19 Jul 2017 Estimates—Transport, Infrastructure and Planning 1 WEDNESDAY, 19 JULY 2017 _______________ ESTIMATES—INFRASTRUCTURE, PLANNING AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE—TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE AND PLANNING EST IMATES—TR ANSPORT, INFR ASTRUCTURE AND PLANNING Estimate Committee Members Mr J Pearce (Chair) Mr CD Crawford Mr S Knuth Mrs BL Lauga Ms AM Leahy Mr AJ Perrett _______________ Members in Attendance Mr AP Cripps Mr SL Dickson Ms DE Farmer Mrs DK Frecklington Mrs JR Miller Mr AC Powell Mr LP Power Mr IB Walker _______________ In Attendance Hon. JA Trad, Deputy Premier, Minister for Transport and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Mr M Collins, Chief of Staff Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning Mr F Carroll, Director-General Ms K Parton, Deputy Director-General—Strategy, Governance and Engagement Building Queensland Mr D Gould, Chief Executive Officer Department of Transport and Main Roads Mr N Scales, Director-General Queensland Rail Limited Mr N Easy, Chief Executive Officer _______________ Committee met at 9.00 am CHAIR: Good morning everyone. I declare open this estimates hearing for the Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee. I would like to introduce the members of the committee. I am Jim Pearce, the member for Mirani and chair of committee. We have Ms Ann Leahy, the member for Warrego, who is the deputy chair. The other committee members are Mr Craig Crawford, the member for Barron River; Mr Shane Knuth, the member for Dalrymple; Mrs Brittany Lauga, the member 2 Estimates—Transport, Infrastructure and Planning 19 Jul 2017 for Keppel; and Mr Tony Perrett, the member for Gympie. The committee has granted leave for non-committee members to ask questions at its hearing today, so other members may be present over the course of the proceedings. Today, the committee will consider the Appropriation Bill 2017 and the estimates for the committee’s area of responsibility. I remind everyone present that any person may be excluded from proceedings at my discretion as chair, or by order of the committee. The committee has authorised its hearing to be broadcast live, televised and photographed. Copies of the committee’s conditions for the broadcast of proceedings are available from the secretariat. I ask that mobile phones and other electronic devices be turned off or switched to silent mode. I also remind you that food and drink are not permitted in the chamber. The committee will examine the portfolio areas in the following order: Infrastructure and Planning from 9 am to 11 am; Transport from 11.30 am to 1.30 pm; State Development from 2.30 pm to 4 pm; Natural Resources and Mines from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm; and Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships from 7.15 pm to 9.30 pm. The committee will now examine the proposed expenditure in the Appropriation Bill 2017 for the portfolio areas of the Deputy Premier, Minister for Transport and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning. The committee will examine the Deputy Premier’s portfolio until 1.30 pm. During this time we will suspend proceedings for a break from 11 am to 11.30 am. Visiting members present today are the member for Nanango, the member for Mansfield, the member for Bundamba and the member for Bulimba. I remind those present today that the committee’s proceedings are proceedings of the Queensland parliament and are subject to the standing rules and orders of the parliament. It is important that questions and answers remain relevant and succinct. The same rules for questions that apply in parliament also apply in the hearing. In this regard I refer to standing orders 112 and 115. Questions should be brief and relate to one issue and should not contain lengthy or subjective preambles, argument or option. I intend to guide proceedings today so that relevant issues can be explored fully and to ensure there is adequate opportunity to address questions from government and non-government members of the committee. On behalf of the committee, I welcome the Deputy Premier, the director-general, departmental officers and members of the public to the hearing. For the benefit of Hansard, I ask departmental officers to identify themselves in the first instance they answer a question referred to them by the Deputy Premier, or the director-general. I now declare the proposed expenditure for the portfolio area of Infrastructure and Planning open for examination. The question before the committee is— That the proposed expenditure be agreed to. Deputy Premier, do you wish to make an opening statement of no more than five minutes? Ms TRAD: Thank you very much, Mr Chair, I would. Good morning, Mr Chair and to all of the permanent and visiting members of the committee. I also acknowledge the secretariat here. I know that you do a huge job pulling this all together. Queensland is a growing place and, in my role as Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, I know that my portfolio has a critical role to play in shaping our state for the future. The Palaszczuk Labor government is investing in the critical infrastructure that our state needs, growing jobs and ensuring a diverse and sustainable economy. Our $42 billion infrastructure program, guided by the updated State Infrastructure Plan that I am releasing today, is delivering the right projects in the right place at the right time. This budget commits to fully funding our No. 1 infrastructure priority, Cross River Rail, with early works to commence later this year. This project is critical to unlocking the bottlenecks across the Merivale Bridge and increasing capacity right across the whole South-East Queensland rail network. It will deliver 7,700 direct jobs over the life of the project, tackle congestion by taking more than 18,000 cars off our roads, and improve transport for people living right across the South-East Queensland region. Queenslanders should be clear: it is only the Palaszczuk government that will deliver and build Cross River Rail. The member for Clayfield has already cut this project once in 2013 when it was funded by the federal Labor government. Now, he says that he will cut it a second time unless it is funded by the federal government, but he has done nothing to help convince his LNP colleagues at a federal level to back it. That is because it is all a smokescreen for his real plan. He has cut this project once and he plans to cut it again. The Leader of the Opposition has only two settings: he is a cutter and he is a seller. 19 Jul 2017 Estimates—Transport, Infrastructure and Planning 3 We are also delivering essential infrastructure in our regions with projects like the Townsville stadium; the Smithfield bypass in Cairns; new hospitals in Kingaroy, Roma, Aramac and Alpha; the redevelopment of the Yeppoon foreshore; and the $75 million Capricorn Highway duplication. We know that local councils are at the heart of regional communities, which is why we are supporting them through our incredibly successful Works for Queensland program, which is pumping $400 million into regional economies. We have been successful in establishing the nation’s first City Deal for Townsville and we are working towards a City Deal for South-East Queensland. In planning, we are continuing to drive reform, with the commencement of the state’s new planning system on 3 July heralding a new era for planning in Queensland. We will continue to work with local governments to support them in their implementation of the new planning system. Over the course of the year, we have consulted widely and finished the South East Queensland Regional Plan, also known as ShapingSEQ, which is expected to be released later this year. Work has also commenced on the first ever North Queensland regional plan, which will guide the region for the next 25 years. The draft plan will be released for consultation shortly. The Queensland Reconstruction Authority is also focused on assisting with the recovery and rebuilding of Queensland communities affected by disasters, including severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie during the 2016-17 financial year. Unfortunately, recently we have seen the callous and mean-spirited refusal of the Turnbull government to match our category D funding commitment of $110 million to rebuild these communities. The communities of Whitsunday, Mackay and Rockhampton now know that it is only the Palaszczuk Labor government that will continue to fight for what is fair and reasonable for their future. When given a choice to back these disaster impacted communities or his Liberal mates in Canberra, the Leader of the Opposition joined Malcolm Turnbull and left these regional communities hung out to dry. It is my commitment to those disaster affected communities that our government will continue to fight for them. CHAIR: Thank you, Deputy Premier. I call the member for Nanango. Mrs FRECKLINGTON: Thank you. Thank you, very much, Mr Chair, and to your committee for allowing me to be here today. Good morning, Deputy Premier, and to all of your departmental colleagues who are with you. Ms TRAD: Good morning. Mrs FRECKLINGTON: My first question is to the CEO of Building Queensland, Mr Gould. If I could please have him come forward? Thank you. Mr Gould, good morning. I refer to the SDS and Building Queensland’s function to develop rigorous business cases for projects. My question is: why did Building Queensland model a tripling of demand for rail patronage when rail patronage has fallen by 16 per cent since 2008 to 2016? I seek leave to table two documents, being page 18 of the secret business case and question on notice, No. 14, which the committee should have.