Talk about ‘The Great Train Robbery’, Albo makes Ronnie Biggs look like a mere shoplifter.
Last night the Labor Party released its Federal Budget complete with a press release saying it was investing $447.7 million in the Gippsland Rail Line upgrade.
Sounds like great news… except I made the announcement five years ago as Transport Minister, and since that time we’ve actually built the new railway bridge in Stratford, and work is progressing on major upgrades to the Traralgon and Morwell railway stations, along with a host of smaller track improvements.
I’m a huge fan of recycling but that’s ridiculous… most of the money has already been spent. I had low expectations from a city-focused Labor budget and unfortunately they have met them.
I can’t find a single dollar of new funding for Gippsland projects or programs in the budget and we will be lucky to hold on to all of the initiatives already announced by the previous government.
Labor has cut regional programs like the Building Better Regions Fund and Community Development Grants, and it remains to be seen whether all existing projects, including planned Princes Highway improvements, will be honoured by the new government.
Judging by the rail funding ‘announcement’ we can expect recycled press releases and no new projects.
Budgets are about choices and Labor will always choose the cities over rural and regional communities like Gippsland.
