15-September-2009
Portfolio Media Releases, Infrastructure, The Economy
Following countless reports that the borrowing by the Rudd Government to fund its wasteful and poorly targeted infrastructure projects has produced a litany of broken commitments and massive debt for future generations to pay off, the Opposition today tabled questions in Parliament requesting details on the progress of the Government’s infrastructure projects.
Not only has the Rudd Government failed to provide transparency and accountability for its Nation Building Program, but it has failed to deliver on many of its promised infrastructure projects.
The fragmented and poor results of the Nation Building infrastructure spend is at odds with the underlying rationale for the Rudd Government’s creation of Infrastructure Australia and the misnomer of a Minister for Infrastructure.
Mr Albanese has been asleep at the wheel, personally not involved with the majority of infrastructure promises his Government has made.
When Mr Albanese has been involved, namely with transport projects, he has refused to release a range of details in relation to these projects including the critical cost-benefit analyses.
As Mr Rudd and Mr Albanese have said so often, ‘transparency and accountability’ is fundamental to effective infrastructure spending. Well, now is the time to deliver on these noble sentiments.
Under the Council of Australian Governments’ Agreement on the Nation Building Program, the Rudd Government is obliged to meet various oversight and reporting requirements, yet none of these commitments have been met.
An assessment of the Government’s large scale projects under the Nation Building Program has also proven the wasteful and poorly targeted nature of the Government’s spending.
Despite the Government’s rhetoric that these projects were intended to stimulate the economy now, nearly half of the projects are either yet to commence or remain at a planning stage.
Barely 9 per cent of large-scale infrastructure projects envisaged under the Nation Building Program have been completed.
The failure of Labor to deliver on infrastructure projects does not just end at a Federal level.
Labor states have also manifestly failed to deliver on infrastructure projects under the Nation Building Program, with 55 per cent of projects yet to commence or at a planning stage in NSW, 51.5 per cent in Victoria, and 48 per cent in Queensland.
Labor has shown a blatant disregard for tax payers who will be paying for the Rudd government’s reckless Nation Building Program for years to come, with little to show for it.
The complete lack of transparency, accountability, and performance of the Nation Building Program demonstrates that Labor does not represent a credible or trustworthy manager of hard earned tax payer dollars.
Media Contact: Nick Xerakias (Andrew Robb’s office), 0410 417 173
Paul Chamberlin (Warren Truss’ office), 0419 233 989