Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) (15:46): I welcome this debate. I know it is the member for Grayndler's birthday. It is very kind of him to give me this present. I do appreciate your generosity, member for Grayndler, in giving me the opportunity to come here today and put on the public record some of the facts. The member for Grayndler has come to the dispatch box and whinged and complained, but he did not want to actually talk about any of the facts and go into this government's $50 billion infrastructure investment program. It is a program that is building for the future. It is changing lives and saving lives right around our nation. It is creating jobs, it is reducing congestion in our major cities, it is improving productivity and it is improving connectivity in our rural and regional areas. I know that the member for Grayndler is a bit frustrated with the job that he has at the moment. He is the people's choice and he wants to be the Labor Party leader. I know he does not want my job. I know he wants to be the Labor Party leader. I know he is frustrated. I know he is disappointed. But that does not explain why he hates good news so much. There is good news in infrastructure from one end of Australia to the other. Right now, as we stand here talking about the roads and rail, and infrastructure needs of our great nation, there are thousands of people on the ground building those roads and building that rail infrastructure. They are out there building for our nation's future. It is about building infrastructure that our kids and our grandkids will thank us for. This government, this Turnbull-Joyce government, is getting on with the job—from some of the iconic multibillion-dollar projects, whether it be the Western Sydney Airport or the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail project, right through to some of those smaller projects in our smaller communities, through the Roads to Recovery initiative or through the Black Spot program, which are saving lives and reducing the number of serious injuries in our community. I want to thank the member for Grayndler again for giving me this opportunity. I want him to have many, many more birthdays, but I am worried about him. I think this relentless negativity is starting to play on his health a bit. I think he should try to be a little bit more positive about the government's agenda. We have an agenda which will see improvements from Melbourne to Sydney, to Brisbane, to Perth to the Northern Territory, and right through our smaller country towns. He likes to talk about the $50 billion infrastructure investment program like it is not true. But, when you look at the budget figures, we are investing $50 billion from 2013-14 to 2019-20 in critical road and rail infrastructure. It is about jobs; it is about growth; it is about prosperity. At the same time, it is about saving people's lives in the community through road safety initiatives. We are very proud of our nation-building program which will see some enormous improvements right throughout the nation. The member for Grayndler does not want to talk about the $9 billion which is being spent this financial year across Australia. There are about 1,000 projects currently underway. If you listen to him, there will be a suggestion that there is nothing going on in Australian right now, whatsoever. He likes to selectively look at numbers. The dirty little secret that the member for Grayndler did not want to touch on is: the Australian government's spending on infrastructure averaged around $6.3 billion per annum in the four-year period under Labor ending 2013-14. In the four years since, spending under the coalition has averaged around $7.3 billion. Those numbers again: in the four-year period under Labor ending 2013-14, the average figure was $6.3 billion per annum; in the four years since, under the coalition, spending has averaged around $7.3 billion. Mr Albanese: It is 5.5 in actual spending. It's just not true. Mr CHESTER: The member for Grayndler is interjecting that it is just not true. The numbers do not back you up in the comments that you are making, member for Grayndler. Our capital investment in transport, as well as Defence and communications infrastructure, is contributing to positive growth in our economy right around the nation. Our economy is now growing faster than seven of the biggest economies in the world. So he can come in here and be negative, he can whinge, he can complain, but he cannot dispute the fact that there are thousands of projects underway right now across Australia—in our capital cities and right through to the Roads to Recovery projects and Black Spot projects. Mr Albanese: Thousands? Mr CHESTER: He knows they are out there. He is smiling now because he knows they are out there. It is about jobs; it is about supporting our communities. There is a genuine commitment from this side of the House to support local jobs and contractors as we roll out our infrastructure programs. There are some classic examples of that. We have seen with the Northern Connector project in South Australia, NorthHub, an employment skills and training centre, is helping northern job seekers secure some of the 480 jobs a year on average which are associated with the project. Now, the Pacific highway— Mr Albanese interjecting— Mr CHESTER: The member for Grayndler continues to interject. Surely, he would acknowledge that the Pacific highway is a great project. From Sydney to Brisbane, there is record spending on duplication of the Pacific Highway. This upgrade is creating thousands of jobs along the New South Wales coast. The peak employment period is expected to be this year when 16,000 jobs—4,000 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs—will be supported across all of these Pacific Highway projects. Surely, those opposite will concede that is a great project. That is a project of national significance which is rolling out. But, if we listen to the member for Grayndler and to his comments earlier, it is as if nothing is happening whatsoever. He needs to go out there and drive that road. He needs to go out there and drive the Pacific Highway and see the thousands of workers out there every day right along the east coast of Australia. There are other projects. Local products like Arrium steel are being used on the Northern Connector and the Adelaide to Tarcoola freight rail upgrade. That is happening right now. We are supporting the community on the Pacific Highway right down to local organisations such as the Grafton men's shed in the member for Page's seat and Beamer Tree Services, who are working to improve the environmental outcomes associated with this project by building and installing nest boxes as part of the Pacific Highway project. It is not just about the national significance of this project; it is right down at the local community level that the benefits are being felt. Under this coalition government we are delivering a $50 billion infrastructure investment program, and the member for Grayndler knows it. Mr Albanese interjecting— Mr CHESTER: The member for Grayndler continues to interject. He does not want to talk about the good news. The coalition is supporting the right projects and delivering on our plans for the future. We have committed funding to 15 of the 18 projects in Infrastructure Australia priorities. The member for Grayndler wants to talk about Perth Freight Link. He wants to talk about Infrastructure Australia's priority list. Infrastructure Australia assessed the Perth Freight Link project as a high-priority project. The member for Grayndler calls it a dud project, but Infrastructure Australia has it as a high-priority project. The member for Grayndler was the one who established Infrastructure Australia in the first place. He established the independent body. Perth Freight Link is a high-priority project, and he says it is a dud. If he does not like a decision, he just whinges about it. From Perth Freight Link to the inland rail project, to Western Sydney Airport, to a range of projects right around the nation, we are getting on with the job of delivering our plan for Australia's future. The coalition is lifting the productive capacity of our nation through our national freight transport routes. To go through the list would take me more than the 10 minutes I have available to me. They are projects like NorthLink, Perth Freight Link, the Great Northern Highway, the Bruce Highway in Queensland, the Pacific Highway in New South Wales, Murray Basin Rail, Northern Connector in Adelaide, Tarcoola rail upgrade, Forrestfield Airport Link, Sydney Metro, Parramatta Light Rail. We offered funding for Melbourne Metro but the Victorian government said they could do it by themselves and they did not need it. Gold Coast Light Rail, Flinders Link and the Canberra light rail—the list is virtually endless. Mr Albanese interjecting— Mr CHESTER: The member for Grayndler continues to interject. He wants to talk about Victoria. The Andrews government tore up the East West Link contract and gave $1.2 billion to contractors to not build a road. What Labor genius! $1.2 billion to not build a road! The people of Victoria are meant to thank Daniel Andrews for that. What a genius! Faced with that situation, we had to clean up Labor's mess. We went in there with a $1.5 billion plan and asked the Labor Party to match that funding commitment, and now we have projects rolling out across Victoria as a direct result of this government and this Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, getting on with the job of delivering for Victorians. All I can say is that the contrast between Labor and the Turnbull-Joyce government could not be clearer. We have seen it here today. The member for Grayndler had 10 minutes. I know it is his birthday. He had 10 minutes to come here and build a plan for the future. He built a complaints box. He had one long whinge session, one long complaint after another. On this side of the House we are building for the future. We have positive plans and we are delivering them right across the nation. We are delivering infrastructure that Australia needs. We are getting on with the job of creating new opportunities for young people in regional areas. We are creating jobs and improving productivity right throughout the nation. The contrast could not be clearer. We are building for the future, and Labor is whingeing about it.