Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I want to start by acknowledging John and Gillian Grant and the 51 club crew who are in the House today. They have come to see our national capital and how the parliament works, and I know they have not been disappointed today. Speaking in this place on road issues is always important, whether they be roads of national importance, state and local roads or black spot funded roads. If you listened to this government, you could be excused for thinking that what was returned to us from our taxes for road funding for critical road infrastructure was only by the good grace of this government, and that it was some sort of reward for having voted the right way the last time around, that you might get a few crumbs off the table for urgent road upgrades and safety needs in your area.

The motion today from the member for Ryan on road funding has as much credibility as the Prime Minister does when he talks about caring for workers. The reality is that, when it comes to road funding in Queensland, the Howard government has an 11-year track record of abysmal neglect. That is the reality. No matter how many times the member for Blair smirks on road issues, it is 11 years of doing nothing—that is the reality. We have barely been provided with enough crumbs for the past decade-plus to keep our struggling federal roads—

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