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

The reality is that we listened to the member for Lyne in silence but he chooses to interrupt everyone else. I think that is a recognition of the fact that he knows that his argument is threadbare. He has become too politically connected to the government to actually see the facts, and that is a real concern to me—that a man who purports to be independent will not actually look at the issues as they really are and make sure that the facts are told as they should be.

Another letter, which the minister tabled yesterday, is from David Campbell, the then Minister for Transport, to him in December 2009. Towards the end of the letter the Labor government says:

Subject to your agreement to the above course of action, I will undertake to seek confirmation of a 20% NSW government commitment to the additional funding required—

for the road. So there is not the slightest doubt that when there was a Labor state government in New South Wales the federal Labor government intended to provide 80 per cent of the funding and the state was only going to be asked for 20 per cent. They have changed the rules now that there has been a change of government and because the federal government itself has reduced its funding commitments.

In the document that they presented in May 2009 they said there would be over $4 billion of funding in 2012-13. We know that that is now only just over $2.6 billion. For the following year there was to be $5 billion, and they have slashed that amount of funding as well. Labor has cut its funding for roads and the Pacific Highway is suffering, and they are now trying to blame the New South Wales state Liberal government. (Time expired)

See this speech in context