Senator McLUCAS (Queensland—Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) (16:49): I join this debate, like Senator Crossin and Senator Sterle, with some relish because this is an opportunity to really put down on the public record the differences between the former Howard government and their record, when they had 11½ years in government, and what they did for us, and our Labor government. In my case, I am going to speak about Northern Queensland. We have heard a lot of bluff and bluster, a lot of very loud noise—I do acknowledge that Senator Heffernan was quite quiet, and I do appreciate that—and wild assertions, but these assertions in this motion that we are dealing with today are simply not based on fact. I encourage people to look at the record of the former LNP government under Mr Howard and make the comparison with our Labor governments' achievements and then make their decision. Let us first go to roads. Since coming to office in 2007, our federal Labor government has committed $3.3 billion to maintaining and upgrading the Bruce Highway. This compares with the former Howard government, which could only manage to find in 11½ long years $1.3 billion. So $3.3 billion in the time that we have been in government compared to $1.3 billion in the time that the Howard government was in office. Let us go to some of those developments: $150 million, Bruce Highway upgrades south of Cairns, coming along fine; $160 million toward the Townsville ring-road; $50 million to upgrade the southern approach to Mackay; $25 million toward the upgrade of the Burdekin River Bridge; $90 million to flatten and straighten the Bruce Highway over the Cardwell Range; $95 million towards the Townsville port access road. Double the money in half the time: that is our commitment. They are the facts on roads. Let us go to regional infrastructure. In the time we have been in government we have invested more than $101 million in community infrastructure in the Herbert electorate: more than $16 million for the Flinders Street redevelopment, $5 million for the Magnetic Island walkway. This is something that the people of Magnetic Island have been calling for for more than 15 years. Senator Macdonald, you know that and your member for Herbert tried to take the credit for a Labor government commitment to deliver the Magnetic Island walkway. There is $5 million for the Upper Ross community hub, $3.45 million toward the Murray sports complex, $4 million toward the Townsville cruise ship terminal and $2 million for the youth services hub, which will include the headstart facility. In Leichhardt we have invested $297.5 million in funding for community infrastructure, including a $3 million upgrade to Cazaly's stadium, a $3½ million upgrade to Jones Park, $1.5 million for the Edmonton Leisure Centre and $1.5 million for the Cooktown Community Events Centre. We have also invested $4.5 million in the AFL Indigenous Academy and $9.37 million in the Daintree Rainforest Observatory. In the Dawson area we have invested $156 million for community infrastructure, including $8 million for Mackay's multi-use stadium; $6 million to upgrade the Mackay Basketball Stadium, which is also going along well; $5 million to upgrade the main street of Airlie Beach, which I inspected; and $1.5 million for the Bowen foreshore redevelopment, which I opened recently. Compare those investments to what happened under the Howard government, when we had the notorious regional rorts program. In my area we have the allocation of $17 million to the Atherton Tablelands area west of Cairns. With the exception of the final round, that money was largely wasted. Who could forget the money allocated to the Black Stump hotel in Atherton for a so-called convention centre. The Black Stump hotel was given large amounts of taxpayers' money to establish a convention centre in a pub that has topless waitresses on a Friday night. It has never seen the light of day. Money was given to the wildlife park on the way to Kuranda and money was given to a company that went into receivership some weeks after this investment was made. Most of the $17 million was wasted. In comparison, we have Regional Development Australia, which has taken the politics out of decision making about infrastructure projects. I commend our hardworking volunteer Regional Development Australia committees for the work that they have done to truly connect with communities to make recommendations about what infrastructure projects should be prioritised for the future. In respect of that, let's talk about seawalls and climate change in the Torres Strait. Since about 2004 or 2005, I have been talking in this place about my concerns about the impacts of climate change on the outer islands in the Torres Strait. Senator Ian Macdonald: Thanks to Mr Entsch. Senator McLUCAS: I will take that interjection. Mr Entsch did nothing. I have been talking about this for nearly 10 years. All of that time I have been promoting the rights and needs of people of the Torres Strait. It took the election of a Labor government to get a commitment from Minister Wong to do some baseline mapping of where the sea level is in the Torres Strait. We did not even know that: 10 years of Liberal government could at least have done the basic mapping. The second step has been Labor announcing $12 million to build seawalls to protect communities in the Torres Strait. I very much look forward to those seawalls being constructed. Other RDA projects funded in the north include the ACT for Kids project, investing $4.6 million for the ACT for Kids Child and Family Centre of Excellence in Townsville, which will support abused children not only in the Townsville region but right across the north. There is also funding for the Mackay regional events centre. In regional aviation we have seen the Horn Island airport provided with $5.09 million towards its $9 million upgrade. That airport has been calling for an upgrade for years to allow more seats and more services to and from the Torres Strait. The Mornington Island upgrade has also been delivered. If you look at the global figures on regional aviation, the Labor government has invested $145 million in remote facilities and services in the six years since 2008. Compare that with the $16 million that the Howard government invested in the six years before. These are the facts and they are in the budget papers. This is what has happened and I hope people take the opportunity to make a comparison. Add to that the work that we have done in health and education. Speaking of health, let's make some observations about what has happened in the north of Queensland. We have seen a bit of a test run, a trial run or a taste of what would occur if Mr Abbott were to assume the prime ministership of this country since the election of the Campbell Newman government in Queensland. Senator Ian Macdonald: Are you going to talk about Mr Norman's letter, when he called you a liar? Senator McLUCAS: Let's talk again about Mr Norman. Mr Norman, the Liberal Party chair of the Cairns Health and Hospital district, has sacked through his management 243 hardworking health workers who now cannot deliver the services to people of the north that we very much desire. We have had a taste of what Mr Abbott would be like as a prime minister, because we have the Premier of Queensland showing us the way. I have great faith in Northern Australia. I have great faith in the future of our part of the world, but it was a Labor government which has truly invested in North Queensland—in our roads, in our regional infrastructure, in our health and in our education services. These services support families in the north. They support families to make good, strong decisions about their futures and the ability to maintain the population of Northern Australia. We have seen since Mr Newman came to government a loss of workers totally in the north. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Edwards ): Order! The time for the discussion has expired.