PM Transcripts

PiE i LL2A31E
RURAL LOCAL ROADS
During a visit to Redland Bay, the Prime Minister said
he had been informed that the local Redland Shire Council had
been forced to stop road work on Stradbroke Island by a delay
in the allocation of funds provided by the Australian Government.
To date this financial year, the Australian Government
has provided $ 23.4 million to the Queensland Government for
road construction and maintenance. This represents four months'
allocation of the total amount to be provided to the Queensland
Government for the 1974-75 year.
Queensland has received its instalments in exactly the
same way as the other States. There has been no delay on the
Australian Government's part in the provision of those necessary
funds. Of the $ 23.4 million provided, about $ 5 million has
been for rural local roads. These funds are provided with no
strings attached. How and when it is shared among local
governments is the responsibility of the Queensland Government.
If the Redland 0-hire Council, or any other shire council, has
been starved of funds, it is fairly and squarely the fault of
the Queensland Government.
Mr WllTitlam said that the arbitrary bottleneck created
by the Queensland Government meant a decline in the quality of
rural services, and resulted in council staff being thrown out
of work.
17 November 1974