Simon Birmingham says the electorate chose Morrison’s government in the last election because it refuses to rule out future programmes
Last modified on Sunday, July 4, 2021 0four. 15 BST
Simon Birmingham rejected the complaint from the Coalition’s discredited suburban car park fund, saying “the other Australians had their chance and voted for the government”.
On Sunday, the federal finance minister also refused to rule out the government embarking on similar systems in the future, said he would see “how processes and procedures can be improved. “
The Labour opposition has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison “to take over over the exercise accident that is his parking turn from the destination scandal”, after a week of filing a complaint about the $660 million National Passenger Parking Fund.
A report through Australia’s National Audit Office (ANAO), published last Monday, revealed that the management of parking projects through the Department of Infrastructure “is not effective” and that the technique for locating the variety “is obviously not based on merit”.
He said none of the 47 allocation sites decided for an investment commitment had been proposed through the Department of Infrastructure.
Approximately 77% of the suburban car parks decided were in electorates held through the coalition, while another 10% were in six electorates that were not part of the coalition, where suggestions were solicited from coalition applicants or senators, according to the ANAO report.
Birmingham did not respond directly when asked, as a component of ABC’s Insiders programme, whether the fund could be just an example of smart government.
The finance minister said on Sunday that the government was aiming to “deliver on the election promises we made to the Australian people” and that it would “act on the recommendations of the Auditor-General’s report, as we do, on how processes and procedures can be carried out”. took a step forward in the future. “
Pressed through the conclusions that the procedure is not open and transparent, Birmingham said: “In a parliamentary democracy, the component of the procedure is to protect the interests of local MPs on behalf of their electorates.
“This is what the electorate expects, this is what they vote for and governments are meant to pay attention and paint on some of the defense issues where the desire is genuine and well argued and this is exactly what governments will continue to do,” he said. saying. .
Anao said that the distribution of projects decided by investment commitments “reflected the geographical and political profile of those who had had the opportunity to identify the applicants. “
The report states that at most two-thirds of the projects were located in Melbourne, “which represents more than 2. 5 times the number of projects located in Sydney. Infrastructure Australia has learned that most of Australia’s most congested roads are in Sydney. “
The ANAO also said the Melbourne projects “were basically located to the south-east, while knowledge shows that Melbourne’s peak congested roads in 2016, and as expected in 2031, are basically in the north-west”.
When asked if the government had directed investment to the seats it sought to keep and win, than to the selling options where congestion was worse, Birmingham highlighted the outcome of the 2019 election.
“Look, the other Australians had their chance and voted for the government in the last election and we are determined to deliver on the election promises we made in terms of local infrastructure because we are a nationwide built infrastructure,” Birmingham said.
The ANAO report discovered at the end of March, the structure had been completed at two of the 47 sites and had started at another 3 sites.
Anao’s report revealed that two assignments were canceled in December 2019, just a few months after its announcement, another assignment was later deemed ineligible and 4 were canceled in May 2021.
Federal Labour leader Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Sunday that the scheme “is an absolute disgrace” and “a corruption of the right process”.
“The government took the decision to provide cash to taxpayers based on submissions from political candidates who were not elected MPs, as well as members of the Coalition. It’s a corruption of the process,” Albanese said.
“It’s amazing that Simon Birmingham isn’t saying anything to see here. We have to deal with disorders like this because they undermine confidence in the political process in that country. “
Labour’s spokesman for cities and urban infrastructure, Andrew Giles, said Australians deserved better.
Giles asked the prime minister to “discipline the guilty ministers, or show that their ministerial criteria value the paper on which they are written. “
“Now that Scott Morrison has left his stay at the Lodge, he will have to take care of the wreckage of the exercise, which is his scandal in the parking lots,” Giles said in a statement.
The Department of Infrastructure is expected to question through a Senate committee on this issue.
On Thursday, Guardian Australia revealed the main points of two projects, in Gosford, New South Wales and Mitcham, South Australia, that the ANAO discovered had been decided for federal investment without an apparent permit beyond a morrison press release.