Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Roads and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

My question is brief and to the point, but it is also a fine example of the many situations that were proposed by this government when they were in opposition leading up to the election. They made all manner of statements about the wonderful world that they would create of infrastructure across this nation. They said repeatedly: ‘The blame game will be over; there will be no disputes between the federal government and the state governments ever again. The blame game is over.’ The words rang in my ears for weeks, and I thought, ‘What a pack of clowns!’ And now they have gone on to prove it.

Amongst the promises that were made by your mob when you were in opposition was that you were going to solve the problems of rail separation—grade separation generally—in the Esperance port. You committed $60 million in the lead-up to the election to separate road from rail to get the Esperance port moving efficiently. You have not funded it. No-one locally has any indication that they are going to get the funding that was promised, that influenced their voting decisions. It is a con; you know it is a con. I expect an answer on that issue.

Another con was the port of Bunbury. You have got the outer ring-road for the port of Bunbury and the access road generally. You committed $136 million worth of funding pre-election. Where is it in the budget? The good people of Bunbury that voted for a very fine new member for Forrest are wondering where on earth that funding is.

What are you going to do about the 12-month delay between your election and when you will finally sort out what you are going to do about getting funding back into a program similar to the Regional Partnerships program? What are you going to do with ACC boards that are sitting on their hands for 12 months waiting for some funds to get back into those regions? That vital infrastructure that you so fondly speak of, and that you so frequently promised, you never, ever deliver. When are we going to see some funding coming back into a program like Regional Partnerships and see those hard-working boards of area consultative committees being able to get their teeth into some funding that will make a difference in the bush? Minister, you owe it to the people of Australia that you conned before the election to come up with some answers.

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