Mr BRIGGS (Mayo—Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development) (15:20): Mr Speaker, I add my congratulations on your appointment as Speaker. You have already shown, I think, the reason why so many of your colleagues supported you in the ballot and why the parliament unanimously endorsed your appointment as Speaker. It is great to see that the Carlton Football Club has not only won the first draft this year but also won the Speakership. Well done, Mr Speaker. I have been wondering why this MPI was put up today. I was quite interested to know why. We were a bit surprised after the TWU in Western Australia came out over the weekend endorsing the Perth Freight Link, contrary to Labor Party policy. In fact the boss of the TWU said, 'This is not going to make my mates in the Western Australian Labor Party very happy, and certainly not the member for Perth, but this is a vital project and we absolutely support it.' That is what the TWU secretary said over the weekend. So I was a bit surprised when this MPI was presented by the member for Perth. I wondered if it was because the member for Grayndler is not here and she is trying to trail her coat for the infrastructure portfolio. Add to that the fact that last night the independent Infrastructure Australia released its latest reports on projects that the federal government is funding, as committed by the government at the election for projects over $100 million. This report showed that the Perth Freight Link has a cost-benefit analysis of 2.8—a fantastic investment. But then it struck me. The member for Perth wanted this MPI today because she was completely skewered on the weekend by the outstanding finance minister, Mathias Cormann, and the WA transport minister, Dean Nalder, about the history of the Perth Freight Link. Ms MacTiernan interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Perth will not interject. Mr BRIGGS: We just had a version of history, but what we did not hear in this whole history was the fact that the Perth Freight Link—or, in essence, the Roe 8 and then the link into Fremantle Port—has actually been on the books in WA since the 1950s. This has been discussed since the 1950s, and the reason we now have to consider the tunnel option that the Western Australia government is pursuing—and I congratulate Minister Nalder on the work he is doing on this—is that the member for Perth, as planning minister, sold off the corridor. That is the reason we have to go underground, and it is going to cost millions and millions of dollars more. The member for Perth, the worst planning minister in the history of Western Australia, sold off the corridor. That is exactly why we have to do this. This MPI today, given to her by the office of the Leader of the Opposition, is all about defending her record when she was Minister for Planning and Infrastructure in Western Australia. Ms MacTiernan interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Perth will cease interjecting. Mr BRIGGS: The reason we have to go through this is that it is about trying to correct the record from the weekend when the Minister for Finance and the Western Australian Minister for Transport, Dean Nalder, completely skewered her record. Ms MacTiernan interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Perth! Mr BRIGGS: One of the things that state ministers complain to us about is the fact that predecessors in state governments have sold off corridors over the decades, meaning that they have to go underground. The WestConnex in Sydney is a great example. When you go underground because state governments in the past have sold off corridors, you have to spend nearly seven times more on average. They complain bitterly about it because it costs them more, and we have to spend more money to fix the problem in the future. Selling off corridors for the quick fix of a budget in the short term shows a lack of foresight. Usually we talk about historic events, like the MATS plan in South Australia where a former South Australian government in the seventies sold off these corridors, but we have history in front of us here. We have the planning minister who refused to have decent planning in Western Australia, in Perth, and sold off the corridor. This is a complete own goal. The member for Grayndler, if he were here, would be shaking his head at this: a Labor Party that now wants to oppose billions of dollars worth of investment. It would include the involvement of the private sector in Western Australia for the first time and excellent economic reform welcomed by none other than the TWU, and the member for Perth wants to abolish it, wants to abandon it, wants to walk away from it, wants to stop it. With Greens senator Scott Ludlam, her soul mate in the Senate, she wants to stand in the way of it. She will use any means possible because it is all about her record as planning minister. That is the reality. The MPI also canvasses jobs, investment and infrastructure. No federal government in history has spent more time, more effort, more focus and more money on infrastructure than this government, than the infrastructure Prime Minister. Along with the Treasurer, the Minister for Finance, the Deputy Prime Minister and me, he is completely and utterly focused on making sure that we are delivering infrastructure right across the country. There are 10,000 jobs with the WestConnex project, and the second stage, brought forward by 18 months, is underway now because of this government and the concessional loan that we put in place for the first time in history. There are 8½ thousand jobs with the NorthConnex project. There is the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan. And government is finally making a decision on a second Sydney airport, which is such a vital piece of infrastructure. There will be 4,000 jobs just for the infrastructure to support the development of the Western Sydney airport. There will be the 1,000 jobs created with Gateway WA. The nearly 1,000 jobs that will be created with the North-South Corridor in South Australia will benefit the member for Kingston's seat. This is the project that she is utterly opposed to. At the last federal election the member for Kingston opposed the Darlington interchange project, and we will remind her constituents of that at the next election and when that project gets underway. Ms Rishworth: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to point out that the minister should read my submission to Infrastructure Australia and that would inform— The SPEAKER: No, resume your seat. There is no point of order. The minister has the call. Mr BRIGGS: While we are talking about South Australia, there is another big project about to be announced in South Australia, because this is the government that is getting on with projects, delivering jobs and delivering better outcomes for all Australians. The Perth Freight Link, which Labor absolutely opposes and will do everything to stop, will see 2½ thousand jobs created in Western Australia. Ms MacTiernan interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Perth will cease interjecting. Mr BRIGGS: This government has an outstanding record. While we are talking about Western Australia, there is a by-election that is coming up under the saddest circumstances in the seat of Canning. We have to replace a member from this place, and we remember Don's record when it comes to infrastructure. I went to visit Don not long ago and talked to him about the $4 million extra that had been spent by the Abbott government in Canning on infrastructure to deliver 14 Black Spot projects. Fighting for Black Spot projects is an example of why Don Randall was such an outstanding local member. There was $2.6 million worth in Canning in 2015 and 2016 alone. That is what happens when you have a good local Liberal focused on ensuring these projects are put to government to be funded. We are absolutely committed to spending the $4.8 million in 2015-16 to upgrade local roads through the Roads to Recovery process, which is a process that we have put in place. The other issue that this MPI canvassed is well-planned infrastructure. This is the first government in the history of the Commonwealth to undertake an absolutely comprehensive audit of Australia's infrastructure stock. That was released in May this year. It is an outstanding document put together by Infrastructure Australia. Infrastructure Australia is now off consulting right across Australia with all groups looking at what should be in the 15-year plan. This will be the first plan ever put out by a federal government working with the states, working with local government and working with communities to address the key bottlenecks right across the country. That is what we are doing. That is what we are focused on. That is a government that is about planning for the future—not building over corridors because it was popular at the time and because it suited the agenda of the minister at the time. An opposition member interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Perth! Mr BRIGGS: That is the worst example of planning— The SPEAKER: The member for Perth is warned! Mr BRIGGS: This is what this MPI is all about—a former minister, in a bad Labor government defending bad Labor decisions. The reality is that in 12 months time the Australian people will have exactly the same choice. That is the choice between a government that has got on with infrastructure—by delivering WestConnex; delivering the GUN upgrade in Brisbane; the upgrades in South Road, South Australia; and delivering, for the first time, a 10-year plan for the Midlands Highway—and a government that will rip up contracts like the Perth Freight Link. And we know they will because they did it with East West. They will rip up this contract. They will come into government, they will destroy our sovereign risk, they will destroy jobs and they will put aside all the good work we have done on infrastructure. The Australian people will have a clear choice—and on one side it is a choice against jobs, and on this side it is for jobs and for growth.