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MICHAEL STEDMAN
May 15, 2008 12:00am
TREASURER Michael Aird has refused to put a timeline on when major infrastructure projects for the state will be delivered.More than $440 million in road and rail projects were promised by Labor during the Federal election campaign but only $19.4m was delivered in this year's budget. The rest, including $31.6m for the north-south rail line, $30m to upgrade the line from Burnie to Wiltshire, and $56m for the Brighton transport hub will have to be negotiated as part of Auslink II funding, which starts in 2009-10. Mr Aird said funding would be delivered "in a timely manner" but would give no further detail on when construction of projects like the Brighton bypass would begin. "The fact is all these commitments were obviously going to be cash flowed over a period of years, that is the normal process of fulfilling commitments of this magnitude and there is nothing surprising about that," Mr Aird said. "I am confident that our discussions with the Commonwealth Government won't lead to unnecessary delays -- it is not in the state's interest and not in the commonwealth's interest to slow these projects down." But the RACT said it hoped to see more money on the table upfront. "When we were expecting detail on how $446m in road and rail funding would be spent the $19.1m early start funding is a bit underwhelming to say the least," RACT spokesman Vince Taskunas said. Mr Taskunas said the RACT had hoped for a swift start on vital rail projects to take freight, particularly log trucks, off the road. "The Government now appears to be talking about implementing its commitments as late as 2013-2014, which is not only too long but it also assumes an election win," he said. Brighton mayor Tony Foster said he was satisfied funding promised for the south would be delivered, with planning work already underway on the transport hub and Brighton bypass. "These are things we have been calling for for 15 years while all the money has been spent in the North -- all this is doing is getting our fair share of infrastructure needs for the South," Mr Foster said. $11.1m has been provided in the current budget to conduct urgent maintenance on the Bridgewater Bridge. Mr Aird said that work would begin next financial year
May 15, 2008 12:00am
TREASURER Michael Aird has refused to put a timeline on when major infrastructure projects for the state will be delivered.More than $440 million in road and rail projects were promised by Labor during the Federal election campaign but only $19.4m was delivered in this year's budget. The rest, including $31.6m for the north-south rail line, $30m to upgrade the line from Burnie to Wiltshire, and $56m for the Brighton transport hub will have to be negotiated as part of Auslink II funding, which starts in 2009-10. Mr Aird said funding would be delivered "in a timely manner" but would give no further detail on when construction of projects like the Brighton bypass would begin. "The fact is all these commitments were obviously going to be cash flowed over a period of years, that is the normal process of fulfilling commitments of this magnitude and there is nothing surprising about that," Mr Aird said. "I am confident that our discussions with the Commonwealth Government won't lead to unnecessary delays -- it is not in the state's interest and not in the commonwealth's interest to slow these projects down." But the RACT said it hoped to see more money on the table upfront. "When we were expecting detail on how $446m in road and rail funding would be spent the $19.1m early start funding is a bit underwhelming to say the least," RACT spokesman Vince Taskunas said. Mr Taskunas said the RACT had hoped for a swift start on vital rail projects to take freight, particularly log trucks, off the road. "The Government now appears to be talking about implementing its commitments as late as 2013-2014, which is not only too long but it also assumes an election win," he said. Brighton mayor Tony Foster said he was satisfied funding promised for the south would be delivered, with planning work already underway on the transport hub and Brighton bypass. "These are things we have been calling for for 15 years while all the money has been spent in the North -- all this is doing is getting our fair share of infrastructure needs for the South," Mr Foster said. $11.1m has been provided in the current budget to conduct urgent maintenance on the Bridgewater Bridge. Mr Aird said that work would begin next financial year
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