❓ Ms. Saffioti questions the Minister for Transport regarding cuts to local government road funding, challenging the Minister's claim that federal funding compensates for state cuts. The Minister defends the state's actions, stating local governments weren't spending allocated funds and federal grants have compensated.
AnsweredQoN 686Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LOCAL GOVERNMENT — ROAD FUNDING
686. Ms R. SAFFIOTI to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the minister's
media comments on 30 August regarding cuts to local government road funding. He
stated that the federal government has made an additional amount of money
available for local government and so it has been compensated for the amount of
money the state government pulled out, so it is still receiving the same total
amount.
(1) Can the
minister confirm that financial assistance grants from the commonwealth
government to local government, including untied road grants, will be reduced
by more than $100 million over the next four years?
(2) If yes to
(1), how can the minister claim that cuts by the state government will be
compensated for by the federal government?
686. Ms R. SAFFIOTI to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the minister's
media comments on 30 August regarding cuts to local government road funding. He
stated that the federal government has made an additional amount of money
available for local government and so it has been compensated for the amount of
money the state government pulled out, so it is still receiving the same total
amount.
(1) Can the
minister confirm that financial assistance grants from the commonwealth
government to local government, including untied road grants, will be reduced
by more than $100 million over the next four years?
(2) If yes to
(1), how can the minister claim that cuts by the state government will be
compensated for by the federal government?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
I can confirm a few things about this, and one of them is that we are
delivering to local government exactly what was forecast when we set up the new
scheme. Additional funds have flowed through tolocal governments and we have
pared them back. Also, local governments were not spending all the funds that
went to them. They were not getting through those funds, so we have pared them
back. Just after we pared them back, local government raised some concerns with
us, and the federal government announced that it would make available
additional grants to local government that more than compensated it for those
funds. What the federal government does from here on in is up to the federal
government. I am not in a position to comment on that at this time. However, to
this date local government has not been able to spend the funds it has
received. We are sticking to the numbers that we said we would deliver over a
four-year period. We are continuing to deliver that, and we are doing a great
thing for local government roads.
I can confirm a few things about this, and one of them is that we are
delivering to local government exactly what was forecast when we set up the new
scheme. Additional funds have flowed through tolocal governments and we have
pared them back. Also, local governments were not spending all the funds that
went to them. They were not getting through those funds, so we have pared them
back. Just after we pared them back, local government raised some concerns with
us, and the federal government announced that it would make available
additional grants to local government that more than compensated it for those
funds. What the federal government does from here on in is up to the federal
government. I am not in a position to comment on that at this time. However, to
this date local government has not been able to spend the funds it has
received. We are sticking to the numbers that we said we would deliver over a
four-year period. We are continuing to deliver that, and we are doing a great
thing for local government roads.
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