Media Release

Rudd spending misses the mark for SEQ economy

Friday 11th September 2009

Federal Shadow Minister for Housing and Local Government, Scott Morrison has joined South East Queensland Mayors in their call for the Rudd/Swan Government to get control of their reckless spending by ensuring the funds go to productive infrastructure, not more waste and mismanagement.

Mr Morrison met with the Mayors and senior Councillors in Canberra yesterday to discuss their issues and commended the group for its strong leadership in setting out a clear plan for the growth of their region and understanding what need to be done to make it happen.

“I share the frustration of these Mayors that they hear a lot of talk from the Rudd Government about infrastructure spending but they don’t seem to be getting any spending that will actually make a difference,” Mr Morrison said.

“In my discussions with the Mayors yesterday it became patently clear that federal stimulus spending is way off target,” he said.

“They have presented dozens of shovel-ready projects to the Rudd Government including motorway upgrades, tunnelling, rail expansion – particularly to take bulk freight – and a broad range of community infrastructure works.

“An example is the Toowoomba by-pass which would slash 30 minutes off travel times to the Port of Brisbane, a project rejected out of hand by Labor in favour of its wasteful school halls program.

“These Mayors have a blueprint for long-term benefit but Mr Rudd and Mr Swan sit around trying to defend the Julia Gillard Memorial School Hall reckless spending.”

Mr Morrison said the South East Queensland projects clearly met the objectives of the stimulus program but like so many other priorities were being relegated to the backburner by Labor in Canberra.

“Labor’s abject failure to set meaningful priorities is compounding the macroeconomic problems arising from Labor’s reckless spending,” he said.

“The Coalition has never opposed stimulus spending that will actually boost our productivity as a nation.

“The problem with the Rudd Government’s stimulus is that it is all about boosting the productivity of their election campaign rather than our economy, in particular the economic growth of South East Queensland.

“Mr Rudd and Mr Swan are ignoring the real priorities for a region which has 1300 people moving in every week, helping to deliver a Gross Regional Product forecast to reach $204 billion by 2026.

“As the Mayors made clear to me, congestion and skills shortages suggest there may be unnecessary capacity constraints on this growth.

“If the Rudd Labor Government was the least bit fair dinkum about its stimulus objectives it would immediately rethink its priorities to meet South East Queensland’s economic needs,” Mr Morrison said.