Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate notes:

(a) the Commonwealth Government is investing $50 billion in infrastructure;

(b) that as part of the Government's investment in infrastructure, it has committed to providing up to $95 million dollars to support the completion of the Gold Coast Light Rail Stage Two project prior to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games; and

(c) the importance of significant funding proposals being accompanied by detailed business cases and subject to a full assessment process, including by Infrastructure Australia, if $100 million or more of Commonwealth funding is sought, to ensure value for taxpayers' money.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor was not consulted on the wording of this motion. In fact, the coalition cut $2 billion from infrastructure project funding between the 2014 and 2015 budgets, including over $1 billion this year. Labor strongly supports proper assessment of project business cases and notes the hypocrisy of this motion, given the government's failure to properly assess East West Link, WestConnex and Perth freight link prior to allocating funds. The federal Labor government supported the highly-successful stage one of the Gold Coast light rail, which the coalition then opposed. Labor welcomes the decision of the current government to fund public transport projects. It is now the time for action after two lost years.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Canavan be agreed to.

Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The Greens did not support Senator Canavan's motion today because we want to have a more nuanced conversation about public transport infrastructure funding rather than just bandying around headline figures like the so-called '$50 billion' from the government. We have spent the past few years with our cities and our regions desperate for infrastructure improvements, particularly public transport and rail—both passenger and freight—and we have had a Prime Minister who point-blank refused to fund public transport.

We welcome the government's sudden epiphany and we support funding Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 2. However, we think that we need to improve the ways in which projects are assessed, which needs to be through structured, transparent and accountable processes.