Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Rudd Labor government’s nation-wrecking budget has let this nation down very badly. The wrecking ball of reckless spending has diverted funds into headline-grabbing multimillion dollar infrastructure projects—described by a spin addicted Labor government as ‘nation-building’—and there is little left for badly needed road upgrades in local electorates.

Local people, local needs and local roads have been ignored by Mr Rudd and Mr Swan. Instead of spending money at the local level, this desperate duo try to claw back some credibility from their dismal trifecta—record spending, 29 per cent of GDP; record deficit, five per cent of GDP; and a further severe increase in the jobless rate to 8.5 per cent—by focusing on big projects. A number of these projects were already costed, funded and ready to go.

My colleague Warren Truss has caught Labor out. He said the $8.4 billion worth of projects announced on budget night are a mixture of Labor finally catching up with coalition commitments and other projects in urban passenger transport which bail out failed state Labor governments. This is so true of the Pacific Highway project. This project was on a fifty-fifty basis with the New South Wales state government and the announcement has given them a get-out-of-jail card, with the Commonwealth now funding it all. But there is nothing for local roads. There is nothing for local roads like Richmond Road and Bells Line of Road; nothing for roads like Scheyville Road, Freemans Reach Road, Comelroy Road, Terrace Road, Grace Vale Road, Sackville Road and East Kurrajong Road—and there are many others.

Recently I attended an event, with my New South Wales Liberal colleagues and local mayors, to announce funding for a roundabout on Boundary Road at Oakville. This came through, finally, after months of lobbying and public meetings. I want to thank the local people, especially Vicky Vella, a driving force in galvanising local support for my efforts and those of the New South Wales member for Hawkesbury, Ray Williams, the Mayor of Hawkesbury, Bart Bassett, and the Mayor of Hills Shire Council, Larry Bolitho. Together, they have delivered on the needs of local people. The roundabout had claimed the lives of many people, injured many more and, I am sure, left an indelible impression of danger on people involved in near misses. When the coalition were in government, we had successful Roads to Recovery, Black Spot and general road funding programs delivered through local government to address local needs. When Labor came into government, funding for local projects slowed right down.

We also had the AusLink program where, traditionally, the state governments would share the cost. In the basket case that is New South Wales, Mr Rudd and Mr Swan have come to the rescue of their Labor mates and let state Labor off the hook of paying their share of funding for the Pacific Highway. While I am not opposed to the bypass project, I raise the issue to make the point that this is just one example of how Labor mismanages the economy. Instead of helping a failed Labor government, that money—and it is a significant amount—should have been spent in local communities to make their roads safer. And there is no end in sight.

It took the coalition and the Australian people more than a decade to pay off the previous debt left behind by federal Labor. It will take years for the economy to recover from Labor’s reckless spending. Any expectation that local roads will get the funding they need in the foreseeable future is unlikely to be met. If we look beyond the spin, the truth is that Labor will actually spend less money on road and rail over the next five years than was committed by the previous coalition government. Labor have lost control of the public finances and they have no plan for economic recovery. That has let local people down badly and those people will continue to suffer poor roads and increased risk to life and property. They have every right to ask: ‘Where is our roads money?’

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