Two Labor State MPs have claimed the billion dollar budget blowouts for Sydney-based infrastructure projects are hindering regional jobs growth and business opportunities between the Illawarra and South-West Sydney.
The comments from Member for Wollongong, Paul Scully MP and Member for Campbelltown, Greg Warren MP follow a visit to Port Kembla yesterday by the Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey MP.
In extraordinary comments, the Minister conceded that the Maldon-Dombarton rail link was “part of the future” but also indicated she could not give “an honest timeframe…” for completing the project.
The Minister made similar suggestions on funding upgrades to the Appin Road and Picton Road stating they were a “good idea” but looked like “a 20 year timeframe” before anything more happened.
The Maldon-Dombarton rail link and Appin Road upgrade are key priorities for NSW Labor with both projects already having pledged funding of $50 million each.
In the meantime, Sydney-based infrastructure projects like WestConnex, Parramatta Light Rail, Sydney CBD Light Rail and the Intercity Train Fleet have all been involved in huge cost blow-outs worth up to $13 billion.
The comments by the Minister yesterday places her at odds with recent public comments by Member for Wollondilly, Jai Rowell MP, who has called for an investment into the duplication of the Picton Road, and Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward MP, who said he would ‘sort out’ the Minister on the Maldon-Dombarton project.
Both Mr Ward and Mr Rowell have expressed their support for the construction of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link noting the job opportunities it would support in the Illawarra and South-West Sydney (See Legislative Assembly Hansard, 8 March 2017)
Comments attributable to Paul Scully MP:
“The billion dollar budget blow-outs on Sydney infrastructure projects are hitting at our regional infrastructure priorities, which are the future of providing job and business opportunities between the Illawarra and South-West Sydney.
“It is well recognised in the Illawarra and the Macarthur regions that our futures are linked and central for that are good, safe transport links of the kind my Labor colleagues and I have been advocating for.
“Because the NSW Government can’t get a handle on its billion dollar budget bungles in Sydney, it is now putting off funding projects like Maldon-Dombarton rail link and upgrading Appin Road into the never-never.”
Comments attributable to Greg Warren MP:
“The NSW Government is only focused on inner Sydney infrastructure projects and its billion dollar budget blowouts are hindering building better road and rail links between the Illawarra and South-West Sydney.
“The Macarthur and Illawarra regions are two major engines for economic growth and job creation, and this fact alone substantiates the need for government investment in major infrastructure connecting the two regions. What we don’t know is why both the NSW and Federal Liberal Governments continue to ignore this at the expense of local jobs and missed economic opportunities.
“The Minister has sold-out her own Government colleagues who are also pushing for regional infrastructure road and rail upgrades by saying there’s just no money to upgrade Appin Road or duplicate the Picton Road, despite the Government recording a surplus in excess of $4.7 billion in last year’s budget.”
