Albanese must come clean on Pacific Hwy priorities
20th January, 2012
REVELATIONS that the federal government bypassed priority safety works on the notorious Nambucca to Urunga section of the Pacific Highway to give preferential treatment to securing Rob Oakeshott’s vote in parliament will shock families and motorists across Australia.Today Minister Albanese tried to lead journalists up the garden path, denying he withdrew money to upgrade black spots to woo Rob Oakeshott. To be fair to Nine News, that’s not the claim the network made in last night’s expose.
“If it’s true that the RTA, the NSW State Government and Minister Albanese’s own Department of Infrastructure and Transport provided advice to fix the treacherous two-lane Nambucca to Urunga stretch of the highway as a priority but Mr Albanese chose to, instead, look after Rob Oakeshott first, the Minister still has serious explaining to do,” Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Warren Truss said today.
“Mr Albanese also pleaded today that the planning work for the Nambucca to Urunga section hasn’t been done yet. But that helps make the case against him, given planning in Mr Oakeshott’s electorate is already underway.
“That Minister Albanese proffers that he will soon call for tenders for the Nambucca to Urunga stretch is worse than too little too late. He seems to have been exposed for playing politics with public safety and must be held to account.
“A growing concern with the Gillard government’s tenuous hold on power is that this isn’t just a case of tawdry self-interest politics, but serious decision-making affecting public safety appears to be undermined.
“It’s not about government mismanagement or ministerial incompetence, but seems to expose wilful and knowingly reckless decisions within the Gillard government in the name of political survival.
“These revelations that the Minister was advised of a clear and present safety need to make the Nambucca to Urunga the priority and that he ignored it to feather his government’s political nest, are shocking.
“Minister Albanese must come clean with details of the advice he received, when he received it and provide a full explanation of the decision-making behind making Mr Oakeshott’s electorate a higher priority.
“Even the locals who stand to benefit from the upgrades in Mr Oakeshott’s electorate will be shaking their heads at these events, as they reflect a cavalier approach to safety.
“But Mr Albanese has form in playing lose with public safety. Under the last federal budget Mr Albanese syphoned $100 million from the Cooroy to Kurra section of the Bruce Highway in Queensland, despite his repeated acknowledgement that this section is the most dangerous in the state.
“Mr Albanese’s demand that the NSW Coalition Government now foot half of all the costs in duplicating the Pacific Highway, when under the Keneally Labor Government the Commonwealth agreed to meet up to 100% of the costs, sheds more light on the base politics at play.
“When public safety is so clearly at risk and all the expert voices are screaming the obvious priority, there must be zero tolerance for the ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ approach to public policy.”
[ENDS]
