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 and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. I refer to the statement by his assistant minister that the government is committed to the funding we announced for the Great Northern and North West Coastal highways. I also refer the Deputy Prime Minister to his spokesman's comments that these projects will not be funded. Deputy Prime Minister: will these projects face the Abbott axe?

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

The Labor Party announced a large number of road-funding projects to be funded by the proceeds of the mining tax. These two roads were amongst those projects that Labor said it was going to fund from the proceeds of the mining tax. There are few, if any, proceeds from the mining tax, so Labor was making empty promises. They were promising to fund roads for which they never had the financial resources. That was a dishonest election promise.

The coalition is reviewing the election promises of the Labor Party—the ones that they had not funded. We know that there are some very worthwhile projects that were on that list and we would like to find a way for them to proceed. So as we look at the resources that are available for road funding, those projects will be under consideration. We will not reject them just because Labor dishonestly promised them when they did not have the financial resources. We will deal with and fund worthwhile road projects across the nation in a bigger road program that Labor has ever dreamed of.

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

Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table the transcript of interview of 6PR Perth with Paul Murray, in which Jamie Briggs says that the funding is in the budget—

Leave not granted.

Madam Speaker, I also seek leave to table this transcript from west.com.au from the Deputy Prime Minister, where he says it will not be funded—

Leave not granted.