Speech
“Building Australia’s future under a Coalition Government”
Pre-Election Address to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
RACV Club Melbourne
Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development
17 April 2025
Introduction
Thank you, Simon (Westaway) for that introduction and welcome all at this important juncture in the 2025 election campaign.
Thank you too to Andrew (McKellar) and his team at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for providing me with this platform to discuss important policy matters. And to the Scott Veenker, CEO for the Committee for Melbourne.
Portfolio approach
ACCI’s antecedent organisations have been advocating on behalf of business back into the colonial era, 190 years.
Indeed, in business there are always the short-term issues, regulation, finance, land, IR and people, and economic peaks and toughs.
But over the longer term, you risk your capital, you invest your sweat in opportunities that you imagine over a horizon you cannot see.
Our task in government is to plan the infrastructure and transport networks needed to help you achieve – for you families, employees, customers and the public.
In this portfolio we have a responsibility to be prudent with taxpayer’s money, and invest in infrastructure to benefit beyond the horizon of electoral cycles.
Our key goal is to build a strong and sustainable economy because that supports everything else we do in government.
Infrastructure and transport investment are the building blocks toward a more efficient, productive Australian economy, getting people home sooner, more safely, and getting goods to market faster and more efficiently.
Making our cities more liveable.
Supporting future growth – both in the capitals and regions.
And ensuring regional Australians the same level of social infrastructure and amenity that is taken for granted in the capitals.
Our Choice
We face a decisive choice as a nation at this election.
Will it be three more years we cannot afford of Mr Albanese? With no achievements to speak of.
A left-wing Labor leader whose role model is Whitlam, rather than Hawke or Keating?
Under whose watch we have had:
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- inflation and interest rates higher for longer than they needed to be,
- Australians smashed with the largest fall in living standards in living memory,
- Higher power bills, food and insurance costs,
- housing out of reach for many young people – especially those without access to the Mum and Dad Bank.
The social consequences of a generation of Australians putting off life decisions to buy their own home, will be very serious for our nation.
This is why housing is the centrepiece of our plan to get Australia back on track, including in infrastructure where we have set aside $5 billion for enabling works to unlock new supply, laying the sewerage, water, energy and roads to green light more housing developments.
In just three years, the Albanese Government has cancelled, cut and delayed more than $30 billion worth of infrastructure projects.
And abolished more than $10 billion in programs to support economic development of our regions.
They have axed programs designed to upgrade our highways, fix bridges for heavy vehicles and increased taxes on the trucking industry.
This election we are announcing measures to get infrastructure delivery back on track and support more efficient freight and supply chains, and make our roads safer.
We have committed to more than $14 billion in infrastructure projects to support more efficient movement of people and freight, including:
- $7.2 billion to upgrade the Bruce Highway, Queensland’s spine
- An additional $1.5 billion towards delivery of Melbourne Airport Rail – taking our total commitment to $6.5 billion;
- $1.7 billion towards Western Sydney infrastructure – to capitalise on Western Sydney International Airport set to open December next year;
- $1.5 billion to remove congestion choke points on the freeways feeding Melbourne – the Hume (at Donnybrook), the Calder (at Calder Park Drive) and the Western Freeway (between Melton and Caroline Springs).$840 million to build the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass, to upgrade the Sturt Highway and get trucks out of Adelaide’s hills and suburban streets
We will restore the 80:20 funding agreement for nationally significant regional road projects – this is absolutely essential if we are to get the states to prioritise upgrades to key freight corridors which traverse our regions.
Significant upgrades to highways like the Bruce, Princes, Pacific, Sturt, Stuart and the Western will never happen under Labor’s 50:50 funding model.
We have announced a new $600 million investment to upgrade Ag & Mining roads to improve access and resilience and get the products that power our economy to market. We will work with industry to identify priority roads.
And we will upgrade local roads by investing $500 million in local councils through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program.
We are committing more than $100 million to upgrade regional airports, to connect our regions to services and support business.
We will get delivery of the Inland Rail back on track, a project with no clear future under Labor.
And we will deliver works to build the resilience of the ARTC national rail network to withstand extreme weather events and floods.
If elected, I will support our truckies, working with states and territories to deliver long planned improvements to the National Heavy Vehicle Law.
Labor has overseen a step change in poor performance by the domestic aviation industry. Flight cancellations and delays and prices have all skyrocketed under Labor when compared to pre-covid.
Potential competitors have been locked out by Labor – keeping airfares higher than needed.
And two regional airlines have collapsed – and the domestic aviation market has become even more concentrated with Qantas Group and Virgin controlling 98 per cent share.
This is an area where Labor has dropped the ball and the Coalition will drive improvements – starting with fixing Sydney Airport slots.
We have also committed $65 million to support Tasmanian industry and address increased costs of travelling to and from Tasmania to the mainland and will review the scheme within the first 100 days of a Coalition Government.
All of these investments are part of our plan for a stronger, more efficient and safer freight supply chain.
We need to tackle head on some of the costs that make Australia uncompetitive in delivery of infrastructure.
The cost of building and upgrading roads is higher than comparative nations. In large part this is due to higher energy and higher building costs which make it harder to justify investment. It’s cheaper to build roads in Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The Commonwealth funds roads and infrastructure – but we rely on the states and territories to build them.
A Coalition Government will no longer be a passive investor in Commonwealth-State funded road and rail projects.
There will be no more blank cheques for cost blowouts.
We will not stand by while states turn a blind eye to corrupt union practises, extortion and intimidation.
We will not pay for special union deals inked by the states which push construction costs up by 25 to 30 per cent.
A Coalition Government will re-negotiate the five-year Federation Funding Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure Projects to ensure that Australians will get the best possible outcome and value for taxpayers’ money for joint Commonwealth-State funded projects.
We will restore integrity in the construction of major projects by ensuring persons responsible for projects are fit and proper and prohibit criminals and unions from exerting influence over infrastructure projects or restricting access to non-union firms or employees.
We will cap project funding at the level determined at the time of the initial funding commitment with the relevant jurisdiction.
This will minimise Commonwealth exposure to project over-runs by states and territories and is consistent with the recommendations of Dr Jane Halton’s Independent Review of the National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure Projects.
This will not limit the Minister’s ability to renegotiate additional funding for a project at the instigation of either party, when it is in the national interest. But it will put an end to the Federal Government constantly having to bail out states like Victoria on cost-over-runs.
I mentioned Melbourne Airport Rail earlier – an example of past generations failing to plan the infrastructure our cities need.
We need to be more anticipatory in planning our infrastructure and land transport network, rather than reactionary responders to changes in population and settlement.
So today I announce a Coalition Government will undertake a White Paper into the Development of our Cities.
This White paper will involve state, territory and local governments, industry, planners, and most importantly the Australian people.
We want to think deeply about the future of our cities – and how the built environment can help create a healthy, prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.
The White Paper will provide advice and recommendations to
- support Australia’s economic growth,
- ensure the liveability of our cities,
- identify priority transport, freight and logistics infrastructure solutions to overcome congestion pressures and enhance efficiency,
- ensure infrastructure provision is planned to support increase supply of housing;
- planning for increased population; and
- support the transition to low emission future in transport and design of urban infrastructure.
Part of evaluating the infrastructure development needs of our cities must consider the impacts of population.
The Albanese Government has been responsible for a massive increase in migration – at a time of housing shortages.
The White Paper will look at the necessary policy options around the provision of infrastructure needed to accommodate the future population needs of Australia over coming decades.
The intention is to seek a better balance in planning and investment, at the right times, to sustain the larger capital cities and regional capitals of the future, with the objective of a more economically resilient, productive, diverse, nation.
Regional Australia Future Fund
One of the most important announcements in this campaign for regional Australia is the ground-breaking $20 billion Regional Australia Future Fund.
The Coalition will ensure the regions receive a fair share of windfall commodity receipts.
This perpetual fund will invest part of its future dividends to put back into the regions.
This is an historic opportunity to break the boom bust cycle of government funding, to future proof against different governments, for the nine million Australians who live outside the capital cities.
I strongly believe we are a young enough nation where we can shape our future as a country.
Australia has a choice very soon over that future.
Business will play a very important role in that decision because from your hard work, risk-taking and determination, that our economy depends.
I have worked to develop a comprehensive set of policies and programs across my portfolio responsibilities while in Opposition and if given the great privilege to serve, I will work even harder to implement them.