address to parliament - MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE - Transport and Infrastructure

Thank you, Mr Speaker—

Ms Plibersek: He's going to explain himself!

Mr McCORMACK: I don't have to explain myself at all, Environment Minister. It's the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government who has some explaining to do. Another day, another question time, and again we don't have any answers. That is why this matter of public importance today is so very, very important, because we need answers. We need answers to very relevant questions involving transport and involving infrastructure.

To think about infrastructure is to think about airports. During the budget address delivered in May by the Treasurer, the member for Rankin, the word 'airport' was not mentioned once in the entire speech. Nor was 'aviation'. Nor was 'dam'. Nor was 'highway'. Nor, in fact, were the words 'infrastructure' or 'plane' or 'rail' or 'road'—not once. It was the first time for a quarter of a century that the word 'infrastructure' was not uttered by the Treasurer at the dispatch box on budget night. Why would that be so? Because, just prior to the budget, there was a 90-day delay put on all of the infrastructure projects which were brought forward by the previous government. But did that delay cover the election commitments made by those opposite? No, it didn't. There was only a delay on the infrastructure projects that—many of which were actually in play at the time. Bitumen was being laid, and it was stopped. States were looking forward to rolling out roads, and that was stopped.

Mr Joyce: Inland Rail.

Mr McCORMACK: Inland rail was stopped—thank you, member for New England—and, unfortunately, many of the workers on some of those projects then went and did something else. They are now no longer on those vital projects which are improving services, bettering communities and, most importantly, saving lives. All too sadly, the road toll is up in many of the states across the nation. I'm not blaming anyone or anything for that. It is a tragic blight on our nation, sadly, that the road toll is up.

The minister needs to explain—and I'm sorry that she's not in the chamber to do so—why a decision to allow Qatar Airways into Australia has been blocked. Yes, I did delay a decision on Qatar—that is a fact—but the decision was made to allow those flights into Australia, and those flights are now taking place into Australia. Those flights are now extending the number of services that Qatar makes into Australia and have now increased in various ports in Australia. They were allowed. The government is blocking them. They've put up any number of reasons—seven, I think, in total, was the last count—and they still haven't given a single solid reason in this place as to why Qatar Airways is being blocked. Qatar is a good airline. It wouldn't have won international airline of the year so many times if it weren't a good airline. What we're seeing across Australia is people wanting to fly overseas and, just as importantly, wanting to get their relatives to fly into our country, into our gateways, which are the airports—a word not used by the Treasurer during his budget speech, which was probably for good reason, because they haven't got a good track record when it comes to infrastructure.

Also, this government hasn't got a good record when it comes to the cost of living. One way that we could reduce the cost of living is to reduce the ticket prices for people wanting to fly to destinations and wanting get tourists into this nation. If there is one thing that we need to do as a nation, it's welcome more tourists. If there is one thing we want to do as a nation, it's improve the cost-of-living pressures, and the government is not doing that with his bloody-minded decision to stop Qatar Airways and not give a valid and justifiable reason for doing so.

It's not just me saying it. It's Peter Malinauskas, the Labor South Australian Premier, who wants to know why Qatar has been blocked. It's Steven Miles, the future, soon to be, Premier of Queensland who wants to know why Qatar is not being allowed to increase their number of flights into the sunshine state. It's Roger Cook, the Western Australian Premier, who wants to know why Qatar is not being allowed to fly more services into Western Australia. But, more importantly and, crucially, it is the people of Australia, Mr and Mrs Average, who are suffering under this volume of debt that they have got—thanks to this government and the higher cost of living—and who are wondering why they can't get cheaper airfares and why Qatar has been blocked. If you look at the stats, they are saying it right across the country. They are saying it in Labor seats. They are rusted-on Labor members who, when surveyed, said, 'Why aren't we getting cheaper flights?' It's a good question and it's the question the minister for transport needs to answer—cannot answer a simple question as to who she spoke to and why she spoke to them.

Yesterday we saw that very untidy moment when the member for McEwen was on his feet during the matter of public importance and was stopped by the leader of government business when the Prime Minister had to come to the dispatch box to make a really untidy explanation and addition to his answer given in question time. What did that untidy addition to his question time response entail? Well, it entailed the fact that he and the transport minister had not spoken. They had not spoken, and he was not aware of the decision having been taken. Here's the rub: when I was the transport minister, I actually spoke to the now Prime Minister about aviation matters. If I was prepared, as the transport minister from the coalition government, to speak to the then shadow minister for transport, why isn't his own minister prepared to do that now he's the Prime Minister? What is going on between those two? Why isn't the transport minister telling the Prime Minister why she's making decisions? Why is this so? It's a question that people are asking right across the nation.

As I say, according to RedBridge polling, amongst all voters, 56 per cent of people support extra Qatar services, 32 per cent are undecided and 12 per cent opposed. But here's the interesting aspect. Listen to this one: according to this polling, 59 per cent of Labor voters support extra Qatar services. Those opposite could only hope for those sorts of statistics on other polling that they want to do at the moment for certain other votes that are coming up to the Australian public. Not only are Labor not listening to the public; they don't even listen to their own supporters, who are even more inclined to support additional Qatar services.

Obviously, the Prime Minister is not getting the right information from his own transport minister, who has put a 90-day—now 125-day—delay on all infrastructure projects and programs right across Australia. We know that her title is 'regional development'. It should be 'regional delay'. The delay is causing hardship throughout regional Australia, throughout remote Australia, and it is not the thing that regional voters expect, want or deserve. It is simply not good enough. Nor is the minister's continual refusal to come to the dispatch box in question time and answer very valid questions as to why she has stopped more services from Qatar, an international airline which has won awards for its service and its delivery.

We've got Labor voters and Labor premiers clamouring for cheaper airfares, and what is this minister doing? She's delaying. She's obfuscating. She is saying that she is not going to give us a response. She's given seven reasons as to why it has not been so, and she's not even prepared to come into this chamber on another day—having had a very untidy question time today—but sends her junior minister in to make the answers and the responses that she in fact should be giving. She in fact has the portfolio to be producing, to be delivering and to be answering, and she's not prepared to do it. She ought to come into this chamber at some stage during this matter of public importance and tell not just the opposition but the Australian public, because they deserve better, they expect better, they demand better and they ought to be given better. This is not good enough, Minister.