SUBJECT | Road and rail funding cut again by Labor razor gang | 1 May 2023
HOST: Joining me live is Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan. Good to see you. Dan so Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King will today announce a 90 day review into a $120 billion infrastructure pipeline, with the previous Coalition Governments they’re accusing them of blowing out projects from 150 to nearly 800. What's your take initially?
TEHAN: Well, what we're seeing once again is the Albanese Government walking away from communities that have been promised much needed infrastructure, especially when it comes to the road infrastructure right across the eastern seaboard of Australia, in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, impacted by the wet weather and the floods. That money is needed and it enables local government to plan and enables the private sector to plan and now they're going to cut that. There will be communities right across Australia very nervous, including communities in my electorate; 40 million taken from road funding in the October budget by the Albanese Government and now they face the prospect of more when the road network in Australia is deteriorating. And all this taking place with the net overseas migration number is going to hit 715,000. We should be investing in infrastructure, not taking it away at a time that the Albanese Government is letting in record numbers of people.
HOST: An ALP background briefing document is claiming the Coalition used the Infrastructure Investment Program as a massive electoral pork barrel fund. Do you accept that?
TEHAN: Well, a year into government and then they start making these types of claims. Nothing was being said when that $120 billion infrastructure pipeline was put in place. We were about planning, planning for infrastructure to build this nation over the future. Now what we're seeing is a government that had nine years in opposition, put together no plans and is now slowly making sure that the Australian economy deteriorates and the Australian nation deteriorates. We know that you will always pay more under Labour. The sad thing here is our infrastructure is going to pay because we're going to see less investment because Labor just can't seem to be able to manage money at all. We know from the latest data that they've got revenue - record levels of revenue - coming in, yet they're going to make the Australian community pay by cutting infrastructure at a time that they're bringing 715,000 people into this nation over the next two years: cutting infrastructure, no plan for housing, no plan to deal with rents. I don't know what they did in opposition, but they're certainly not doing any planning or proper policy development in government.
HOST: The Coalition wants to increase Defence Force numbers by allowing citizens from friendly countries to join. How much support do you think this has and what are the risks of this, if any?
TEHAN: Well, what we've always said is we want to bring young, skilled migrants into this nation. Now, when it comes to our Five Eyes partners, Great Britain, the United States, New Zealand and Canada, if we can bring people in who have those Five Eyes clearance, who can help our ADF, this is going to help us to be able to ensure that we can defend our nation. So I've always said young skilled people with the right backgrounds, the right security background checks, from our Five Eyes partners can help build our ADF and make sure that we can defend our nation and make sure that we can provide the level of stability that we need in the Indo-Pacific.
HOST: Your response to the Albanese Government's migration changes or review is advancing a big Australia by stealth. But the big numbers that we are seeing come to Australia this year, I think it's 400,000 net overseas migration. That's people mostly returning from COVID, isn't it? And then the numbers are going to be dropping off and returning to the average of about 200,000 in a few years time. So isn't it disingenuous to say that this is advancing big Australia when it's relatively temporary?
TEHAN: Not at all, because everything the Labor government is doing is adding to that number and it's adding to that number without a plan, without a plan to address housing, rent, infrastructure. We're now seeing infrastructure is going to be cut at a time they’re bringing in these 715,000 people in. The Reserve Bank has said that this will put additional pressure on interest rates and yet the government has no plan to deal with it. As far back as October last year we were warning that this could eventuate and the Government has done nothing. They've sat on a review, released it on Thursday. Clare O'Neil, the Home Affairs minister, knew that number was 715,000, spoke at the National Press Club and didn't even release it. Andrew Giles, we don't know where he is. Where is Andrew Giles? He hasn't been sighted since when that review has been announced. And then on Friday afternoon, they snuck that figure out. So where is the government's plan? That's what we're asking. What are they doing about housing, about rents, about congestion? There's nothing. There's no plan whatsoever and they're bringing more and more people in. That's what we're saying. Have a plan. We want a better Australia, not Labor's bigger Australia.
HOST: Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan, thanks so much for joining us on the program.
