Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion that has been moved by the member opposite. Clearly there are some different views as to who should be funding particular transport routes, but it is not surprising that members of The Nationals here today would be focusing upon complaints they have against the New South Wales government, because, in this place, they are not really defending their constituents on federal matters. There is no doubt in my mind—and, indeed, in the minds of many constituents of their electorates—that when it comes to things that really matter that are within their purview, within their federal jurisdiction, they are letting down their constituents. We saw that with the failure by The Nationals to oppose the sale of Telstra. We saw that indeed, I think, with the awful scandal of the regional rorts that were clearly directing Commonwealth money for the wrong purposes and the wrong motives. So I rise today to talk about this particular motion, but also to remind members that there is no point trying to defend your local constituents by becoming the quasi opposition of New South Wales. Your job here is to defend and advance the interests of your constituents by supporting Commonwealth initiatives that matter—and I say to the mover of this motion that selling Telstra was not one of them. Your role in voting for the sale of Telstra was not something that your constituents will be proud of.

The Pacific Highway is of course a strategic interstate route. It is an essential route for the transportation of many goods between Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. In the last 10 years the New South Wales government has invested $1,660 million in the highway, while the federal government has put in only $660 million. That is $160 million a year from New South Wales compared with $60 million from the federal government. That means that the New South Wales government is contributing 72 per cent of the funding for the Pacific Highway between Hexham and the Queensland border. The Pacific Highway is a full member of the federal government’s AusLink National Network. Under the AusLink funding agreement, the federal government’s funding falls woefully short of the $8 billion that is needed to complete a high-standard dual-carriage motorway between Hexham and the Queensland border.

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