John Forrest (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too would like to pursue some questions of the minister and seek his assistance on interpreting the budget documents. It is a little difficult for listeners out there to believe the commitments that are being made, and being repeated here in this session, when commitments made in the past have not been honoured. I refer specifically to a project entirely contained in the federal division of Mallee—that is, the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline. Before the minister responds and says that I should be asking this question of another portfolio, I would remind him that at the 2007 election, in particular on 19 November 2007, in a shadow ministerial statement, he said:

A Rudd Labor government will provide $124 million further investment in the Wimmera Mallee pipeline project.

Subsequently we have seen only $99 million of that. My constituents are asking me to ask the minister when they might see the balance, the $25 million that is still outstanding. I remind the minister that the recent Victorian state government budget allocated $25 million, in receipt from the Commonwealth. So they are expecting it as revenue and there are still quite a lot of unfinished infrastructure needs in the project, like the backfilling of huge supply channels and the replacement of culverts under roads. There is a huge challenge confronting local councils. There are nine of them, all now confronted with huge bills—given the minister’s portfolio interest—for fire services. These are fire services that they have been forced to replace. It is not just something that they have to invest in and therefore it is a state responsibility; it is something they have had to change because the supply system is different.

In answer to a question on notice, the Prime Minister responded to me on 13 May 2009 and changed the wording of the media release to say ‘up to $124 million’. What I want to know from the minister today is when he will honour the commitment he made in 2007. The member for Ballarat, who is present in the chamber, would know that the commitment to fund that vital water infrastructure project was very much a feature of the 2007 election campaign in western Victoria. The integrity of the minister at the table is at stake here. He said it would be delivered and it has not been. I am expecting him to respond and advise me where it is in these budget papers, whether it is in his portfolio or someone else’s, because I cannot find it.

The constituents who rely on this project now as the only water supply for the whole of the north-west corner of Victoria are expecting a constructive answer from the minister as to when the balance of $25 million is going to be made available to the Victorian government. It has become a matter of urgency. The fire service has been installed and the water authority is carrying the funding for that. It is a contingent liability for all those municipalities. The backfilling of the channels is becoming an enormous task and so is the building of the culverts under roadways. These are all issues relating to the minister’s portfolio, and I am seeking his assistance to address my question. When will we see the balance of $25 million for the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline?

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