Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great feeling to speak on a funding windfall for Hume following announcements of successful projects under a range of federal infrastructure programs. Eight councils in Hume are receiving a share of the $2.61 million in Roads to Recovery payments this quarter, and they include: Cootamundra, Cowra, Goulburn, Upper Lachlan, Weddin, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly and Yass.

A massive eight bridge and road projects across Hume are receiving a share in over $6 million of funding, matched dollar for dollar by the state government, under the Bridges Renewal and Heavy Vehicle Safety programs. These programs mean a significant net benefit for local government, and they enhance jobs and growth in these communities.

I am sure that many in this place remember the RDAF funding commitments under Labor. What a massive disappointment. Local councils, a number in Hume, are still trying to make up for the funds that were promised but never budgeted.

In an audit of the third and fourth RDAF funding rounds under Labor, published in November 2014, the Australian National Audit Office was blunt:

… there was not a clear trail through the assessment stages to demonstrate that the projects awarded funding were those that had the greatest merit …

It was very clear. Referring to round four, specifically, the ANAO said:

… 56 per cent of those applications awarded funding had been assessed by the department to not satisfactorily meet one or more of the selection criteria.

They do not meet the selection criteria.

I sit on the parliament's Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, and I have to tell you that this kind of wasteful, unbudgeted chaos will never pass muster again—certainly not under this government's watch. Handouts to electorates have changed. They had to. The new era of probity is welcome.

Getting funding into regional communities via federal grant programs means identifying relevant programs and doing the work to complete applications to a high standard.

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