Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Let me be clear about this: the Rudd government will invest $35.8 billion over six years to 2013-14 in road and rail, more than double what the coalition spent over a similar period. The $35.8 billion is made up of the Nation Building Program, $26.2 billion; ARTC, $1.2 billion; and new budget investments, $8.5 billion. We will be investing a record $6 billion in 2009-10 to build new transport infrastructure and upgrade existing transport infrastructure. This builds on our first budget in 2008-09, which delivered $5.9 billion. Over the six years to 2008-09, the coalition spent only $17.3 billion on road and rail through AusLink and ARTC. So let us be clear: when it comes to infrastructure on road and rail—