Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

No, they were not. They were funded under the national highway program. There is one not very far from my own town. There are scores of them across the country. I do not have Fort Street High School in my electorate, which gets all this special treatment. But I do know that there are federally funded rest stops around the country. The amendment was made to the legislation. The minister admitted, when he brought it in, that it was a technical amendment to ensure that expenditure in that regard was covered by the legislation and to clarify any doubt in that regard.

So we will not be opposing these amendments, but we will be opposing the bill in the upper house. This is still a tax increase, and the government has refused to give any commitment to honour its promises. As a result of the Labor Party’s unwillingness to accept our amendment, there is no guarantee that a single rest stop will be built. There is no guarantee that any of the mishmash of state laws will be harmonised. The government is walking away from its responsibility. When those opposite were in opposition they demanded transparency and performance all the time. They were continually demanding that there be transparency in decision making. Now that they are in government they will not have a bar of it. They will not have any performance criteria. They do not want anybody looking over their shoulder.

While we cannot on our own defeat these tax increases in the upper house, what we can do is give the government a guarantee that we will not allow any further increases unless they have actually delivered on the rest stops, unless they have actually delivered on the transport reform. Do not come in here again and ask us to vote for legislation like this unless you have actually delivered on your promises. Frankly, I have no confidence that the government are ever going to deliver on their promises. It has been a year— (Time expired)

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