Labor refuses to answer questions on Cooroy to Curra upgrade
17th October, 2011
Evasive responses from the Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, confirms that the Gillard Labor Government has no clear agenda for the upgrading of the remaining sections of the Bruce Highway, Cooroy to Curra, to four lanes.Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss described Mr Albanese’s responses to questions on notice in the Australian Parliament as “pathetic non-answers” and said they demonstrated Labor’s contempt for the community’s push to improve the notorious section of highway as soon as possible.
Now Mr Albanese has failed to provide proper answers to questions asked as part of the Senate Budget Estimates hearings on 25 May 2011.
“The Government was asked very specific and detailed questions about plans for the remaining sections of the Cooroy to Curra upgrade,” Mr Truss said.
“Mr Albanese’s responses to these questions show that Labor has no answers, no plans and no funding to complete the remainder of the project.
“The questions asked referred to issues such as local concerns about the social and environmental intrusion of the Section B Sankeys Road to Traveston Road construction, but the reply was dismissive and disappointing,” Mr Truss said.
The response stated, ”Environmental updates regarding the project are available on the Main Roads website” and “The Department is not aware of any specific unresolved community issues related to the project.”
“The Government was asked why it had cut funding from the Cooroy to Curra Section. The budget announced a $325 million cut to funding from the Section B project on the Bruce Highway and from the Ipswich Motorway upgrade. Mr Albanese has refused to say how much of that money came from the Bruce Highway,” Mr Truss said.
Mr Albanese’s response to the Senate contained no new information, stating, “Payments are made on milestones to ensure best value for money. The project is being delivered on time and under budget.”
“The Senate also asked about when Mr Albanese received the planning documents for Section A, but Minister Albanese refuses to acknowledge that he has even received the plans, in spite of the Queensland Government saying they were sent to him in August 2010,” Mr Truss said
The response to that question (Question 71) stated “The Government will make announcements about future investment as part of future budgets.”
Questions were also asked about planning for Section C, and the only response offered was “See question 71.”
Mr Truss said the responses were typical of Mr Albanese’s attitude to accountability.
“Mr Albanese is a serial offender, he repeatedly fails to answer questions on notice by providing irrelevant, frivolous, or politically critical responses.
“It took Mr Albanese nearly five months to produce these inadequate responses to the very real concerns about the highway. He may well think the answers are clever and smart, but that counts for nothing with the people who drive on the highway that is consistently rated as the worst in Queensland.
“Mr Albanese should cease his game playing and announce a timetable to fix the highway now.”
