Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:08): My question is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, since the Minister for Roads and Road Safety was unable to answer it in October—or even able to pass it on to his presumably close colleague. I trust that now, with the President’s important ruling in November, we have seen the last of this deliberately unhelpful practice and the waste of parliamentary time that it causes. So I ask again about the duplication of Barwon Heads Road. The federal budget last year dug the Premier out of a hole, committing $292 million and dropping the state commitment to just $73 million. My question, however, is: why has the budget blown out by $46 million, and why has the government repeatedly failed to respond to this legitimate question? I call on the minister to reveal immediately the nature and details of the $46 million cost blowout.