Infrastructure

Extend the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for another 10 years — back it or block it?

The NAIF is a government fund that lends money for infrastructure — roads, ports, energy, water — across northern Australia. This bill extends it for another decade, to 2036. Labor and the Coalition both backed it; the Greens opposed it because the fund is not barred from financing coal and gas projects. The Senate passed the bill and returned it to the House the same day.

Declare the government has short-changed La Trobe by diverting road funding to the Suburban Rail Loop — back it or block it?

In a grievance debate, La Trobe MP Jason Wood argued the fast-growing south-eastern Melbourne region is missing out on road funding. He listed projects begun under the former Coalition government — Monash Freeway lanes, the Beaconsfield interchange, dangerous-intersection upgrades and the Healesville–Koo Wee Rup duplication — and said costs on state Labor projects have blown out sharply, blaming CFMEU involvement.

He said the Albanese government cancelled $150 million to seal Dandenong Ranges roads and diverted money committed for the Wellington Road duplication into the Suburban Rail Loop. Only Wood spoke; no other side was put and no vote was held.