Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How has the Albanese Labor government delivered a better future across the country in the infrastructure portfolio over its first 12 months?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left will cease interjecting. There is going to be silence so I can hear the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

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

I thank the member for McEwen for his question. He is a tireless advocate for his community and he knows first-hand how important it is that our government deliver on our commitments. Well, over the last 12 months that's exactly what we've been doing. First, we began the hard work of cleaning up the mess left behind by those opposite after a decade of waste, rorts and mismanagement. First, we began the hard work by reviewing Infrastructure Australia, returning—I can't hear, Mr Speaker.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! This has become an ongoing issue, particularly when ministers are on their feet. We had this problem yesterday. Allow the minister to be heard in silence. I can't hear a word that she's saying. It's unacceptable.

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

We've reviewed Infrastructure Australia, returning it to its rightful place as the Commonwealth's infrastructure adviser, with the bill passing this House yesterday. We're fixing the major projects that will deliver a more resilient and prosperous future, starting with Inland Rail, a project where those opposite managed to build just over 16 per cent of the 1,700-kilometre track but still saw costs blow out by 559 per cent. We're starting work on new transformative nation-building projects like high-speed rail, focusing on Newcastle to Sydney. We're partnering with Queensland to deliver the Brisbane Olympics.

We're working with the states and territories to clean up the infrastructure investment pipeline, conducting a 90-day review to make sure that the Commonwealth is investing in the projects that matter to Australians, but also so that we can invest in local government. We've ended the regional rorts that those opposite presided over. We've created new transparent and equitable grants programs for the cities, suburbs and regions. Thanks to these new programs, for the very first time every local government area in the country will be eligible to apply for an open, competitive grants program to deliver much-needed community infrastructure and bring forward plans to improve precincts to transform their communities.

We've invested an additional $250 million in local roads in regional, rural and peri-urban Australia, on top of the $50 million we allocated in February and the billion dollars we're rolling out through this budget to every single state and territory for road safety. That includes $270 million for road safety projects in New South Wales, $255 million in Queensland and over $100 million in Victoria and Western Australia. We're building greater resilience in our supply chains through the work of our Strategic Fleet Taskforce, decarbonising the maritime sector with green shipping corridors. And we are setting the aviation sector up for the future with our Aviation white paper and our jet zero council. We're working on the largest scale projects, like sealing the Tanami and the more than $3.5 billion I released just this week for the metro to Western Sydney airport; and smaller projects, like the Santa Teresa Road, which I released $17 million for just today. We're getting on with the job of building infrastructure and delivering for our regions and our great cities right across the country. (Time expired)