Mr RIPOLL (7:08 PM) —Could I just put it on the record straight up that I would have preferred the minister to have been present, but I appreciate that the member for Parkes, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, will be filling in for him and, hopefully, he will be able to provide some answers to some very important questions.

An honourable member interjecting—

Mr RIPOLL —It is a hope. Details have been provided of a review of aviation policy. It was first mentioned in the Australian under the title ‘Howard protects Qantas’ on 11 June this year, following the government deferring its decision to liberalise airline access on routes to the United States. I am talking about the Qantas-Singapore Airlines wrangling. I have a number of questions, which I will list, and hopefully the parliamentary secretary can make note and give the parliament some answers. Firstly, how will this review differ from the aviation industry outlook put to cabinet last month? Secondly, which department will conduct that review? What will be the terms of reference for that review? Will these include an assessment of potential industry consolidation—and I refer back to an article entitled ‘Vaile backs Qantas merger’, which appeared in the media just recently? Further, what is the time frame for the completion of the review? Will industry public submissions be called for and, if so, how and when? Will there be public hearings on this matter? Will the report of the review be made public? Will the report offer time lines against any recommendations? They are the first lot of questions I want to deal with.

I am also interested in whether the Deputy Prime Minister had been consulted prior to this decision being taken—and, if so, when. I am not sure whether the parliamentary secretary can answer that—that is, regarding the decision of cabinet. Also, how does this decision reconcile with comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister on 11 April 2005 in a press release titled ‘2004: A record year for airlines’? In that media release, he said the following:

And:

I know there is a series of questions there for the parliamentary secretary, but they are really just in two lots and are about the decisions being made by cabinet and the views of the government in terms of how they are going to deal with those and whether they will make those public.

Mr John Cobb —I will make my response at the conclusion of the members’ questions, if that is in order.

Mr RIPOLL —I hope the parliamentary secretary has a very fast pen or a very good memory. We will keep going.

I also want to raise an issue that is very important to my electorate in south-east Queensland: the festering sore which is the Ipswich Motorway, particularly in relation to the full upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway. Now we have the completed report—the final report, we all hope—which is entitled the Ipswich Motorway northern option feasibility report. My question to the minister, through the parliamentary secretary, is: when will the government announce that it will proceed with the full upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway, in light of this further and final report? This independent report was released by the engineering firm Maunsell following a feasibility study of the Ipswich Motorway upgrade and the half-northern bypass. Can the minister confirm when the go-ahead will be given? Can he also tell us, in terms of what is there now, what the government’s next move will be?

A lot was said during the election campaign about $627 million being on the table. We now know that that money was promised in many different areas—it was the same bucket of money. I have a quote from the Prime Minister where he said that, for the Ipswich Motorway corridor—which would be the Ipswich Motorway road and, if you wanted to include it, the northern option as well—$627 million was on the table and available right now. When will the money be forthcoming? When will it be spent? When will we get some resolution in terms of the Ipswich Motorway upgrade?