Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Roberts, I was explaining the basis for the decisions. The particular project that you're talking about that won't be proceeding is a road to a dam that is not proceeding. This government thinks that it's a good idea, if you're spending infrastructure money on a road, that it should be a road that leads to something that is actually happening and exists. That dam was a promise that was made by the former coalition government that never had the funding, wasn't properly planned and is not proceeding. Senator Roberts, I know you're someone who cares very much about the appropriate use of taxpayers' funds. You would agree, I'm sure, that it's not a good use of taxpayers' funds to build roads that lead to dams that don't exist and won't exist.

But, Senator Roberts, I'm sure you'd also be pleased to have heard me talk about some of the projects in Queensland that are getting funding and that are only possible because of those sorts of decisions about the responsible allocation of funding. Because of that we can now fund the cost increase in the Rockhampton Ring Road project with an extra $348 million in addition to the money that the federal government had allocated. I know Central Queensland is an area that you're interested in, Senator Roberts. By cutting projects that won't exist and that aren't needed, we can fund other things like that. (Time expired)