The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (21:32): I move:

(1)That this House condemns the Minns Labor Government for being missing in action when it comes to the people of rural and regional New South Wales.

(2)That this House notes that major infrastructure projects that would improve safety and productivity in north and north-west New South Wales have been cut by the Minns and Albanese Labor governments.

(3)That this House notes that the following projects from north and north-west New South Wales have been cancelled:

(a)the Bruxner Highway, Wollongbar to Goonellabah, Lismore;

(b)Gwydir Highway improvements planning, Northern Tablelands;

(c)Northern NSW Inland Port, Narrabri to Barwon;

(d)Oxley Highway stage two planning, Port Macquarie; and

(e)Toowoomba to Seymour, New South Wales, Moree Intermodal Overpass, Northern Tablelands.

(4)That this House calls on Premier Minns to explain to the people of the north and north-west New South Wales how he will find a way to fund these key projects.

(5)That this House notes the cutting of these key projects will mean the loss of jobs and add more cost-of-living pressures to families in the north and north-west New South Wales.

This is the first time I have been able to move a private member's business motion because usually mine are so far down the list that they never get here. I bumped into the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads and she said, "I hear you're going to condemn our Government" and I said, "No, we won't get there"—but here I am! I am going for it. I condemn the Minns Labor Government for being missing in action when it comes to the people of regional and rural New South Wales. Together with the Albanese Federal Labor Government, it has turned its back on us by cutting funding to 17 major infrastructure projects in New South Wales that would create jobs and improve safety and productivity.

The fact is that the brutal overhaul of the Commonwealth's $120 billion infrastructure pipeline will cut funding for 50 road, car park and rail projects across the country. Here in New South Wales, we are the worst hit. The Federal Government has turned its back on us by cutting funding for 17 major infrastructure projects. My immediate concern is for the funding cuts to five major projects in northern and north-western New South Wales, and I will outline just a few: the Bruxner Highway, Wollongbar to Goonellabah in the Lismore electorate; the Gwydir Highway improvements in the Northern Tablelands; the Northern NSW Inland Port in Narrabri in the Barwon electorate; the Oxley Highway stage two in the Port Macquarie electorate; and, of course, Toowoomba to Seymour, the Moree Intermodal Overpass, again in Northern Tablelands.

I call on the Premier to explain to the people of northern and north-western New South Wales how he will find a way to fund those key projects for the people I represent. They are important legacy projects. When they come to a sudden stop, the cuts will cost thousands of regional jobs. The callous decision to cut this funding will also add to the cost-of-living pressures in the north and north-west and hamper our ability to get our goods to market. This is beyond disappointing. It is a dagger in the heart of our future prosperity.

Is the Premier not aware that we, in the north and north-west of the State, are critical drivers of the New South Wales primary industry economy? The project cuts mean consumers right across the State will pay higher prices at the supermarket checkout. Does the Premier not realise that if we do not have the arterials, we cannot get our produce to the plate? We are in a cost-of-living crisis where food prices are going through the roof and this Labor Government wants to save money in the short term by cutting long-term access routes to food and fibre.

Premier Minns has let down the people of rural and regional New South Wales. He refused to stand up to Anthony Albanese and the Federal Labor Government, and he has no answers for the people of New South Wales on how he will find a way to fund these key projects. The cuts hit not just residents but also tourists and businesses. Those significant upgrades are needed to provide a safer and more reliable journey for residents, commuters and freight operators. They are major infrastructure projects that were designed to improve safety and productivity in northern and north-western New South Wales. But now we are left hanging. The fact is that this Premier and this Labor Government are too Sydney-centric. When it comes to rural and regional New South Wales, the Minns Labor Government has gone missing in action.

The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM (Special Minister of State, Minister for Roads, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, and Minister for Jobs and Tourism) (21:36): I thank the member for moving this motion and congratulate her on winning the arm wrestle to get it on to the agenda.

The Hon. Sarah Mitchell: Remember the chook lotto?

The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM: Indeed. The modern version has now been won. The Government opposes the motion. Two ideas sit behind the motion, one of which I am more sympathetic to than the other. One is where we are up to with the Federal review and the discussion about infrastructure funding for New South Wales, on which I will provide an update for the House. The second is a wideranging and, in my view, totally incorrect view about a part of the State being neglected or regional infrastructure being neglected. I do not accept that at all.

Firstly, the New South Wales Government accepts that the Federal Government has a right to review its own infrastructure pipeline. That is absolutely up to them, as it is for us in New South Wales to review ours. We both have that right. There were concerns expressed federally—although I am not making that case here—that some of the projects were pork-barrelling projects: They were the start of the job, but they did not have serious money to actually get built. None of the projects that are named in the motion were fully funded. That concern led to some projects in New South Wales being cut. The Premier has been very vocal about that, as have I been.

The clash between the State and Federal governments on infrastructure funding and the needs of New South Wales has not been resolved yet. There is a good discussion. The State funding that has been withdrawn in each State is reserved for that State, so I am confident that we can work a way through, but it has not happened. The member is on the right track to ask the questions in this motion. I strongly disagree that there has not been support for the regions, whether it is the Coffs Harbour bypass, the M1 extension to Raymond Terrace, the Parkes bypass or the New Dubbo Bridge. Many of the other projects underway—

The Hon. Sarah Mitchell: They're all our projects.

The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM: That we've kept building. Infrastructure takes time.

The Hon. Sarah Mitchell: Yes, but you didn't start them or fund them. Don't claim them.

The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM: One thing we started, after the total neglect of regional roads, is $390 million into the Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund to fix potholes across regional New South Wales—out the door straightaway. It is much more funding than was provided under the former Government.

The Hon. Sarah Mitchell: No, it's not.

The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM: It is double the funding that was available under the former Government, out the door to councils to help do the job properly. There is a little bit of quiet now on the other side because that is funding that is already out, supporting the regions. That was what they asked for. After the damage from the fire and the flood, that was what councils were talking to us about. We have delivered on that. I reject that part of the motion, but I thank the member for bringing it before the House.

The Hon. SARAH MITCHELL (21:39): I support the motion moved by my colleague the Hon. Aileen MacDonald. I congratulate her on moving her first motion. What a cracker to start off with. I am sure we will see further great contributions from her on private members' day. The motion is important because it calls out a number of projects, particularly in north and north-west New South Wales, that have been cancelled or forgotten by State and Federal Labor governments, as the member said in her contribution. The idea that regional New South Wales is somehow going to see so much delivery under a Labor Government is a complete farce. We know that, when Labor gets elected, infrastructure projects in our community grind to a halt and new projects are not announced and certainly not delivered.

I applaud the Minister for naming a couple of projects, particularly the New Dubbo Bridge and the Coffs Harbour bypass, which were both started and funded by the previous Government. It is great to be able to ride on the coat-tails of the successful infrastructure projects of the former Government. But our communities are smart. They know who delivered what infrastructure and they also know who made those cuts. The first part of the motion states:

That this House condemns the Minns Labor Government for being missing in action when it comes to the people of rural and regional New South Wales.

That is true. In this instance, the member is talking about road and transport infrastructure projects, but there are a series of areas across many portfolios that are not seeing the investment in regional New South Wales that was there under the former Government. Everywhere I go people are talking to me about how disappointed they are, projects that are not available, programs that are not there anymore and kids who are missing out on opportunities. There is a constant theme, less than 12 months into this Government, that regional New South Wales communities are always the first on the chopping block when it comes to those cuts that those opposite are so fond of.

It is challenging for people who live in regional communities that these projects are planned and funded and then, with the stroke of a pen, they do not exist anymore. This came off the back of a Federal infrastructure review that took far longer than it was ever meant to. That uncertainty is really difficult for communities and for businesses that are looking to invest. The trickle-on effect of having projects cancelled is incredibly concerning and damaging. I am also concerned that every time we talk about an investment in a regional community, the Labor Party calls it pork-barrelling. It is not pork-barrelling. We deserve to live in communities that have great physical and social infrastructure. Members on this side will stand up every day of the week and back in those communities and their right to have decent infrastructure where they live.

Ms SUE HIGGINSON (21:42): I contribute to debate as The Greens spokesperson. I was not planning to contribute but I kind of have to because I live in a region where one of those projects was supposedly proposed and delivered. Everybody who lives in my region knows that the Bruxner Highway Wollongbar to Goonellabah project was not genuinely committed to. We wanted it and we hoped for it. I was working on a project that relies on that road—the building of the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital, which has received investment by this Government—and I said, "Hey, it looks like this highway project might be in the pipeline", and everybody who deals with roads in the Northern Rivers said to me very sensibly, "No, Sue, that's not a genuine commitment. That's not going to happen. Get an alternative plan."

It is a bit rich for members opposite to hammer this Government on projects that were not real projects that their Government did not genuinely commit to. It is also important to realise that much of the infrastructure in the north‑west under the former Government was left to the mining sector. We know that was short term, short lived and, in fact, a burden on regional communities. The former Government let mining corporations in the Gunnedah Basin literally dig giant holes, trash the roads and do very little in regard to genuine infrastructure contributions in the region. This Government and all of New South Wales are now left with that very short-term infrastructure reality. It is a little bit rich.

I acknowledge that this Government has a massive challenge ahead in regional communities and regional infrastructure. We want to see infrastructure that is fit for now, for the future, for our climate change reality and for the children of tomorrow and after that. We want sensible, fit-for-purpose infrastructure planning. We do not want the infrastructure of yesterday that is based on digging giant holes and extractive industries. We are entering into a brave new world. We are looking at a different economy that will require different infrastructure and genuinely support the wellbeing of our regional communities. Members opposite should think twice about bagging this Government on what it did not do.

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (21:46): In reply: I thank the Hon. John Graham, the Hon. Sarah Mitchell and Ms Sue Higginson for their contributions to debate, although I do not agree with much of what Ms Sue Higginson said. I stand by my words because we are talking about infrastructure and important projects that connect rural and regional New South Wales.

The ASSISTANT PRESIDENT (The Hon. Peter Primrose): The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion negatived.