Labor’s ‘nation building’ claims in tatters
4th November, 2009
Yet another embarrassing media report today has confirmed that without the hard work of the former Coalition government, the Rudd Labor‟s claim to be a “nation building government” would be very flimsy indeed.The Australian reports that Labor is claiming full credit for 60 major transport projects presently under construction, but well over half were planned and funded by the Coalition, said Shadow Transport Minister, Warren Truss.
Of those, many were already under construction when the Coalition left office.
Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese has also claimed Labor had “announced, built and completed” 32 large scale road and rail projects – yet three-quarters actually started under the Coalition.
Incredibly, some had even been completed by the November 2007 election!
The Productivity Commission has also slammed the lack of transparency and failure to implement proper processes in infrastructure funding.
This echoed Business Council of Australia concerns that precious little of the Government‟s cash splash was being spent on “economic infrastructure”.
“Mr Albanese is being repeatedly bowled middle stump, yet he is waving his bat around like he has just scored a maiden century at Lords,” Mr Truss said.
“Listening to Labor, you would think it invented the word „infrastructure‟ and nothing was ever built in Australia before Labor got into office.
“The reality is far different. Labor has cut road and rail funding by $5 billion from the $31 billion committed by the Coalition before the election.
“We have seen a confused process where projects that were not properly planned were given massive new funding. Others said to be „shovel ready‟ won‟t in fact start for years.
“The Rudd Government has been coasting on the planning and construction efforts of the former Coalition government for two years now, yet spinning wildly about how it is saving the country from economic ruin.
“Things have gotten so desperate for this mob that Mr Albanese has claimed credit for a road that I officially opened seven weeks before the last election.
“A bit more honesty and a lot less spin is desperately needed,” Mr Truss said.
