Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said Labor’s confirmation it will dump the long-awaited upgrade of the Great Western Highway is further proof it has no economic plan to build the transformative infrastructure projects to keep NSW moving forward.
Mr Toole said the move sends a clear message to regional NSW that under Labor the building of legacy infrastructure projects would come to a grinding halt.
“Chris Minns is setting a whole new standard for cancel culture – he’s already cancelled two Metro lines critical for Western Sydney and now he’s cancelling a game-changing highway upgrade that would better connect Sydney with western NSW,” Mr Toole said.
“It’s becoming clearer by the day that Labor won’t build the infrastructure our state needs and that NSW will stall.
“NSW Labor built nothing for 16 years when they were last in office and now they’re running on an election platform of doing nothing for the next four.
“Labor’s policy to scrap the public sector wages cap will leave a $9 billion black hole in the budget, meaning more major infrastructure projects will be on the chopping block, particularly ones that matter to regional NSW.”
³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said it was unsurprising to see Labor cut the Great Western Highway upgrade to fund its election campaign in Western Sydney.
“Chris Minns’ Labor has no economic plan for NSW – and no plan to build anything that matters to people west of Penrith,” Mr Farraway said.
“Our Great Western Highway upgrade will transform travel for the thousands of people who use this road every day. Under Labor, it will be scrapped and those thousands of people – and the rest of NSW – will be stuck at a standstill.
“If Labor is cutting this project what else are they planning to cut? March 25 is only a few weeks away and our regional communities need to decide if they want to keep moving forward or go back to the dark days of Labor.”
