I am delighted to speak on this motion, and listening to the member for Forde feels

like we have entered an alternative universe. Of all the people in this parliament and of all the people who

wanted to come in and talk about infrastructure, the member for Forde would want to talk about infrastructure

issues in his own electorate that he continues to neglect. I will allow my colleague the member for Rankin, who

has spoken and advocated so strongly on critical infrastructure for the southern part of Brisbane, to deal with

the member for Forde. I want to talk about what is happening in the southwest of Brisbane, and I want to talk

particularly about the hypocrisy by those opposite, who feel that they can in some way come into this place and

lecture anyone about infrastructure in Queensland. We have had a state Labor government that has picked up

the carnage that was delivered by the Newman government. You want to talk about infrastructure. The former

government sacked people, put them on the scrap heap and attempted to sell off essential assets, and then we

saw critical projects abandoned.

I will focus on a couple of things in my contribution today. I note in the motion that the member for Forde

talks about no infrastructure being built. The challenge I issue to him today is that there is a $163 million state

government investment for the rail duplication from Coomera to Helensvale. I will challenge the member for

Forde about whether he will go to that opening when the cameras come and when the ribbon happens. I suspect

he will. He is happy to come in here and bag everyone and not defend his own record or explain to his own

constituency and community why he has failed them time and time again. There is a reason why you got a massive

swing against you at the last election. That is because of the neglect that those opposite have treated the people

of Queensland with. He did not mention a major infrastructure project that sits right at his doorstep.

We know that the Palaszczuk Labor government is cleaning up the mess from the Newman legacy, and we

know that the government has allocated $850 million for the Cross River Rail, more than any other government.

It is ready to go. And we know this sorry tale of Cross River Rail, abandoned by those opposite and by the

Newman government, who came up with the fantasy idea of the BaT, the bus and train tunnel, on which his own

ministers after the election went out and said: 'We made it up. We made the whole thing up.' That is your legacy

in Queensland. That is your legacy, through you, Mr Deputy Speaker—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Coulton ): The member for Oxley will withdraw comments through the chair.

Mr DICK: I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker. Through you, I say to the member for Forde: that is your legacy

of delivering for Queensland. There is little wonder why—through you, Mr Deputy Speaker—your leader in the

Senate describes the current opposition leader as 'very, very ordinary', because he was the architect behind these

savage cuts and the lack of infrastructure spend, particularly when it comes to Cross River Rail. They have a gall

coming in here and talking about infrastructure in Queensland.

I want to talk about the most important infrastructure project in my electorate, the Darra to Rocklea upgrade. As

we heard from the member for Grayndler, money allocated by the federal Labor government, $200 million, is

sitting in the budget. Four years later, what has happened?

It took a Labor state government, the same people they want to decry, to get this project going. It took Bill Shorten

and the federal Labor team to announce this project. Then, after four years and at five minutes to midnight, the

hopeless, dysfunctional coalition government honoured their commitment. Well, I say it is four years too late. It is

four years that my local residents have had to sit in traffic, day in, day out, without getting home to their families

and without school students being able to get to and from school. They were trapped in coalition gridlock. That

is the legacy of those opposite. Do not come in here and lecture anyone about infrastructure, because, when you

look at the spend that is happening right now, a $40 billion capital program will deliver 31,000 jobs this year

alone. We know that the state Labor government has delivered the first state infrastructure plan and backed it with

$2 billion worth of state infrastructure funding. We know that, time and time again, when it comes to delivering

infrastructure and when it comes to the south-west of Brisbane, the people can rely on a state Labor government

and, in the future, a federal Labor government to get them home on time.