Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong, and relates to consistency in funding allocations. I refer the minister to the comments made by the Prime Minister in his budget-in-reply speech last year that all projects must really 'stack up' against the Infrastructure Australia model. When the Tasmanian government requested support for an infrastructure project in Hobart—namely, an AFL stadium—Mr Albanese said that he wouldn't consider funding until he had received a business plan. Minister, if Tasmania can't get funded for a project without providing a business plan, why does the budget allocate $2.2 billion for a Labor pet project in Victoria that also doesn't have a business plan and which the Victorian Auditor-General identifies as failing to demonstrate an economic rationale?