Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the coalition, I rise to speak on the Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Independent Review) Bill 2023. The coalition welcomes debate on this long-awaited bill. This was part of the government's election commitments. A review into Infrastructure Australia was conducted. The report landed on Minister King's desk in October last year and, like everything else that lands on Minister King's desk, it sat there for a very, very long time. The government talked a big game about transparency and accountability in the infrastructure pipeline, but we've seen the decisions this government made in its October budget last year: billions of dollars cut from road, rail and dam projects right throughout the country, and the 200-day 'short, sharp review' into the infrastructure pipeline, which again sees projects cut and delayed across the country in our congested suburbs and regional centres. Everything this government does when it comes to infrastructure means cuts or delays.

It is with great pleasure that I speak on this bill. The coalition has been wanting to debate this bill for months. The government tried to put this into part of the guillotine motion for the end of the week. Guess what! Catherine King doesn't want us to talk about her cuts and delays or how to be more accountable and transparent with the billions of dollars that Commonwealth taxpayers put into—