Transcript of doorstop – Kippa-ring Railway Station, Redcliffe QLD

Subjects:  Redcliffe Peninsula Railway, Cross River Rail

Anthony Albanese: Can I just say how proud I am as the person who was the Infrastructure Minister to be here with the person who was the Treasurer at the time that this rail line was funded in 2010.

I came here with Yvette D’ath the then Member for Petrie on no less than four occasions because the community was so cynical that this would actually be turned into a reality. First promised in 1884, delivered with funding from the Federal Labor Government, the State Labor Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council in 2010, hundreds of jobs created in the meantime and now today this line open.

A great day for all the people for Moreton Bay and the Redcliffe Peninsula but, particularly, a great day for those people in the community who campaigned for this rail line for decades to make sure that it went ahead.

Wayne Swan: This is great example of what Australia can do right across this country if we invest in infrastructure. The $740 million investment from the 2010 Budget made this project a reality six years ago. We need to do much more of this throughout south-east Queensland and across the country.

It creates the jobs of the future, the economic capacity of the future and it makes our communities liveable; this is what we must continue to do if we want to prosper as a nation.

Reporter: (Inaudible)

Swan: Absolutely, time to cough up for Cross-River Rail because rail lines like this can’t reach capacity unless it’s expanded at the river.

Albanese: The good news for Malcolm Turnbull is that he doesn’t have to provide new money for Cross-River Rail; he can just put back in the money that was cut in the 2014 Budget. Federal Labor funded that project in 2013. The money was in the Budget before it was cut and everyone knows that the south-east Queensland rail system reaches full capacity within in the next five years.

Without the Cross-River Rail project that will mean lower economic growth, less jobs for the people of south-east Queensland and it’s about time that Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t just ride on trains, we want to see him fund trains.

Swan: Yes he should fund trains that would be a very good idea.

Albanese: Thank you

Swan: Thank you.