Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mate, I am thinking, ‘Well, somebody knows something that I don’t know.’ Having been tipped off about this money I had started investigations. It is money going towards a road that starts in Scullin and ends in McEwen. The major portion in Scullin is a government responsibility. There is then a little portion, probably 800 metres, that will be shared between developer contributions and others. Then there is a major portion above that which is in the classification ‘developer contribution and others’.

Now—shock, horror—on further investigation I find that this $980,000 is for construction of a second carriageway in the section between Harvest Home Road and Bridge Inn Road, which is in the seat of McEwen. Their real problem at the moment is: that is the dead-end of this road; there is no civilisation around it. There are no developer contributions to match the money. The council—that is, the City of Whittlesea—are now scratching their heads to know what they are going to do, because it has been indicated to them that they have three years in which to spend this money. I am trying to say to them, ‘Use it down in the Scullin end’! But it raises the question of where this particular portion of carriageway came to light to be discussed and funded.

Last year, the council nominated three projects that might be considered for this additional money: the funding shortfall for the E6, which is the road that I am talking about; the funding for the construction of Findon Road; and the funding for the construction of McKimmies Road. They were very hopeful to put the last two in, because Findon Road and McKimmies Road are in the seat of Scullin. But the E6 probably was worth a shot, given that it was a shared road. But this is the part of the project that is probably going to be done last. So it raises the question: what rule of thumb was used to produce this piece of funding? It smells like a pork barrel; I think it simply must be a pork barrel. I leave it at that.

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