Mr ZAHRA (7:29 PM) —I want to talk about the Pakenham bypass, which is a critical infrastructure project in the electorate of McMillan. When it comes to this project, the federal government have been involved in a shameful betrayal of the people of Pakenham and of the Gippsland region. This is what the budget documents say in relation to the Pakenham bypass:

Despite that fact, they have not funded the full federal commitment of $121 million in the federal budget. The state government have committed their half of the project, $121 million. But, because the federal government have not contributed their $121 million, it looks likely that the project is now going to stall.

It is reasonable to expect that the Commonwealth will pay half when it comes to Roads of National Importance. After all, they are the people who declare roads to be Roads of National Importance. This is what has happened with the Calder Highway, where the Commonwealth has paid half of the cost; the Port River Expressway in South Australia, where the Commonwealth has paid half the cost; and with the Devonport Access Road, where the Commonwealth has paid half the cost. This government has declared them all as Roads of National Importance and has contributed half the cost of their roadwork. In the case of Pakenham, people in my electorate are thinking, `What about us? Treasurer Costello, what happened to the promise you made to us before the 2001 election that you were going to commit to half the cost of the project?'

In November 1996, when talking about an agreement between the federal and state governments in relation to Roads of National Importance, the minister for transport said, `It was agreed that approved Roads of National Importance projects would be funded on a dollarfordollar basis.' That is pretty clear, I would have thought. The minister for transport then said in October 2001 that the commitment they had made to the Pakenham bypass was `rock solid'. He went on to say, `We don't make paper promises.' The people of Pakenham are probably wondering what sort of promise was made to them when he and the Treasurer came down and the commitment was made to paying half of the cost of the Pakenham bypass. The state government have their money on the table, $121 million, for their half of the project. The Commonwealth government should commit $121 million and make sure that this project gets built. This is what the Treasurer had to say about Roads of National Importance in an interview with John Faine on 16 April:

`Fifty per cent funding' are his words. All that the people of Pakenham and of the Gippsland region are asking is that he honour his commitment and put in 50 per cent of the funding for our road, for the Pakenham bypass. Unless they do that, this road will not be built. In a press conference later on that same day, just after two o'clock, the Treasurer went on to say:

That is what we are asking for in relation to the Pakenham bypass. All we are asking is that the coalition honour the promise they made before the 2001 federal election to people of the Pakenham district and of the Gippsland region. They wanted to get people to vote for them on the basis of this promise. But, when push comes to shove and when they are actually in a position to deliver on their promise, they are not forthcoming. This is a shameful betrayal of the people of Pakenham and of the Gippsland region.

I say to the people on the other side and to Minister Anderson and Treasurer Costello in particular: you have said in the budget documents that you accept that this is the worst crash zone in Victoria. What happens if there is an accident caused by your obfuscation, your playing politics with this? Will you take responsibility for a death on that road? Will you take responsibility and explain to the families why it is that your playing politics has caused another death on this road? I say to those people over there: you have been involved in a shameful betrayal of the people of Pakenham and of the Gippsland region, and you stand condemned for it. You have the chance to do something about it. You should honour your promise on the Pakenham bypass. (Time expired)