Opp'n 'embarrassed' by massive Gov't road programs

3/4/96

It was obvious Opposition MLC John Halden and the Labor Party had been totally embarrassed by the massive road programs undertaken by the Coalition Government following years of tragic neglect by their previous State Governments Transport Minister Eric Charlton said today.

Mr Charlton said Mr Halden should be ashamed that he was a key player in a disgraced Government which presided over a catalogue of blatant transgressions and, in particular, the siphoned $300 million from essential road works between 1986 and 1992.

"Mr Halden should hang his head in shame when it is pointed out that those funds, which should have been properly spent on vital road projects, had been redirected to other ALP causes," he said

Mr Charlton was responding to Mr Halden's assertion that $43.4 million in untied Commonwealth grants should not have been shown as State funds in the Budget papers.

"In fact, the funds are paid into Treasury as a Commonwealth grant and allocated at State Government discretion, for example to schools or hospitals or in this case, to vital roadworks," he said.

"Government papers have referred to the allocation as untied funds so people can recognise it is a grant from the Commonwealth."

The Minister said the funds were also clearly categorised in Main Roads' own funding sources and allocations and were therefore on the record.

"It is no great revelation that since the Coalition came into Government we have ensured that these untied funds are dedicated specifically to road projects in Western Australia," Mr Charlton said.

He said that Mr Halden had again demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the simple Commonwealth/State financial arrangements, as was aptly demonstrated by Labor's disastrous financial mismanagement during its tenure of the Treasury benches.

Media contact:  Ian Hasleby  3217333