Address to Parliament - MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE Regional Australia Infrastructure
This matter of public importance debate today is about infrastructure. It is about regional industries. There are a few familiar faces trawling the halls of parliament today, and we welcome them. The Speaker welcomed some of them in question time at 2.15. He referred to the Deputy Premier of Queensland, Steven Miles. He referred to the mayors from Toowoomba and Isaac regional councils. The mayors of Ipswich and Western Downs are also here today. One would wonder: why would they all come? As a coterie, why would they be here in late November, when there may be better things to do in Queensland? But no, there are not. What they're here for is to lobby the infrastructure minister, because they are annoyed. They are irate. They are cranky. And they have good reason to be, because they know—even though the member for Bruce may not—that, indeed, 252 projects have been cut out of the infrastructure investment pipeline. They know that the Roads to Recovery funding that Labor promises will not be seen until a third term of the Labor government—and God forbid that happens.
I want to read to the House some quotes. I will, at the end, tell the House who wrote, who said, who uttered these quotes:
We will stand up to the federal government, we will stand up to the prime minister and say Queensland deserves its fair share and nothing less.
And: 'I want to make it very clear again for Minister King that this infrastructure review does not have our cooperation.' And this one:
Any deviations from the currently agreed 80-20 funding split on regional corridors and 50-50 on urban corridors will significantly disadvantage our regions which are amongst the most decentralised and road transport reliant in the nation.
And 'Queensland has not and will not co-operate with the federal infrastructure minister's cuts,' says another. 'My message to the federal minister is simple: do not try to rope us into your bad decisions.' And this:
The commonwealth government has an arrangement with Western Australia, which means effectively that NSW could be worse off from the GST payments in the years ahead, we've got a state commonwealth health agreement that hasn't been signed that sees NSW lose out an enormous amount of money because of the complete collapse of GP services in the community … Taxpayers pay a lot of money in income taxes to the commonwealth government and we deserve our fair share.
And another:
It is not the NSW government whingeing. It is voters and the state taxpayers in NSW that deserve to have access to world-class education and functioning hospitals and infrastructure that's been promised.
And this, from somebody else from that fine New South Wales state:
NSW is disappointed with a capital D as a result of the Commonwealth's decision to yank funding to the tune of billions from the state.
We are likely to be $1.4 billion worse off over the forward estimates. At the same time the NSW population is surging, the Commonwealth's investment is faltering.
And then this:
Funding splits ... and what the federal government's thinking on that is very much a matter for them. I'm very much focused on ensuring that ... we do get our fair share of funding.
And this:
It would be concerning if the federal member for Ballarat, Minister King, sought to walk away from regional Victoria, that would be concerning and disappointing.
Those quotes hardly come from Liberals and Nationals. Do you know who they come from, Member for Page?
Mr Hogan: No, I don't.
Mr McCORMACK: I'll tell you. You wouldn't be sure, because you would actually think that they would be somebody who would not be of a Labor variety, but they come from, in order: Annastacia Palaszczuk, Mark Bailey, Cameron Dick, Chris Minns, Daniel Mookhey, Jacinta Allan and Danny Pearson.
They hold important positions in the governments of Queensland, which is Labor; the government of New South Wales, which is Labor; and, indeed, the government of Victoria. It's all Labor. Now, often when you're a minister you get criticised. Sometimes it's grumbling in corridors from those in the states who would like a fairer share, but these people have been public. They have been open about it. They have been vociferous about it. They haven't held back, and Deputy Premier Miles isn't holding back today, because he knows that the funding has been cut. He knows that it's going to hurt infrastructure in Queensland. He knows that it's going to hurt regional industries. If all of those Labor premiers, Labour treasurers and Labor roads ministers know, why doesn't the federal Labor government do something about it? Labor knows. The states know. Why doesn't the federal government know?