Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That the House:

(1) notes the Prime Minister:

(a) has taken his rorts to the streets, allocating more than 83 percent of the $3 billion Urban Congestion Fund to Liberal seats and marginal seats targeted by the Liberal Party;

(b) allocated funding to every Liberal seat that was marginal or under threat, as well as several marginal regional electorates held or targeted by the Liberal Party;

(c) did not allocate a cent to address congestion in 38 urban and regional city seats held by non-Government Members;

(d) incorrectly claimed the projects were election commitments, when the Urban Congestion Fund was established in the 2018 Budget;

(e) did not release any guidelines, did not formally call for expressions of interest, did not spend a cent from the Urban Congestion Fund in 2018-19, but did spend $17 million of government resources on pre-election advertisements telling us how good it was; and

(f) repeatedly sought to downplay and dismiss the serious allegation that his government continually spends taxpayer dollars for private political gain; and

(2) therefore calls on the Prime Minister to:

(a) correct his incorrect statement that Urban Congestion Fund projects are election commitments; and

(b) explain why his Government used taxpayer money as though it was its own personal marketing fund.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the member for Ballarat from moving the following motion immediately:

That the House:

(1) notes the Prime Minister:

(a) has taken his rorts to the streets, allocating more than 83 percent of the $3 billion Urban Congestion Fund to Liberal seats and marginal seats targeted by the Liberal Party;

(b) allocated funding to every Liberal seat that was marginal or under threat, as well as several marginal regional electorates held or targeted by the Liberal Party;

(c) did not allocate a cent to address congestion in 38 urban and regional city seats held by non-Government Members;

(d) incorrectly claimed the projects were election commitments, when the Urban Congestion Fund was established in the 2018 Budget;

(e) did not release any guidelines, did not formally call for expressions of interest, did not spend a cent from the Urban Congestion Fund in 2018-19, but did spend $17 million of government resources on pre-election advertisements telling us how good it was; and

(f) repeatedly sought to downplay and dismiss the serious allegation that his government continually spends taxpayer dollars for private political gain; and

(2) therefore calls on the Prime Minister to:

(a) correct his incorrect statement that Urban Congestion Fund projects are election commitments; and

(b) explain why his Government used taxpayer money as though it was its own personal marketing fund.

There is not a program that this government will not rort for its own political—

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