It wasn’t just the Howard Government porking the barrell before the election last year. But will Lindsay Tanner’s razor gang be looking as eagerly at Rudd pledges as it has at the spending commitments of John Howard? We have to wonder. This is what the ALP promised in just one month, November 2007.

  • $38 billion for reforms to the agriculture sector, including the reprioritising of $190 million over five years to invest in the development and growth of Australia’s primary industry sector.
  • $20 million for an Innovative Regions Centre in Geelong.
  • $235,000 to support the continuation of the Osborne Division of General Practice’s Obesity Program.
  • $400 million for water saving projects at Menindee Lakes.
  • $162.5 million for Tasmanian water security projects.
  • $3 million to insulate the Sydney’s Fort Street High School from aircraft noise. 
  • $1.5 million for the Mapping the Connections project in northern Adelaide.
  • $1.5 million towards securing water for the Australian National Botanical Gardens in Canberra.
  • 18 November 2007 – A Rudd Labor Government will invest $2 million to help manage stormwater, reduce river pollution and improve water quality in Sydney’s Cooks River.
  • $1 million to boost White Ribbon Day education activities.
  • $500,000 to boost the Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Homicide Monitoring Program to investigate domestic violence-related homicides.
  • $200,000 for research into international best practice models for working with perpetrators of violence.
  • $150 million to construct 600 additional houses to accommodate people who are homeless.
  • $15 million for radiotherapy services at Lismore Base Hospital.
  • $80 million for upgrade of roads in Dampier and the Burrup Peninsula.
  • $180 million for upgrade of road and rail networks in Esperance.
  • $5.3 million in a package of initiatives for the Central West Queensland Growth Corridor.
  • $202 million in the Scholarships for a Competitive Future policy.
  • $500 million Renewable Energy Fund.
  • $240 million Clean Business Fund.
  • $150 million Energy Innovation Fund.
  • $540 million for industry training.
  • $1 billion over four years to “turn every secondary school in Australia into a digital school”.
  • $8 million to improve the support provided to families of veterans. 
  • $100 million for a five-year Community Coast Care Program. 
  • $3 million to “get grain exports back on track”. 
  • $1.5 million for the Cairns Multi-Sport Stadium.
  • $6 million “to make Perth suburbs safer”.
  • $510 million to assist over one million Australian teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 with dental costs.
  • $1 million towards building a Multicultural Centre in Mirrabooka. 
  • $17 million over four years in a new Creative Industries Innovation Centre.
  • $1.5 million for the DW Hope Community Centre, North Geelong.
  • $640,000 for the Beechy Centre, Colac.
  • $150,000 for the Colac Botanic Gardens.
  • $3 million for the Leisurelink Community Hub, Armstrong Creek.
  • $4 million for the Torquay Multi-Purpose Sporting Precinct.
  • $450,000 for the Spring Creek Community House.
  • $400,000 for the Torquay Senior Citizen’s Centre Upgrade.
  • $5 million for a ‘state-of-the-art’ water smart pool in Cranbourne.
  • $1.5 billion dollars for road infrastructure projects in northern NSW.
  • $150 million to halve the number of homeless people turned away from homeless shelters.
  • $6.6 million to fund 50 per cent of the cost of the Gascoyne Irrigation Pipeline Project.
  • $303 million in major road and rail projects in Tasmania.
  • $50 million to establish A National Reciprocal Public Transport Entitlement for Senior’s Card holders.