Mr GAVAN O'CONNOR (4:33 PM) —I am very angry, and so is the Geelong community, that there is any suggestion from the Howard government that funding for the Geelong bypass be tied in any shape or form to other Victorian AusLink projects such as the Scoresby bypass. This is a critical piece of regional and national infrastructure. I simply say to the Howard government: quit playing politics with it and get on with the job. I have one other piece of advice for the minister and the government: good public policy outcomes and strong partnerships with other levels of government are never achieved in a lasting sense when one key party is motivated by vindictive ideological obsessions.

It has been a strongly held belief of mine that Australia's transport infrastructure is a major determinant of its economic growth. That is why I have despaired at the wasted years of the Howard government in this very important area of public policy. In my shadow ministerial portfolio responsibilities I have often taken a particular interest in the struggle by rural communities for road funding. One such involvement in recent years was with the community of Ungarra on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia to secure funding to complete a local road for that community. I note that the Eyre Peninsula was recently devastated by bushfires, with significant loss of life, and I wish the people of Ungarra well in their recovery from the bushfires. They are proud, resilient and decent country people, and I am sure they will come through this disaster with a stronger community.

In my own community in the Geelong region I am very proud of the achievements of past and present Labor governments, both federal and state, in ensuring that the region's transport infrastructure positions the Geelong area for future economic growth. It was a federal Labor government that contributed funding to the dual carriageway on the Bellarine Highway which now services Leopold, Drysdale, Clifton Springs and other coastal towns on the Bellarine Peninsula. It was a federal Labor government that contributed substantially to the dual carriageway between Geelong and the Great Ocean Road at Torquay, which has underpinned massive tourism and residential growth along the Great Ocean Road. It was the Bracks government and the federal opposition, led by Kim Beazley at the time, that made the public financial commitment to the third lane on the Princes Highway between Geelong and Melbourne, forcing the federal coalition to match our funding commitment. It was the Bracks Labor government that was the first to commit funding to the Geelong bypass. I commend the contributions of my state Labor parliamentary colleagues and their efforts in securing that commitment, which was the catalyst for the eventual commitment made by the Howard government. Transport issues have dominated the Geelong political scene over the 11 years I have been the member for Corio, and I have been pleased to play my part, on behalf of my constituents, in the lobbying efforts to secure funding from all levels of government for these important projects.

We on this side of the House will be supporting the broad intent of this legislation. Why wouldn't we? After all, we went to the 2001 election with a detailed proposal for a national land transport plan. There are several key proposals that have formed the core of Labor's policy in opposition since 1996, and we intend to insist on them again during this term—namely, the setting of national transport infrastructure priorities for road and rail, the pursuit of an integrated planning approach to the land transport task, the construction of genuine partnerships with other levels of government to achieve national outcomes, the pursuit of a long-term funding framework that exists beyond the half lives of governments at various levels and the integration of the transport task with other social and environmental objectives.

The past behaviour of the Howard government in this policy area gives the opposition grave concern about the administration of AusLink and transport policy. We are not convinced that the government is really committed to a national land transport plan and funding according to agreed priorities. We have little confidence that the government will not rort substantial slabs of the land transport budget for its own political ends, as has occurred in other regional programs—as, dare I say it, revealed by the Leader of the Opposition today in question time. Even a cursory reading of the minister's second reading speech indicates that there is significant potential for the government to rort the land transport budget again.

There is disturbing evidence of the government's intention to once again dodge its fiscal responsibility in the transport area and cost shift to Labor states in a systematic way. It is also disturbing to note that, in order to peddle its own ideological obsessions and prejudices, the government intends abusing the important partnership required with state Labor governments to undertake these projects. The Victorian government did not come to the table with over $190 million worth of funding for the Geelong ring-road project and make the federal contribution contingent on certain provisions if funding was to proceed, so why is the federal government seeking to do that with state Labor governments?

The government's use of its purchasing power to achieve its ideological objectives in the construction industry through its so-called code of practice is a case in point. This code of practice has no legislative sanction and can be changed at whim by the government. There is no independent review of the code's application within government and its potential impact on legally certified agreements struck under the Workplace Relations Act, and there is no independent review of the impact on employers who wish to tender for projects but have struck such legal agreements that may be non-compliant with the code. Yet the government has been prepared to put in jeopardy key infrastructure projects for the Geelong region—and others—for the sake of pursuing its own ideological obsessions and political prejudices.

With regard to Australian agriculture and fisheries, the efficiency of the road transport task is critical to the long-term prosperity of many of our key rural industries, such as meat, grains, sugar, dairy and horticulture, and to rural communities which depend on them for their ongoing viability. The nation's export performance and competitiveness in agriculture depends heavily on the achievement of greater efficiencies in the transport task. We do expect that in regional areas the government will fund key land transport infrastructure projects that will deliver over the long term the sorts of economic efficiencies that underpin our great rural and fishing industries and lead at the end of the day to greater prosperity for all Australians.