Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Why has the Commonwealth government reduced its funding for the Pacific Highway upgrade by 65 per cent this year from $1.023 billion last financial year under Labor to $357 million this financial year?

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

If the honourable member chose to visit the Pacific Highway, he would notice that the level of road construction on that road is beyond all previous precedent. We are delivering projects and we will complete the four-lanes of the highway before the end of this decade, something that would never have been achieved under Labor. Firstly, Labor did not provide sufficient funding to enable that to happen. On top of that, they were insisting that—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will resume his seat. The member for Grayndler will get the call for a point of order, but it had better be a proper one, not just repeating the question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It certainly is, Madam Speaker. It goes to relevance. It was a very specific question with the budget figures in it—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. The minister has the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One billion dollars—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. The minister has the call.

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

If I may take the interjection: yes, I am sure the honourable member is jealous and, of course, embarrassed, because under his stewardship as minister the Pacific Highway would never have been completed. He had already abandoned the timetable. The commitment that we had made in government to complete the job by 2016 became impossible because Labor simply did not allocate the funding. But, on top of that, they were insisting that every dollar that they put in should be matched 50-50 by the New South Wales government. They did not require that when the Labor Party was in government in New South Wales. That was a new rule that was introduced when Labor was defeated in the state. They required a 50-50 contribution.

The honourable member knew that the New South Wales government was never capable of providing that level of funding. The previous New South Wales government left the state financially destitute, so the new government has had to restore the New South Wales economy so that it can get on with providing the kind of infrastructure that the state needs. The simple facts are that under Labor the proposed completion date for the highway had been abandoned. We have picked up the pace. There is more construction occurring now on the Pacific Highway than at any other time, and we have fully funded the project to completion; that is something Labor would never have done.