Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Revenue) Share this | Hansard source

That was a most disappointing contribution from the member for Cowper. When I read this motion before the House today I thought he intended to come in here and have a serious debate about a serious issue—that is, the road fatality history of the Pacific Highway and the need for all levels of government to work cooperatively to address those problems which remain outstanding on that highway. When I saw the Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads in the chamber, I assumed he was here to support such a responsible and proactive debate. But we have all been disappointed. All we get from the member for Cowper is political rhetoric. We now know that this motion is about one thing and one thing only: an opportunity to bash up on the New South Wales government not all that far out from an election in an attempt to shift the blame from the Commonwealth—where the real responsibility lies—to the New South Wales government.

I welcome the appointment of Minister Roozendaal to the roads portfolio in New South Wales, because he is a can-do man. I know he will take a responsible approach to the development of the Pacific Highway and will not spiral down to cheap political stunts like those we are seeing in this House today. There was not a serious proposition from the member for Cowper. There were no solutions from the member for Cowper. There was just an exercise in pushing the blame onto the New South Wales Labor government. I should not be surprised because I am old enough—surprisingly!—to remember all the way back to when Labor was last in government in Canberra. I recall National Party members and candidates running around the North Coast of New South Wales with petitions insisting that the Commonwealth government should have the sole responsibility for funding of the Pacific Highway. Now that they are in government, and now that they have been in government for 10 years, they want to push the responsibility back onto the New South Wales government.

I checked my facts this morning, and it seems that in the 10 years the Howard government has been in office the New South Wales government has spent some $1.6 billion on the Pacific Highway. What do members of the House think the federal government has spent on the Pacific Highway in that same time period? Some $660 million. We can see clearly who is pulling their weight on what is now a shared responsibility.

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