: As you've heard, the Prime Minister's announced a massive $7.2 billion to fix the Bruce Highway. That's a 7.2 with nine zeros after it, for the entire 1,673 kilometres of highway from Brisbane to Cairns - or by my calculations, $4.3 million per kilometre. And I'm pleased to say the Prime Minister joins us on 4BC Summer Drive. Prime Minister, we know the what, can you tell us the when?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. Well, as soon as we can. The funding will be available from this year. There's already around about 45 projects underway on the Bruce Highway. Either major projects like the Rockhampton Ring Road - I'm speaking to you this afternoon from Rocky - or minor improvements that can be made as well. But we want this to be done as soon as possible, so the funding is available. There is, of course, needs to be some planning work done on some of the additional work, but work's been done for some time. It was estimated by the Queensland Government that there needed to be about $9 billion of additional funding in order to lift it up to, basically, tier three to provide safety works along priority areas like Maryborough to Benaraby, Rocky to St. Lawrence, Bowen to Townsville, Ingham to Innisfail. And we know that, therefore, we're providing 80 per cent of the additional funding to make sure that we can really improve the Bruce here. It is, of course, Queensland's most important road, but it's one of the most important roads in Australia, of course as well.
DOHERTY: Reinstating the 80/20, that's great. But it was only five minutes ago, a couple of budgets ago, that you changed things to 50/50. Why the change of heart?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have 50/50 funding for projects across the country. That's because essentially state governments need an incentive to make sure that there's value for money. And unlike what happened before I was the Infrastructure Minister, there's funding now for projects like urban roads. The Ipswich Motorway and a range of projects were done - Legacy Way there in Brisbane, pretty close to where you're located there. And in addition to that, there's public transport funding. The Howard Government provided none, not a single dollar over their 12 years in office. So, state and territory governments, at that time, changed from not just funding - the state and territories looking after urban communities and looking after public transport and rail projects. It changed so the Commonwealth went from looking after just the national highway network into funding much more. But we recognise that the Bruce Highway is unique. It is Australia's deadliest road, 41 lives were lost last year alone. Two lives were lost just last week, tragically. And given that along the East Coast, the Hume Highway is fully duplicated, the Pacific Highway is fully duplicated, we think that this is a standout, a one off that requires this funding. There was lobbying of course, from the former State Government and as well as the current State Government and we think that we want to make sure that this is built up to, up to standard. And today I was there at Gympie at Cooroy to Curra, with a wonderful fellow, Wayne Sachs, who's been in Ambo for almost 50 years, including 30 years operating out of Gympie. He came to see me back in 2009, so a long time ago now, and told the story of attending accidents. And that's when we put the funding in for Cooroy to Curra that's now completely finished and it's made an enormous difference there in the road south of Gympie. It's made an incredible difference.
DOHERTY: Well, Curra's the good bit.
PRIME MINISTER: And he spoke firsthand today.
DOHERTY: Yeah, Curra's the good bit. Do you envisage that all of the Bruce Highway will come up to Curra's standard?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is gold standard. It will require, for the entire length of the Bruce, upgrades over a period of time. This will lift it up to standard three, which is standard. At the moment, tragically, parts of the highway like Maryborough to Benaraby are nowhere near that standard. So, this will provide for important investment, which has been the request that has been made and it will make an enormous difference. It will fund things like roadside safety barriers, wide centre line treatments, duplication in areas as well. Turning lanes, bridges, the full bit. Upgraded rest areas are a really important part of the highway as well. And so we think that this has been the request that we received and we are very proud to be announcing this. It builds on the legacy that was there the last time I was in government as the Infrastructure Minister.
DOHERTY: Yeah, we've been arguing about this for years. Doesn't today's announcement just highlight the wasted time and the wasted lives? You know, if only you'd done this two or three years ago when we, we were fighting about it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we weren't in government three years ago. And to take for example, the Rockhampton Ring Road. I did the planning work, funded the planning for that project when I was the Minister more than a decade ago. And between 2013 and the time that we came into office, which was almost a decade, there wasn't a hole dug in that project and it was underfunded to the tune of $700 million that we provided in earlier budgets to make sure that that project could be not a theory, not an announcement, not a media release, because you can't drive on a media release, but could actually be under construction and today it's under construction with hundreds of workers operating on it.
DOHERTY: Now, you just know that our listeners who use this road every day just to take the kids to school or weekend sport, they're seeing this as just a bid for re-election. What's your feeling? You know, Steven Miles found out that a last minute cash splash doesn't always work. In fact, it can go against you. What's your feeling on this one?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's nothing last minute about our commitment and that's why today we made the announcement at Cooroy to Curra. That was an announcement that we made and backed it up with dollars and backed it up with construction. And that road has now been completed, all four sections of it. We have the Rockhampton Ring Road, as I said, promised by the former Government after we did the planning work, but now fixed. Just south of here, the Yeppen floodplain -
DOHERTY: Pronounced correctly. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Promised, funded, built and opened while we were in government, during that six years. I've got a record of delivering when it comes to infrastructure. Not just promises, but real construction. The funding of the Mackay Ring Road, the funding of the Townsville Ring Road, the funding of the Port Access Road in Townsville, as well as projects right up and down the Bruce. There's more to do and this $7.2 billion will make sure that more is done.
DOHERTY: An election is coming. What's the question you want voters to ask themselves?
PRIME MINISTER: Who will ensure that you are better off in the future? Who will make sure that we embrace and shape the future rather than just allow the future to shape us? We have a plan and have laid the foundations. We have looked after families and cared about them. That's why we've funded energy price relief, cheaper medicines. I've just been at an Urgent Care Clinic here in Rockhampton backing up Medicare, providing that support. That's why we gave tax cuts to every single taxpayer. All of those measures were opposed by Peter Dutton and the LNP. People would have been worse off. We understand that people are doing it tough, but we've put in place those measures to support families and we'll continue to do more in the future.
DOHERTY: When is that election, by the way?
PRIME MINISTER: It will be this year, May or before.
DOHERTY: I thought I might have got you there.
PRIME MINISTER: You might have just slipped one in there.
DOHERTY: Yeah, yeah, that'd be amazing.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm just focused on good policy and making a difference each and every day. And the politics, well, that will be a decision for the Australian people. But someone said to me earlier today: "why are you making this big announcement in Gympie? Wide Bay isn't a target seat." I've never been about allocating infrastructure investment on the basis of what way people vote. It's about the national interest in doing the right thing and that's what we're doing.
DOHERTY: Have you finished with Queensland now? Is that it for us?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. I'm here in Rocky. I'll be here tomorrow morning and then heading to Cairns and then after that I'll be heading to Mount Isa. But I've been to, up here to Queensland on, I think, more than 40 occasions now as Prime Minister and I've been a regular visitor for a long period of time. I've driven the length of the Bruce during COVID we couldn't get out of Canberra. If I went to Sydney then we wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere. But you could fly over New South Wales into Queensland and I did three big road trips there, including on the Bruce Highway. But also we drove from Barcaldine right across through Emerald here to Rocky and then down. So, I've been a regular visitor here to Queensland. There are projects like the Yeppen Floodplain project that we funded the last time we were in government that I'm quite proud of. Cooroy to Curra is another one. But there's more as a result of today that I'll be proud of in the future. I think that if you're in politics, you need to make a positive difference and that's what I'm determined to do.
DOHERTY: Well, Prime Minister, I thank you for your time. I believe that this conversation has cost me a packet of black cats that I have to find a way of getting to you. That's your - that's your favourite vice, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a pretty good vice to have, I reckon. I do like anything that's sort of liquorice flavoured. When it comes to having a lolly every now and again. But I'm trying to be very disciplined, as you have to be in my job. You can't snack all the time. It's one of the challenges that you have.
DOHERTY: Yeah. Thank you very much for joining us on 4BC Summer Drive. And I hope we'll get to talk to you again. I'm sure we will.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Shane.
DOHERTY: Good on you. Thank you. The Prime Minister of Australia there.
