Jim Lloyd (Robertson, Liberal Party, Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads) Share this | Hansard source

The corridor studies are currently underway. As I indicated to the House earlier, my understanding is that 22 of those have been completed. They were all open for public consultation for a long period. In fact, the other two may already be completed. That forms the basis on which we can enter into meaningful negotiations with the states in relation to funding for AusLink 2.

I do want to make the point that AusLink is a shared program. It is shared funding. Gone is this notion of state and federal responsibilities and that the national highway is a federal responsibility and every dollar must come from the Australian government. I have to say that the New South Wales government has been very good in its cooperation on the Pacific Highway, contributing 50 per cent funding, and also with its 20 per cent involvement with the AusLink network. Certainly, in AusLink 2 it will be made very clear that we have expanded the network from the old national highway, including the roads of national importance. Further, we are working with councils and other states on where we can prioritise these projects.

I also have to indicate how disappointed I am with the attitude of the Queensland government, who continue to maintain the outdated notion that the national highway, as they still call it, is a federal government responsibility. It really does demonstrate some of the difficulties with states not having some responsibility within the funding criteria. We have seen some significant cost overruns on projects in Queensland, and I have used the analogy many times: if you were building a house and someone else was paying for it, you may not be quite as robust in considering or as concerned about any cost increases. At the moment, if there are any cost increases in Queensland, the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, simply puts his hand out, writes me another letter and says, ‘Tough. The Ipswich-Logan interchange went from $160 million to $255 million.’ Or he tells me that the Wacol to Darra section of the Ipswich Motorway, which was initially costed at $320 million, will now apparently be significantly dearer than that. I really do appeal to Queensland and to all the other states and territories: work with us on this. There is a lot of money here. We want to deliver cost-effective national infrastructure to all Australians. We need your cooperation to do it.

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