Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:23): Thank you, Senator Polley. I really do appreciate that question from Senator Polley, who I know understands the importance of infrastructure to local communities in her state of Tasmania. Before I answer, though, can I also take the opportunity to acknowledge in the gallery Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson. I've met with Mayor Paterson in Alice Springs, as I know many others have. We welcome you to the chamber. As we all know, the previous government left the infrastructure investment pipeline in a total mess, just like the entire budget that we inherited. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator WATT: And, geez, don't they hate being reminded of it! The infrastructure program under the coalition government was full of backed-up projects that were announced without the support of states or territories, were poorly scoped, were underfunded and couldn't be delivered because there weren't the tradespeople to build them. And why? Simply to win votes. The infrastructure program of the coalition government was undeliverable and spiralling out of control, having blown out from 150 projects to almost 800 projects. The previous government got addicted to press releases and neglected the hard work of actually building infrastructure. What do we remember about the last government? It was all announcement, no delivery. It was a government that made investment decisions on the basis of colour-coded spreadsheets. Even now, they still boast about it. One of the things that separates our government from those opposite is that when we make a promise on infrastructure you can actually believe it. That's because, as many Australians have observed— Senator Henderson interj ecting— The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Henderson! Senator WATT: we now have a government of adults in charge. Senator Henderson interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson! Senator WATT: What a novel suggestion that is. What a change that is from the last rabble that we had, the Liberal Party, unable to run a budget, running the budget into the ground, with the National Party members making wild promises and National Party ministers running around the countryside promising all sorts of infrastructure projects that they didn't fund and didn't have the tradespeople to deliver. The Labor government is going to do a much better job of that. You will hear a lot more about that tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing— (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson, I called you to order twice and you ignored that. I would ask you to respect the Senate. Senator Polley, a supplementary question?