Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan has called on the Federal Government to increase funding to Western Australian infrastructure, saying that political considerations were distorting the allocation of Austlink funding.
Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan has called on the Federal Government to increase funding to Western Australian infrastructure, saying that political considerations were distorting the allocation of Austlink funding.
The full text of a ministerial announcement is pasted below
Prime Minister John Howard should take the opportunity of his fundraising visit to Western Australia to end years of unfairness in infrastructure funding allocations.
Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said WA was penalised in two ways.
"We receive only 10 per cent of national funding and our major freight routes into the Burrup and seven regional ports are excluded from consideration for funding," Ms MacTiernan said.
"As our State covers a third of the continent and produces more than a third of Australia's exports, we have a massive requirement for economic infrastructure
"Worse still, last year Western Australians paid $5 billion or $2,500 each more to Canberra than they received in funding or services. At least some of this should be invested to keep the money flowing.
"Our relatively small population base should not be left to meet the needs of an economy that is propping up the rest of the nation."
Ms MacTiernan said that political considerations were distorting the allocation of Auslink funding.
"Too much of the funding is spent on marginal rural seats in the Eastern States and on roads that carry little more than dried fruit and livestock," she said.
"It is inconceivable that Karratha and Dampier, the largest tonnage port in Australia, are excluded from the National Transport Network in favour of Victorian towns producing raisins and canned apricots.
Ms MacTiernan said she had recently written to the Federal Transport Minister asking Canberra to reconsider the basis of funding for Auslink 2 and was asking for the Prime Minister's support for a fairer deal.
She said WA's priorities for Auslink 2 were:
- Increasing WA's share of Auslink in recognition of the State's huge demand for infrastructure;
- Adding the coastal route from Perth to Port Hedland, that serviced major export activity through Dampier and Geraldton, to the network of routes eligible for funding;
- Adding port access roads around the State, along which a massive share of Australia's exports were transported; and
- Including Great Eastern Highway between Tonkin Highway and Graham Farmer Freeway, the route from the federally administered Airport and a major industrial estate being developed by the airport operators
"Recently the situation has been made even more unfair by a corrupted allocation process which sees funding provided for projects that do not meet the specified criteria," she said.
"The Prime Minister should do the right thing and end the imbalance."
