Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I had cause yesterday to look at a press release which went out on 3 August 2012 headed: 'Encouraging productivity by investing in Territory bush roads'. This press release announced that the federal Labor government and the Northern Territory government had announced a significant investment in bush roads across the Northern Territory. The announcement states:

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said this is a significant investment in the future of the Territory, and will encourage growth and development in a number of communities and local industries.

It also states:

The Federal Labor Government is committing $90 million towards a new Regional Roads Productivity Package and the Northern Territory Government will contribute $16 million towards the package.

Remember, this announcement was made on 3 August 2012. The press release continues:

Among the identified projects are upgrades to six regional roads:

Roper Highway …

Port Keats Road …

Santa Teresa Way …

Central Arnhem Road …

Buntine Highway …

Arnhem Link Road …

The then Northern Territory Minister for Regional Development, Malarndirri McCarthy, said at the time:

These regional roads are major arteries connecting and providing access to communities, supporting tourism, the cattle and resources sector as well as improving the economic opportunities for Territorians living in remote areas.

This was a commitment of $106 million by the former federal Labor government and the Northern Territory government. Imagine my surprise when I saw a joint media release between Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss and Adam Giles, NT Chief Minister and the minister for economic development, dated 5 March 2014, which says:

NT’s economy to be boosted through upgrades to six remote roads

The six projects are expected to involve the following works—

Oddly, they are:

Roper Highway …

Port Keats Road …

Arnhem Link Road …

Buntine Highway …

Central Arnhem Road …

Santa Teresa Road …

This announcement is a repeat of the announcement made in 2012. So here we have the Northern Territory Chief Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia trying to con the Australian public that this announcement, which they made on 5 March, was a new announcement. It was not a new announcement. This money had been committed as a result of an agreement between the former Labor government—a government of which I was a member and responsible for pushing these issues to make sure we got them funded—and the former Northern Territory Labor government. That was where the agreement was and that is when the money was made available. Yet, now we have the Deputy Prime Minister and the Northern Territory Chief Minister trying to con the Australian public that this announcement, which they made yesterday, 5 March—a repeat of the announcement made on 3 August—is somehow new and demonstrates their commitment to infrastructure in the Northern Territory. What it demonstrates is their lack of any ideas. What it demonstrates is their total lack of commitment to providing new policy initiatives for Northern Australia. (Time expired)