Transcript - Shoalhaven doorstop

FIONA PHILLIPS [FEDERAL MEMBER FOR GILMORE]: It’s great to be here with Minister Catherine King, the Minister for Infrastructure and Local Government, and of course the Mayor, Amanda Findley, and the Deputy Mayor, Matthew Norris. 
And what a great day for the opening of the Far North Collector Road. I was going to say yesterday, that we were at the sod-turning opening. Of course, it was in 2020, but it’s just wonderful to see it obviously being finished. It’s a $35.16 million investment from the Australian Government. And one of the things I want to say, I really want to say thank you to Catherine for getting that additional $2.5 million for Shoalhaven City Council when they came to me and said: we just don’t quite have enough money to finish the road. So I want to be clear, it wouldn't be opening today unless that was the case. So thanks to Catherine, and of course the Albanese Government in the budget for putting that money there.

Of course, as locals we know how important this road connection is, because it really does connect our communities of North Nowra with the north. And so for people travelling, it's great to have residents here already that are super keen to drive on it. Of course, saving travel time, but really important for our growth areas around as well. We've got a lot more houses here and growing into the future, so that's really, really special. Of course we know that this has created 250 jobs as well. But one of the things I really love, apart from the terrific road here, is the wonderful pathway. And I really think we're going to see a lot more cycling and people being active out and about. So I'm really keen to see people finding out about that.

I'd like to thank everybody that's worked on this project at Shoalhaven City Council, Cleary Brothers, Stantec, and everybody involved. Yeah, it's a great day. Thank you.

CATHERINE KING [MINISTER]: Thanks very much. And I'm Minister Catherine King. I've got Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. So it's always a very long …

FIONA PHILLIPS: … it's a long …

CATHERINE KING: … longish title. Can I start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on which we gather, and pay my respects to elders past and present. 
It's a really lovely project. You can see that the council has thought long and hard about the landscape and the type of landscape that you're within. 
Can I commend Shoalhaven Council, the delivery agents for this particular project - $35.16 million from the Albanese Labor Government to construct this road. But really, it's been Shoalhaven Council's vision, delivery and I thank council staff very much for it. For the local construction workforce, I thank you very much for delivering such a great project on time, which is also terrific to see.

Really, investments in these sorts of projects, often I get asked is- you know, why is the Commonwealth investing in these sorts of projects? And really, part of the reason for that you can see behind me. It's about making sure we've got access to new housing. The Housing Support Program we've announced just recently, over $1 billion which is in that program, and I'm sure council's eyeing to see whether they're going to apply for that. 

We know as you build houses, you have to get the infrastructure in place. Too often we see housing developments occur, and then we try and retrofit the infrastructure into that. What you've done here is shown you've seen a problem between the connections between- within Nowra, but you've also known that you've got more demand for housing, more demand for good, affordable, suitable housing in this community. And as you can see from behind, the housing developments that are occurring in this area.

I want to wish everyone well. I've got you- think you've got 1 o’clock you're opening.  I'm sure our local residents who've been diligently supervising the construction of this project on a daily basis, which has been good to see, are really looking forward to being able to drive on that. It's not just about travel times, it's not just about reducing congestion. It's also- as you can see from the cycle pathway and the walking pathway, it's also about encouraging active transport, creating new connections in your communities, making sure that the areas that people have great amenity and liveability. So it's my great pleasure to be here today. And we'll just hear from the Mayor briefly, I think, and then cut the ribbon.

AMANDA FINDLEY [MAYOR OF SHOALHAVEN CITY]: Yeah. Thank you, Minister King, and thank you, Fiona. And we really do. Thank you for the additional investment to bring the project to close and, you know, to get the project finished in the end. In that acknowledgement to country, you know, if we just turn behind us, we can see behind us the watchful eye of Cambewarra or Gambiwarra Mountain – Fire Mountain as it is locally known. And it's a fantastic connection between then- sitting right below Gambiwarra is Badagarang, the new estate or the new village of the Shoalhaven – our 50th village, here on Bannada Way, which is a great new name, which is a lovely connection between North Nowra, Illaroo, Tapitallee. And those connections do come to life while we're here.

To our residents who are here who are busting to get on the road – no burnouts this afternoon, okay?

[Laughter]

Let's keep this lovely piece of tarmac nice and shiny for a little while yet. 

But I really did want to just talk about some of the really fun facts of the project, because there's a lot of great things that have gone into this. It's 1.8 kilometres from Illaroo all the way through to Moss Vale. There are four new bridges – so when I was asked today, why did it take so long? You can see the expanse of this bridge that we're on. There's lots of bridges to really take into account the water that comes across this landscape, which may have been missed when a few people stood on the side of the road all those years ago and went, well, that's a great place for a road. And nobody saw the rain that we would have had over the last three to four years that have really impacted this site. 

So to all the guys who have worked in the pouring rain, in mud that is- we were talking before, Mohammed and I were saying it was so muddy when we came up for the first turning of the sod. And it never stopped. You know, they have worked in the mud. So thank you so much. The 35.2 million is- like, it's a great investment in the Shoalhaven. Three new roundabouts. So Shoalhaven is the roundabout capital of the South Coast, and we're really proud of that because that means that it's safe for our people to move around the city.

And Fiona, you'll be really pleased to know that it's going to be a fantastic loop that will take cyclists – and I know you like a good bike ride – that you'll be able to cycle all the way around through Cambewarra village, back up onto Illaroo Road and back through here. But I was also informed by one of council's staff today that there's already a Strava site for this. So you've got times to beat, you know? So here we go. It's like the Olympics all over again here in training in North Nowra.

Like you, I'm really appreciative of council's staff. They do an amazing job in liaising every single day with workers across the Shoalhaven who are delivering wonderful infrastructure projects, and I know that those relationships are good. And when the relationships are good, that means that when the next job comes along that we get, again, a great amount of investment. And time and money that goes into those relationships delivers better projects and better outcomes for the community. So to all of those who have built the relationships over the last few years, well done. Thank you. We hope to see you back in the Shoalhaven or remaining in the Shoalhaven, because in the Shoalhaven there is a never ending supply of work to do when it comes to infrastructure and managing our road network. So thanks tremendously for all of that work.

CATHERINE KING: Terrific. All right, we’ve got to cut a ribbon.

JOURNALIST:  Thanks, Minister. So just a quick one on tenders for slot management. Sorry to do this before we go bounce back to the road. But why not rule anyone with conflicts of interest from the process?

CATHERINE KING: Well, because this is a very specialised area and, of course, aviation is rife with people, frankly, who are involved in the aviation sector. And so that's the nature of these tenders is that it is going to be someone who has connection with the aviation sector. And what we want to do through this tender process, which, again, is the first time it's been done in this way, is to make sure there is a proper, open tender process and that there is- conflict of interest is managed through that process.

JOURNALIST: Have you received any update from Rex that you can provide to regional customers?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. So the first thing that I want to say is the regional flights of Rex are still flying and people should, with confidence, continue booking on Rex Airlines. We want this airline to emerge from voluntary administration because we know how critical it is to our regions. There are many areas across the country where Rex is the only airline that is flying into these areas. And so, people who have already booked tickets can with confidence know that those regional flights are still going and that the administrator is working its way through to make sure that the regional part of Rex emerges from this, and that bookings can still be made on those- on that airline. We are- my department is speaking to the administrators on a daily basis, and we're continuing to work with them as they make their way through the administration process.

JOURNALIST:         Now, roads are fantastic, but lots of people in this community are not going to be driving, and that is going to be increasing with the ageing population. We have terrible rail networks in the South Coast. We have a one-track diesel line from Kiama to Bomaderry. Been many calls for many years to have somebody please look at that. Is there anything that you can do, the Federal Government can do, to get this ball in motion for the Toolijooa Loop or the South Coast rail line?

CATHERINE KING: So the way in which infrastructure investment from the Commonwealth works is that we work in partnership with the New South Wales state government. They will come to us when they have a business case or when they're wanting planning money invested. We are happy to continue working with the New South Wales Government. We invested a substantial amount of money in the last budget – again, right the way across New South Wales, both in road and in rail. We're spending billions of dollars on road, on rail, obviously connecting to the new Western Sydney International Airport, and that work will continue. So, we'll continue to work with the New South Wales Government if that becomes a priority for them.

JOURNALIST: Rail, Tram and Bus Union actually presented that as a want at the state conference recently. Any way the Federal Government can give the state a nudge?

CATHERINE KING: Again, the way in which this works is the state government needs to work in partnership with the Commonwealth. When the state government – who is a co-investor as well, we do these projects on a 50-50 basis – when they want to work with the- come to the Commonwealth Government to say this is a project that is ready for planning and ready for investment, and then we will work with them and we're open to that. That happens all the time through the budget process.

JOURNALIST: Rail links to Manildra – have they been asking for improvements so they can get more freight on tracks instead of using the road network that's crumbling?

CATHERINE KING: Again, what we've done in the budget is we've invested a further billion dollars in the government owned ARTC rail freight network. And that is both building in resilience – we saw the rail freight network shut several times during the course of the last year, because there was a lack of investment of the previous government in actually building resilience into our rail network. We want to get more freight on rail. We know that is good to get trucks off the road, it's good for road safety, but it's also good for the environment. We're very determined to have that investment in freight. We are also building the single biggest project at the moment in Inland Rail, making sure we get that back on track and delivering that, particularly through to Parkes, so that we can then start to bear the benefits of actually getting freight, double-stacked trains onto Inland Rail by 2027, and we're continuing that construction now. In terms of other freight projects, the ARTC will come to us at various points in time with new projects, but that one's not one I have had put before me of late.

JOURNALIST: The Prime Minister [inaudible] – you know, a few different iterations over the years. The Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue has come out again with another plan to get it up and running. He said he couldn't provide- Mr. Albanese [inaudible] on the federal government's position, but that he supports it. Do you have any extra details?

CATHERINE KING: Again, we work in partnership with state governments. That's the way it works, and we have a proper process through the budget in terms of making investments. What we have done is put integrity back in to the way in which the Commonwealth makes infrastructure investments. No more press releases without having any idea about what the costings for projects are. I know there's lots of demand for the infrastructure investment pipeline. We've got $125 billion invested in infrastructure, where we partner with local government, where we partner with state governments, and make sure that we're actually delivering that. What we've done through our reforms to Infrastructure Australia, our infrastructure policy statement, and the way in which Commonwealth makes investments now, including in our national partnership agreements which we're currently negotiating with states and territories, is making sure we've got the information that's required in order to make those investment decisions. And we'll keep working with the New South Wales Government if that is a priority for the New South Wales Government.

JOURNALIST: Great.

JOURNALIST: Okay. Now let's go on to this road.

CATHERINE KING: Yes. Beautiful.

JOURNALIST: So three months ago, there was an announcement it would all be finished and open within six weeks. Obviously, that deadline was not met. Why was that not met?

CATHERINE KING: Well, that's a matter for council obviously to talk to in terms of the delivery partners. But as you say, this is a complex project. Infrastructure takes time to build. Obviously, it's an area that has issues in relation to water as well, and it's had a complex project in terms of the bridges that have also been constructed along the way. But I'll let council answer the construction timelines.

JOURNALIST: Minister for Local Government …

CATHERINE KING: Yes.

JOURNALIST: Councils across New South Wales in particular, or right across Australia, are struggling under a financial burden at the moment. And many are basically cash-strapped, cutting services back. How can the federal government- or will the federal government come to their assistance?

CATHERINE KING: Well, we have. And so, obviously, through financial assistance grants, we give millions and millions of dollars to every single local council across the country, and what we've also recently done is we are doubling the Roads to Recovery. We know just how important local roads are, and we know that that Roads to Recovery money, that is untied – it is basically here is the money, you decide which roads you're going to spend it on. That has seen Shoalhaven Council, for example, get $19 million – an additional $8 million on top of what they would have received previously. So that's a significant investment that we are making in the long-term surety. This is baked into the budget, baked into the budget going forward, into the future. It's not just a one-off grant. It's not just a come-begging each budget. This is baked into the budget permanently. And again, this has been an important investment we're making in local government.

JOURNALIST: I know there are some community members …… in Jervis Bay that are hoping that animal corridors are something that people start to look at before it's too late. There are initiatives around the South Coast that are trying to stop roadkill issues because they're dangerous for humans and obviously not great for our wildlife. Lots of road infrastructure happening in the Illawarra South Coast. Are we just going to look at road animal corridors after the math, or is there money put aside so that our road infrastructure can be like international countries that have these gateways for animals to cross safely?

CATHERINE KING: Well, part of the planning process always requires that you look at the environmental issues, and where there are environmental issues like that, there is an expectation that they be addressed through that planning process.

JOURNALIST: Finally, Terry Snow, the man behind the Canberra Airport and Willinga Park, passed away this week at the age of 80, left behind a fantastic legacy.

CATHERINE KING: I’m very sorry to hear about his passing. And there are some amazing people in aviation, amazing people who’ve done extraordinary things, and he’s certainly left his mark on the landscape of his region.

JOURNALIST: And got a local horse to the Olympics.

[Laughter]

CATHERINE KING: Good to hear.