Hansard debates

Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure) (11:38:11): I will resist the temptation to give the long history of the Echuca-Moama bridge and the betrayal of the Echuca community by the National Party—why that project took so long. On the issue of the Shepparton bypass, the member for Shepparton has identified that the federal government have made a funding commitment. However, I can advise that on our work done to date the funding that the federal government has on the table will not be enough for their share of 80 per cent of the project to be funded. It is important that we are providing this information to the federal government. I have spoken already with the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, about this project and how there are some challenges with the funding that has been made available. We will keep working with them on that. We will do this properly, unlike the National Party, who close country train lines, abandon country communities and betray them time and again. We take a very different approach. Ms Staley: On a point of order, Speaker, she is the Leader of the House. She knows the standing orders— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! Ms Staley: The minister knows not to do that, and she waits till the last few seconds of her contribution to get up and abuse the standing orders just for the sake of it. She does it time and time again. The SPEAKER: Order! The minister knows she should not attack the opposition.