Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

South Australians have once again been dudded by the Abbott government. In yesterday's budget, the Abbott government axed the supplementary local roads funding that had been made available to South Australia since 2004 because the current road funding formula has been acknowledged as being flawed. South Australia receives 5.5 per cent of the local roads funding, yet has 11 per cent of the roads and over 7 per cent of the population.

Last year, almost $18 million of additional funding was provided to South Australia as supplementary local roads funding. It is an issue that I raised in this House on 24 March only this year. South Australian councils are understandably angry because they know they will now have to either increase their rates or cut important local roads spending in their council area.

The Abbott government has turned its back on South Australia by not supporting Holden, it turned its back on South Australia by not supporting all the aspects of the Murray-Darling river plan that the previous Labor government had brokered and it is now turning away from South Australians by turning its back on the urgent local roads funding that is required. They are taking away this vital funding.

This is a government of broken promises and of twisted priorities. It is a government that simply cannot be trusted.