Anthony Albanese has become one frustrated little bunny.

Off the rails: Labor's stimulus package, now with added blackmail

The Coalition opposed Rudd Labor’s wild cash splash which will leave Australians in debt for a generation or more.

So Lord Albo has been angrily lashing out at any Nationals or Liberal MP who has the temerity not to oppose any Federal Government spending in their local areas.

He is now even muttering darkly that these MPs will be excluded from plaque unveilings or morning teas. No doubt he’ll soon be erecting toll gates on roads leading into Maryborough, the heart of my seat of Wide Bay.

Albo and his cronies seem to think they should be welcomed into Coalition-held electorates like conquering heroes, and the sitting MPs cast out like lepers. This is base politics, at its most childish.

Where will the funding for future needs come from when reckless Rudd Labor has driven us into $315 billion worth of debt?

People living in non-Labor electorates will have to pay off their share of Labor’s debt; so surely they have a right to some of the spending?

The latest Albanese strategy has been to send press releases to media in Coalition electorates, declaring that the “Member for X” has voted against “Road and Rail Projects Y and Z”. This relates to the Coalition’s amendments to new Labor legislation which shifts Black Spots funding away from local and suburban streets, and shovels money meant to be spent on regional roads to Labor electorates to fund election promises made by ALP candidates.

This is crude blackmail. And we’ve got a pretty strong case too: figures finally released last week show that 82 percent of funding for a $655 million Labor transport program goes to its own seats.

The big problem with Albo’s latest campaign is that the legislation in question is not an appropriations bill. It does not alter the amount of money being spent federally on roads and rail by a single dollar. Not a single dollar.

The person who makes the decisions about where that money is spent is the Minister himself. Maybe that explains why these press releases are going into Coalition electorates and not Labor seats.

Why is the Minister threatening to strip funding from National and Liberal seats but not money from those held by his Labor mates? Perhaps the Mauler can answer that little question in his next Punch column.

He certainly will have to explain it to the Australian National Audit Office, which is bound to find a rort of this size – which leaves his Fort Street High insulation rort for dead – most interesting. 

6 comments

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    • Chade says:

      11:34am | 10/06/09

      Bit cheeky from a party that implicitly exists only to pork-barrel rural areas…

    • Portia says:

      11:44am | 10/06/09

      Base and childish politics is your line that the Labor government has incurred $315 billion worth of debt, when you and all other Liberal/National MPs should know that $215 billion or thereabouts is shortfall in tax revenue.  Will not admit the ramifications of the GFC, nor that the Liberal/National approach would also drive Australia into similar gross debt and too gutless to post this comment.

    • Al says:

      01:47pm | 10/06/09

      I followed the link at the bottom of the yarn to the Albanese Slates Coalition Hypocrites story.

      Seems the Nationals are touching a sore spot.

      I was intrigued by the Cobb response to Albanese where he challenged Mr Albanese.

      “Finally a challenge for the Grayndler Greyhound.  I know how much the mob at The Punch loves nothing more than a tasty scoop.

      The Nationals have tried repeatedly to have the Mr Albanese table a full electorate by electorate and funding breakdown of his $176 million Better Regions program. From the scant stats we have seen, this program looks like an epic rort with more than 90 percent of money going into Labor seats.

      Minister, show some ticker and publish the list on The Punch.”

      Perhaps this argument could be put to bed if Mr Albanese published both sets of figures including an electorate breakdown (by political party) of where the funding is going to.

      Although unlike the previous commentators i am appalled by the $23 billion that the Rudd Government has paid out in cash. And if Portia somehow thinks $23 billion worth of cash splashes isnt a heap of dollars (i don’t even know how many noughts that is!) then she is dreaming. It is a heap of dough that could and should have been spent far more wisely.

      I actually believe that this country needs infrastructure, such as new railway lines and roads, particularly in Regional areas where it is vital that we can get our produce to export markets to help pay back the mega billions of debt Mr Rudd has wracked up in 18 short months.

      But the $23 billion cash splash - that was money being p@##ed down the drain.

    • Coastin' Dave says:

      03:18pm | 10/06/09

      Albanese the Marrickville Mauler?  His people have got to be kidding!  More like the Leichhardt Lightweight or the Sydenham Sook. And he’s actring like a Petersham Poof (that’s where the Saturday night camp dance used to be many years ago) and having a Dulwich Hill dummy spit.
      I’ll leave it to others to think what you could do with Annandale and Canterbury.
      His big complaint about Cobby seems to be that the Bogan Boy gave his local council only 24 grand when he was Minister: that is, he failed to rort the system and give them more!

    • Paul says:

      03:26pm | 10/06/09

      Warren,

      The tenor of your article is the reason most people turn off politics.

      Comes across like a commentary on a footy match - about what side is winning & what side is whining!

      Please, a bit less tabloid.

    • Shelley says:

      07:13pm | 10/06/09

      lol

      Please, a bit less tabloid.

      Paul. This is a tabloid that he’s writing for.

 

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