Westconnex

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-97026

Hansard session: Fifty-Sixth Parliament, First Session (56-1)

Westconnex

Priority

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (15:23:21):

I move:

That this House supports the construction of the M4-M5 WestConnex Stage 3 link.

I make it very clear at this point that the WestConnex M4-M5 link will keep the traffic flowing across the WestConnex project and reduce the congestion that plagues hundreds of thousands of motorists each and every day. The Berejiklian-Barilaro Government is committed to investing in and building the roads and infrastructure that New South Wales desperately needs. Those opposite had 16 years to futureproof New South Wales but they did nothing. They had no vision, no plans—just many unfunded promises. This motion has been accorded priority because the people of New South Wales want and need this Government to get on with the job without the roadblocks put up by those opposite. This is Labor's opportunity to step up and show its true colours, to be responsible and support the construction of WestConnex and to fix the M4 and M5.

Ms Tania Mihailuk:

I agree with you. You are not arguing priority.

Mr MARK COURE:

I know that. I said that already. Those opposite should stop playing political games with the lives of people from western, south-west and south of Sydney and support WestConnex finally.

Ms Tania Mihailuk:

It's okay. We've got a debate.

Mr MARK COURE:

Well, put it on the record. Why don't you put it on the record? We on this side of the House are getting on with the job of delivering for the people of New South Wales. I invite those opposite to put on the record their support for WestConnex and fixing the M4 and the M5 finally, instead of just being a roadblock.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr Lee Evans):

Order! I call the member for Bankstown to order for the second time.

Mr MARK COURE:

Communities, and particularly working families living in Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Kogarah, Rockdale, East Hills, Oatley, Camden, Holsworthy, Penrith, Mulgoa, Parramatta and Lakemba, want this project to be delivered to ease traffic congestion and make their lives better. These areas will benefit greatly from the single biggest infrastructure project currently being built anywhere in Australia. WestConnex will widen and extend the M4, improving traffic along Parramatta Road and throughout the inner west. Labor has no plan when it comes to building much-needed infrastructure in Sydney and New South Wales. If people want congested motorways, Labor will deliver that—and that is the only thing Labor will deliver. The Liberal-Nationals Government will deliver an efficient, integrated, efficient transport system that supports growing the greater Sydney region for the west, south-west and southern suburbs.

Unlike the Opposition, the Government does not throw up its hands and say, "Sydney is full." We get on with the job of fixing the problems that affect people across this great State each and every day. WestConnex will be at the core of Sydney's motorway network, providing the long overdue underground link between the M4 and M5 and creating a seamless motorway without traffic lights. This project will let commuters bypass over 50 sets of traffic lights each and every day. This project will ensure greater connectivity between the greater west, the south, the south-west and of course the inner‑city hubs across Sydney. Not only will commuters stand to benefit but life will be made easier for those working families, the tradies, the couriers and the freight operators who rely on Sydney's road network to do their jobs.

Time expired

This Government is building an integrated road network and WestConnex is central to this. Most importantly, Sydney needs the M4-M5 to bypass the central business district, reducing traffic and dispersing it through the Rozelle interchange, and laying the foundations for future infrastructure projects, including the F6 and the Western Harbour Tunnel. This not only will reduce traffic congestion from local roads but also will bring economic benefits. In fact, the WestConnex project is expected to inject $20 million in economic benefits into the New South Wales economy. [.]

Ms JODI McKAY (Strathfield) (15:28:50):

I thank the Government for moving this motion because I always appreciate the opportunity to talk in this place about WestConnex and the mismanagement of that project—as I have done since it was first proposed. Overriding everything that is wrong with the way the Government is managing the project is the premise on which the Government proposed WestConnex. It sold it to Western Sydney as a project that would allow motorists to get to the airport and the port much more efficiently. It recognised that there was vehicle congestion for the people of Western Sydney; the Opposition agrees. The fact remains that the M4 East and the M5 duplication are underway, yet we still do not know how we are going to get to the airport or the port. The Government has not been able to fulfil the premise of this project.

The cost of this project started at $10 billion. It is now $16.8 billion, with no explanation as to why or how that cost has increased. This side of the House is firmly on the side of residents whose houses have been compulsorily acquired and we have advocated for a fairer deal for those residents. The M4-M5 link environmental impact statement [EIS] and business case are no longer current. The Government changes each day the way the proposal will work. Recently it removed the Camperdown exit. The traffic can enter and leave the motorway only at Haberfield and St Peters. The business case and EIS were premised on the Camperdown exit and are, therefore, no longer current. Labor has spoken time and time again in the House and publicly about the community's concern about tolls. The M4 will be tolled, but in 2010 the toll on that road was removed by Labor. Labor supports a toll‑free M4. Labor supports a different way to manage tolls that includes the involvement of the Auditor-General and the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal. It categorically opposes tolls increasing beyond the consumer price index, which is what will happen with WestConnex and other roads in this State. Tolls will increase by up to 4 per cent a quarter.

I do want to touch on the secretive Sydney Motorway Corporation. That is important when considering the botched way in which this Government is delivering WestConnex—not just the M4 widening, the M4 East, the M4-M5 Link or the duplication of the M5, but the entire project. The Sydney Gateway was supposed to deliver people to the airport, but it is still unclear how that will happen. We are told the Sydney Motorway Corporation is a private entity and therefore not subject to the Government Information Public Access Act requirements of releasing information to the community. There is very little known about this organisation. It is not possible to discover how much the chief executive officer of the Sydney Motorway Corporation is earning. That is a fundamental question for the Government.

Mr Troy Grant:

Ask him.

Ms JODI McKAY:

The member for Dubbo says that we should ask. He should know that the Opposition has asked and received no answer. The Government opposed the Government Information Public Access Act amendments proposed by the Opposition that would have forced disclosure.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr Lee Evans):

Order! The member for Strathfield will direct her comments through the Chair.

Ms JODI McKAY:

I will. Recently, the Sydney Motorway Corporation sponsored the Greater Western Sydney Giants Australian Football League team. That is a rort involving Tony Shepherd, the chair of the Giants and former chair of the Sydney Motorway Corporation. Taxpayers' money is being used to support a sporting team in exchange for branding on a building and signs that people hold up at the game saying "WestConnex: Kicking goals for Western Sydney". If this Government were serious about supporting the Giants it would fund the team without asking for something in return. It has asked for the branding of WestConnex all over the Giants. For the first time in history a tollway is sponsoring a sporting team. The Government will not answer fundamental questions about how much it is paying the Giants and what the terms of the contract are. The Opposition is happy to debate motions concerning WestConnex.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy) (15:33:57):A Better Way

The people of Sydney have no doubt that this is a Government capable of investing in and delivering integrated transport solutions for the people who rely on the network. It is staggering that the Opposition continues to peddle the absurd notion that the crucial link between the M4 and the M5 should never be built. Labor's infrastructure plan, , states that the proposed M4‑M5 tunnel link is not a transport priority. If the link is not built the F6 will not be built, thereby ensuring a life of traffic gridlock for the people of southern Sydney and the South Coast. Delivery of the stage three M4‑M5 tunnel link is the single most critical part of WestConnex, and it is central to Sydney's future transport network.

The M4-M5 links to the future new M5 and will form part of the integrated transport program to get Sydney moving. It includes the Sydney Metro Northwest, the Sydney Metro City and Southwest, the Sydney West Metro, NorthConnex, the CBD and South East Light Rail, and Parramatta Light Rail. Road users do not need to be reminded that travelling on the M5 can turn from a great run into a lengthy trip as you sit in gridlock with commuters travelling to and from the city every day. I do it regularly and cannot wait for a road to be built that will allow more flexibility.

WestConnex will double traffic capacity along the M5 East corridor by building a new section of the M5, which includes construction of twin underground motorway tunnels from Kingsgrove to a new interchange at St Peters. The Government is pushing ahead to deliver the new M5 for all road users. Whether you are travelling from the west, south-west or all the way in from the Southern Highlands, this road will help you. Tunnelling is taking place 24 hours a day, seven days a week at three tunnelling sites, with additional road headers to launch from Kingsgrove this year. It is obvious when you drive past that it is progressing well.

The new nine-kilometre M5 tunnel will run underground from Kingsgrove to St Peters roughly in parallel—just to the south—of the existing M5 East, expanding the overall motorway corridor from two to four lanes in each direction, thereby doubling its capacity. This vital stage of WestConnex will cut up to half an hour from an average peak-time journey between Liverpool and south Sydney and motorists will be able to travel from Beverly Hills to St Peters in around 10 minutes. What a difference that will make to motorists. During peak times the average travel times on the M5 East generally will be halved and average travel speeds will be doubled for the more than 100,000 motorists who use the corridor every day. There will be around 12 kilometres of new and improved shared pedestrian and cycle paths around the interchange site. It will change the lives of thousands of motorists each day. It cannot be completed soon enough.

Mr RON HOENIG (Heffron) (15:37:11):

Sending the member for Oatley out to argue in favour of the M4-M5 WestConnex stage three is like sending General Custer to the Battle of the Little Bighorn: It is doomed to fail. As the member for Oatley strutted up and down the Chamber with his hand in his coat, trying to appear as the conservative Winston Churchill, the only similarity was his stature—and I do not mean the way he dominated the House. The Government's announcement at the end of 2012 shows the reality of the WestConnex shambles. It stated that the M4-M5 link would resemble the boulevards seen in Paris and Barcelona. Remember that?

The Government stated it would be a magnificent structure that would be completed for a grand price tag of $10 billion. The genesis of this roadway was to cater for the volume of traffic to and from Port Botany and the airport. The problem is that the announced roadway did not go within eight kilometres of Port Botany. To this date, as expenditure has crept above $17 billion, it still does not go near the airport or Port Botany. It does not do anything about Sydney's freight or the movement of millions of airport passengers. The Government has not even approached Sydney Airport to gain access to the airport.

Sydney Morning HeraldTime expired

This road is simply a political announcement. The Government is incurring expenses of more than $17 billion so far, and that figure will keep climbing as holes are dug in the middle of Sydney. It is a political solution to deal with traffic chaos. The Government is trying to sell the poor people in Western Sydney a bill of goods as they sit there, struggling, in car parks on the M4 and M5. What happened to the magnificent Paris or Barcelona boulevards? I suppose it was probably best described when announced in the by some reputable journalists, Josephine Tovey and Jacob Saulwick, who wrote "Traffic sewer will be no Paris or Barcelona". The Government's sewer policy was disclosed when it was announced in 2012. On 15 April 2013 the Paris- or Barcelona-like boulevard or slot was magically dropped. For three years Government members ran around the State announcing a magnificent boulevard. []

Ms JENNY LEONG (Newtown) (15:40:22):

By leave: I express my serious concern about this motion. I was asked to be less mean in this Chamber so I ask the Government nicely to take a minute and ask itself, "At what point do we take stock and halt the construction of WestConnex?" Originally it was a $10 billion plan but now it has blown out to more than $17 billion plus, which does not include the cost of linking WestConnex to the airport because the Sydney gateway cost is now set outside it. I ask the Government: With the cost increase, at what point does it call a halt, take a step back and review the business case—which is questionable in the first place in terms of the cost-benefit ratio—and say that the cost has blown out too much? The Government needs to stop what it is doing and take a step back.

I ask: How many changes to the original plan have to be made and announced before the Government says what it is building is no longer what it announced or what it was supposed to build in the first place? The Government needs to halt this process and go back and consider the alternatives. The member for Holsworthy said that workers are tunnelling 24/7. I can report that the people of Haberfield, where heritage homes were acquired and demolished at the hands of this Liberal Government, hear them tunnelling 24/7. I assure everyone who is listening to this debate and who wants this project to stop that the Government, by its own measure, is far from building the M4-M5 link. There are no draft design plans, there is no planning approval and, most importantly, there is no funding.

There is a $7 billion cost associated with this tunnel. It will cost more to build than the groundbreaking tunnel that links France and the United Kingdom. This WestConnex tunnel, which will be an eight-lane monstrosity built under the Newtown, Camperdown and inner west, will cost more than the Channel Tunnel. Is that the best use of the New South Wales taxpayer dollar? Is that the best use of public funds to address congestion? At what point will the cost blow out so much that the Government will listen, call a halt to construction and review this crazy tollway?

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (15:40:22):

In reply: Today we have exposed each and every member of Labor and The Greens, who have always opposed WestConnex.

Ms Jenny Leong:

Exposed or opposed?

Mr MARK COURE:

Opposed. Today we exposed Labor. Labor members say one thing in this Chamber in opposition to WestConnex, the M5 and the M4 but another in their electorates where they support the project. The Berejiklian-Barilaro Government is committed to investing and building the roads and infrastructure that New South Wales needs, unlike those opposite who had 16 years to futureproof New South Wales and did nothing. The former Government had no vision or plans, just a lot of unfunded promises.

Interruption

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The member for Maitland will have her turn shortly. The people of New South Wales want and need this Government to get on with the job without facing roadblocks put up by those opposite. Today was Labor's opportunity to step up and show its true colours, to be reasonable and support the construction of WestConnex and finally fix the M4 and the M5, but today its members spoke against the project. Today they failed each and every one of the people, communities and working families in Western Sydney as well as south-west and southern Sydney by opposing WestConnex. We on this side of the House are getting on with the job of delivering for the people of New South Wales.

Extending the M4 to the M5 and linking them via WestConnex is important infrastructure for the people of New South Wales, particularly those who live in the western, south-western and southern suburbs of Sydney. Families in those areas must be able to get to work and return home sooner. I urge those opposite to be on the right side of history and to support the construction of stage three of WestConnex because the people of Sydney and New South Wales want this Government to deliver. Communities, particularly those in Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Kogarah, Rockdale, East Hills and others such as Cabramatta, Holsworthy, Camden and Penrith, want this project to be delivered to ease congestion and to make people's lives better.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER:

The question is that the motion as moved by the member for Oatley be agreed to.

The House divided.

Ayes47

Noes37

Majority10

Motion agreed to.