets to customers faster. This will help ease congestion so that people get to where they need to be—for those getting to work in the morning and home to their families in the evening, for mum and dad getting the kids to school sport on Saturdays, and for businesses so that they can transport their goods.

The Morrison government is unlocking the potential of Western Sydney and creating local jobs in emerging industries. The Western Sydney City Deal, the $200 million Local Roads Package and, as I said, the $5.3 billion Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan will improve traffic efficiency and safety on our roads. Our considered approach means that we can prioritise the upgrades our community needs most. We're committed to realising the 30-minute city, by delivering the first stage of the North-South Rail Link. We're getting 200,000 jobs by supercharging the aerotropolis and agribusiness precinct as part of building the airport. We're building the skills in our local community through new education opportunities to ensure that the jobs of the future are in Western Sydney and that our local kids have all the opportunities to get those jobs.

The Morrison government has committed $63½ million to upgrade Dunheved Road. This corridor linking the Northern Road to Werrington arterial and Dunheved Business Park has been too congested and too dangerous for the commuters and families using it every day. My community petition to bust congestion and improve safety on this very critical road demonstrates the impact that a safer, less congested Dunheved Road will have for the people of Lindsay. We've committed $115 million to upgrade Mulgoa Road, another local congesting-busting project, to improve safety and traffic flow. Earlier this year I helped turn the first sod on the final stages of the Northern Road and Bringelly Road upgrades, easing congestion for over 15,000 vehicles on the Northern Road and 10,000 on the Bringelly Road every single day.

These are just some of the projects the Morrison government is delivering. We are getting on with the job of delivering programs, like the Urban Congestion Fund, which will ease congestion and deliver local jobs in Western Sydney.

5:55 pm

Photo of Andrew GilesAndrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure) Share this | | Hansard source

Just over 18 months ago the Morrison government—or it might have still been the Turnbull government then; it's easy to forget, isn't it?—announced the Urban Congestion Fund with great fanfare. And what's happened since? They've talked a huge game about busting congestion and getting commuters home sooner and safer, but this is all a political exercise—an exercise in which the rhetoric is not matched by reality. To be fair, the approach of the current government is a marked improvement on the government led by Tony Abbott, which can be best described as congestion boosting through his failure to fund much-needed urban public transport and his comprehensive retreat from national responsibility for urban policy, despite its critical importance to our productivity and, of course, to how people live their lives.

In question time today we heard, I think, a really effective illustration of this gap between the rhetoric of the government and the reality. We heard it in the contribution of Minister Tudge in response to a Dorothy Dixer. To those of us on our side of the House it was very clear that the minister was talking only to himself; the backbench were completely disengaged. To be fair, he was amusing himself—so I'll give him that—but no-one else was listening. The one simple reason for this is that there is very little worth talking about when it comes to the federal government's performance in the Urban Congestion Fund.

We on this side of the House remember—and I'm surprised that members opposite haven't touched on this—that in the first year of its operation not a cent was spent. I will correct myself—actually, some moneys were spent. Nothing was spent on actual infrastructure projects—perhaps a homage to the NAIF, the no actual infrastructure fund—on the congestion-busting projects that we've been hearing about from members opposite, but $16.9 million was signed off on by Minister Cormann for taxpayer funded pre-election advertising. So there was $17 million on advertising and not a cent on congestion. What a damning indictment of this government and this minister, and what an accurate description of the political priorities of Prime Minister Morrison. Everything he does is about politics—nothing about policy outcomes.

That's why I am so pleased that the member for Mackellar has brought forward this motion—because it gives us an opportunity to talk about the Urban Congestion Fund as it is, not as government members imagine it to be. Australians now know that Prime Minister Morrison is much more concerned about spending money on ads to try to make his government look better than he is in investing in infrastructure to improve our lives. Despite the rhetoric of government members, congestion is getting worse. Commuters in Sydney are experiencing a massive 71-minute average journey to and from work each day. For people in my town of Melbourne, it is an average of 65 minutes. Infrastructure Australia predicts road congestion costs in all our major cities will more than double by 2031. Infrastructure Australia's report on crowding and congestion states that in 2016 congestion cost $8 billion and that this is forecast to grow $15.7 billion by 2031. Importantly, it states: 'Notwithstanding current investment in extra capacity, the performance of Sydney’s transport network is not keeping pace.'

The member for Lindsay, in her contribution, talked about the considered approach the government has been taking—considered! In Senate estimates the department listed their Urban Congestion Fund projects and funding profiles, and the member for Lilley noted the striking resemblance between funding contributions and government-held seats in Brisbane. Actually, this is one thing that I share in common with the member for Mackellar. Scullin and Mackellar are both very hard to find in this table. The common theme: they are not marginal seats. This is not an assessment based on need. This is an assessment based purely on politics.

It would be nice to know precisely how Urban Congestion Fund projects are selected by the government. But, of course, we don't know. The department, at estimates, suggested there is a process the government may follow. An official stated:

… we've provided broad advice on urban congestion pinch points. Government took this and other information and took a decision. That will apply to all projects. Some were election commitments, which are obviously a matter for government.

I think this says it all. Scott Morrison's and Alan Tudge's urban congestion infrastructure program is a political document, not an economic plan; it's disgraceful to suggest otherwise. It's holding back our productivity and constraining people's lives in the suburbs.

Photo of Lucy WicksLucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank the member for Scullin for his contribution. The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.