Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, with so many timber bridges now failing on local roads throughout this country, such as the Marlee and Duffs bridges in the Upper Manning, will the Prime Minister now consider establishing a Commonwealth replacement fund that will assist state governments and local councils in addressing this issue which is of such cost and such magnitude that it remains a job too big for the other two tiers of government and therefore remains a job undone? Prime Minister, will the Commonwealth engage on what is a life-changing matter for many rural Australians and, if so, when?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Lyne for his question. I will come to the elements of the government’s investment in transport infrastructure. First of all, I go to the Roads to Recovery Program. The government is investing a record $1.75 billion in the Roads to Recovery Program and that funds local government for local roads. The second point I would make in relation to that is that the government’s investment in local roads has gone up by a quarter of a billion dollars relative to the same period under the previous government. That is the second point I would make. Thirdly, on the question of black spots, we are currently providing across the country $150 million as part of the economic stimulus plan.

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

You are taking it away from country roads.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note the interjection by the Leader of the National Party, who actually voted against funding for the national Black Spot Program. I presume the National Party also voted against our boom gates program as well?

Government Members:

Government members—Yes.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So they voted against safety for boom gates and they voted against funding under the stimulus strategy to fix black spots across the country—that is $150 million. In the electorate of Lyne, I say to the honourable member that what we have done is provide funding for councils—the Greater Taree City Council, Kempsey Shire Council and the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. That has been increased from $11.1 million to nearly $60 million over a five-year period. That is an increase of 43 per cent.

On the Blackspot Program, according to my advice we are providing $1.5 million, including stimulus funding, to fix seven blackspots in the honourable gentleman’s electorate of Lyne. He asked a broader question about the fixing of timber bridges. Those are our generic responses to this challenge nationwide for local roads and for local blackspots in particular. Obviously, local government also have it within their remit to draw upon those funds for those purposes.

The member for Lyne asked a legitimate question about the overall capacity of state and territory governments to provide effectively for infrastructure. Can I simply answer the honourable member’s question in these terms: what many ministers and the government have been confronted with is the effect that spending responsibilities are having on the overall state of both Liberal and Labor governments across the country. This is obviously one of the factors which inform our considerations on the future of health and hospital reform. You can see the impact in terms of what has been, in many cases across the country, an underinvestment by state and local governments in local transport infrastructure. I have some knowledge, having taken a few drives myself, about the state of a number of rural bridges.

Therefore, the serious answer to the honourable gentleman’s question goes to the long-term structure of Commonwealth-state financial relations, and it goes to the serious question of the future spending responsibilities of the states and how that impacts also on the health and hospitals debate. In answer to the honourable member’s question, that is specifically what we are doing in two categories. That is the application for his electorate and those are the increases we have made. On the broader question of the financial capacity of states and territories, we have much more reform work still to be done.