Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and congratulations. My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on how the Morrison-Joyce government is providing critical infrastructure which supports the economic growth of regional Australia, and is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And one which I expect you'd be anticipating, Mr Speaker. Different Speakers have a rule as to whether alternative policies are to be allowed in questions. Standing orders make clear that ministers are to be asked about their ministerial responsibility. There is no way that they can be responsible for the policies of another political party. They are responsible for the policies of a government. I ask that the last part of the question be ruled out of order, as a number of previous Speakers have done.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with the precedent of, at the very least, the previous speaker, ministers can be asked about alternative policies. The question is in order.

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. Mr Speaker, it seems that you're having another quiet day in the office! Welcome to the job.

One always acknowledges the work that the member for Flynn has done in promoting and fighting for such things as the extension of the Inland Rail from Toowoomba down to Gladstone. We know that is so vitally important to the people of the great city of Gladstone and also to the people in the seat of Flynn—as well as Capricornia and Dawson. This is vital infrastructure and it's the sort of thing the member for Flynn has stood behind—just like other infrastructure that is so vitally important, such as mobile phone towers. This side of the House has been paramount in making sure these people get vital communications infrastructure in so many areas. And then there is the Bridges Renewal Program to make sure we have a load limit that allows transport operators to get their product across the bridges to get them to markets to earn money for our nation. There is the Roads to Recovery Program—the Pacific Highway and the Bruce Highway—and rail infrastructure from Inland Rail to other rail across our nation. There are the dams—from Scottsdale to Rookwood Weir. This is vital infrastructure that builds our nation. There is Inland Rail. There is the Outback Way connecting Western Australia to the Northern Territory, through the seat of Lingiari, and into western Queensland. There is the Western Sydney airport. These are all vital components of what this side of the House has been able to deliver to our nation and give a real vision of.

But it is also important to understand that sometimes there are people who believe they're above the law with the protests that have been happening lately against the export of some of our crucial minerals, especially the 200 coal trains that were delayed in the last two weeks in the Hunter. These people believe they're above the law and can stand in the way of the royalties that are earned by the state to pay for the hospitals, to pay for the police and to pay for the schools. The tax revenue that pays for the NDIS pays for so much of that social infrastructure that we take for granted and underpins the value of our currency. By underpinning the value of our currency, it makes sure we get terms of trade that do not start inspiring inflation. It is so important.

I am absolutely pleased to see that a coalition government at a state level has made a dramatic stand against these people and said there is no longer going to be a $200 slap on the wrist—that some of them, by reason of these dangerous actions, are putting at risk not only our economy but the lives of people who work on the railway lines, and this may involve a term of incarceration.