Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

(—) (): This government has a plan for the future. Investing in roads and rail increases productivity, reduces congestion and increases time spent at home. I heard some little laughs from the opposition during the last question—very concerning from the doormats to the Liberal Party. The Liberals and Nationals only know one thing when it comes to investing in the nation's infrastructure: neglect, neglect and neglect. Quite frankly, they are not up to the job of investing in nation-building projects about relieving congestion and ensuring that we have good-quality roads and highways. After 12 years of the Howard government, a lack of investment cut almost one percentage point off annual growth and more than $2 billion was slashed from the federal roads budget atop the slashing of the $1 billion from the health budget. Australia ranked 20th out of the 25 OECD countries when it came to investing in public infrastructure— (Time expired)