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

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. In last year's New South Wales budget the matching funding of $3.5 billion for the completion of the Pacific Highway by 2016 was not allocated—in the same New South Wales budget where $9 billion was allocated for Sydney transport. Minister, in light of this, what urgent steps are you taking now to re-engage New South Wales and finalise a signed and formal agreement to complete the Pacific Highway by the agreed and promised bipartisan date of 2016? (Time expired)

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyne for his question and for his ongoing commitment to upgrading the Pacific Highway. Indeed, in the federal budget this year we did announce an additional $3.56 billion funding for the nation-building program and we indicated that it would be available for the Pacific Highway on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis. We also indicated that it was possible to achieve the joint objective, first put down by the Howard government, of a full duplication of the highway by 2016. So I was very disappointed by the fact that the New South Wales government has failed to step up to this opportunity in spite of the fact that year after year they made promises that they would deliver matching funds for the Pacific Highway and that they were committed to the full duplication by 2016. They failed to deliver.

Premier O'Farrell, Deputy Premier Stoner and Minister for Roads and Ports, Duncan Gay, are all on the record time after time saying they would make it a top priority. They now say that the reason was a $5 billion cut in funding for New South Wales in terms of revenue expectations. But the fact is this government found space to provide increased funding in the nation-building program even though there has been a $140 billion drop in revenue as a result of the global financial crisis. The NRMA came out for New South Wales to match the funding. But it gets even worse. Last year, the state government Treasurer, Mike Baird, said in his budget speech:

In its last Budget, the Commonwealth allocated $750 million …

… we are determined to provide the funds needed to match the Commonwealth offer.

In their budget papers of last week that figure has become $468 million—that is, they have cut funding for the Pacific Highway by $300 million on what they promised just six months ago.

What does the National Party do about this? The Leader of the National Party goes out there and says that 2016 cannot be achieved and he would be very disappointed if duplication was not completed by 2020. He would not commit one cent of additional funding for the Pacific Highway in spite of the fact that we have already committed $4.1 billion dollars. They committed $1.3 billion over 12 long years.

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

Madam Deputy Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. Minister, in light of your answer, the very public dispute of the last week between the Commonwealth and the state of New South Wales, and that the Pacific Highway has been historically funded 80-20 or fifty-fifty, will you right now agree to release all documents and all correspondence on the history of the Pacific Highway between the two governments so we can all establish who on earth is telling the truth? (Time expired)

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We certainly will, in terms of the member for Lyne's request. The fact is that the government had introduced additional funding for the Pacific Highway through the economic stimulus plan, including the Kempsey bypass. The longest bridge in Australia is being constructed there. Indeed, on the weekend we opened—through Senator Thistlethwaite, the duty senator for Cowper, and the state National Party member—an interchange on the Kempsey bypass. There is not one cent of state government money going into that section of the highway. They are happy to turn up to the openings but they do not want to actually deliver.

I table for the benefit of the House my letter to Michael Daley, the New South Wales Minister for Roads, indicating my disappointment with the funding for the Pacific Highway that the former state Labor government that did not do well enough on the Pacific Highway had done. I table the Sydney Morning Herald article 'Rees bungle costs state $50 million' about how I reduced funding for New South Wales due to the failure of the former government to deliver. I table the letter from David Campbell, the then Minister for Transport and Roads in the New South Wales government, asking for 80:20 funding for the Pacific Highway, and I table my response rejecting the proposition of Minister Campbell for the New South Wales government. (Time expired)