ADJOURNMENT
Ms BELL (Moncrieff) (19:40): I rise tonight to speak about two issues that are incredibly important to my community on the Gold Coast: disaster recovery funding and the completion of Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 3. They are very different issues, but they have something in common. They both ensure that communities that I represent have the infrastructure and the support they certainly need to grow to withstand the challenges ahead and have that certainty about what is in the future.
As a Gold Coast representative, I know just how exposed our community is to natural disasters. Mr McCormack interjecting— Ms BELL: I will get back to the light rail stage 3, the member for Riverina. We have seen the devastating impact of cyclones, severe storms, flooding and other natural disasters on families and on businesses and the toll that it takes on local infrastructure and, of course, our economy.
When disaster strikes, people don't care which level of government is responsible for what. They just want help and they expect governments of all levels to work together to help them get back on their feet. That is why I am so bitterly and deeply disappointed and concerned about the Albanese government's proposed changes to the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
The current arrangements provide an important safety net for communities like mine when recovering from those disasters. Any reform should strengthen that safety net not weaken it. The Albanese government proposes a new fifty-fifty Commonwealth-state cost-sharing model, despite significant concerns from Queensland and other jurisdictions.
Labor cannot simply shift more of the costs onto state governments, local councils like the Gold Coast City Council and, ultimately, local ratepayers and call that reform. The coalition has been clear: Canberra must step up when Australians are facing the consequences of natural disasters. The government has sought to justify its proposal by pointing to the Colvin review, yet nowhere in that review did it recommend a blanket fifty-fifty funding split.
It did, however, call for improved cost-sharing arrangements that recognise the different capacities and circumstances of each state and each territory. The government sat on this review for over a year only to ignore recommendations and push ahead with their own agenda. Not good enough.
I stand here tonight with my colleague the member for Riverina, and when he was the Deputy Prime Minister of our great country— Mr McCormack: A golden era! Ms BELL: A golden era! The heydays of November 2019, when we stood at the Broadbeach light rail station and declared that the federal government would put $157 million into that light rail project, to send it to Burleigh Heads.
Mr McCormack: Yes, I remember it well. Ms BELL: And guess what? On Sunday it was finished, and we had the very first light rail tram leave Burleigh station at six am and head towards Brisbane, which was very exciting for my community, and I want to thank the former deputy prime minister for coming to the Gold Coast and for advocating so very hard for my community when he was the minister.
It is a significant milestone. The project was made possible through the combined funding and efforts of the Queensland government, the City of Gold Coast and the Commonwealth under the Morrison government. Despite Minister Watt's poor memory last Friday at the press conference, I will remind him that it was, as I said, the former coalition government who committed $395.6 million in total to deliver light rail stage 3.
Minister Watt, it was not your gaffe-prone boss who actually committed that almost $400 million to Gold Coast Light Rail. Since my election in 2019, I've been a strong advocate for the project because I know how important reliable public transport is to our growing city. The new light rail stage 3 will be tested this weekend with the Pacific Air Show on the Gold Coast.
Of course, another great coalition government minister at the time, Mr Peter Dutton, who's no longer with us in the parliament, signed off on the first Pacific Air Show on those defence assets. I will be riding the light rail all the way to Surfers Paradise from Miami on Saturday—on Friday, probably, and on Saturday—to the Gold Coast Pacific Airshow. I look forward to that event.
What it does tell me is that the Gold Coast only wins when we have a coalition government and when we have a Liberal National Party government. The rest of the time, we are ignored by Labor governments. I say congratulations to all of those involved in Gold Coast light rail stage 3 for the launch that occurred just this weekend.