Mike Baird | Member for Manly - "Chicken Feed" for NSW in Federal Budget

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"Chicken Feed" for NSW in Federal Budget

Wed 13 May - The people of Sydney are paying for infrastructure projects around the country, but are barely getting “chicken feed” for their public transport due to the incompetence of the State Labor Government, said Shadow Treasurer Mike Baird.

“Treasurer Wayne Swan confirmed today that the allocation of $91 million to Sydney for planning for the West Metro is ‘chicken feed’,” Mr Baird said.(1)

“When questioned as to why NSW only received such a small amount of funding, the Treasurer admitted there needs to be good feasibility studies supporting the funding bids and it is a question to ask the NSW Labor Government as to why they then missed out.

“Every person in NSW should today be demanding those answers from the entire Rees Labor Government as to how they could have failed them so badly.

“Whoever put the proposals together and failed to do the proper assessments should be held to account. Top of that list should be the globetrotting Minister for Infrastructure Joe Tripodi.

“The Federal Government has announced major projects for road, rail and ports totalling $8.45 billion around the country in the Budget, but Sydney only gets one percent of the money.

“NSW makes up a third of the economy and the tax we pay to Canberra is now being redirected to the other states. NSW residents are being used to fund trains in other states.

“When the states were lined up to put their submissions together, NSW came last and was told to go away and do it again.

“The Budget also sends a very ominous message about the expected rise in unemployment in NSW.

“The jobless rate in NSW is now likely to go over 9 per cent, after Wayne Swan told us that the national unemployment figure rate will now reach 8.5 per cent.

“There’s every chance we may even see double-digit unemployment in NSW because of the failure of the Rees Labor Government to secure Federal funds for job creating projects and its scrapping of infrastructure in the Mini-Budget.

“This will also put increased pressure on the State Budget, as Treasurer Roozendaal will have to somehow come up with the magic pudding to produce the money needed for the projects the Premier has promised but the Prime Minister won’t fund and retain the AAA rating,” Mr Baird said.

(1) Treasurer Wayne Swan, Radio 2UE, May 13

Media Contact: Wendy Black 0418 532 534

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Comments (4)

DEMAND ACCESS TO NSW GOVT SUBMISSIONS TO

You and Barry dshould demand access to the submissions made by this incompetent NSW Govt to the Federal Treasury for NSW funding.
DONT LET THEM OFF THE HOOK>
IF NECESSARY GET YOURSELF ON tHE ALAN JINES BREAKFAST SHOW SAND OR HADLEY ON 2GB.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
Mb

Posted by: Malcolm Bush at 14-05-2009 07:53

Infrastructure project hopelessness in N

Presumably, the reason why NSW didn\'t get more than 1% of the pie was that no announced project ever gets built in NSW... except for politically-selective roads in marginal seats (and we all know how popular they are once people realise the toll they have to pay).

NSW is also not ready to \'turn the sod\' on any project - they fiddle about for years with \"feasibility studies\" (eg Spit bridge, Frenchs Forest hospital), then abandon them due to the proposed cost blowing out.

Well, it\'s all hogwash. The new bicycle overpass over the Western Freeway (5 lanes at that point) at Mt Coot-Tha in Brisbane has cost just under $10 million. Somehow, I\'m sure that NSW wouldn\'t have managed to do it for under $30 million.

Someone needs to hold these estimates accountable – they\'re wildly inaccurate – blowing out to ridiculous sums, even before any commitment to build them. Doesn\'t the public service know how to do a quantity survey any more? Or does NSW need to put out tenders to QLD construction companies?

Posted by: Alicia at 14-05-2009 13:14

infrastructure in the backyard

hi mike...just wondering if you have any news on the buses? I catch the very limited E50 and it s very often so full that it goes right past people trying to get on. It has a very limited timetable (not suited to parents dropping off and picking up kids). Its very often late and sometimes does not turn up in north sydney. Its just not good enough! I know you have raised this a few times but don't you agree we need a new push on Sydney Buses? Have you got any ideas on next steps?

Posted by: anna reynolds at 14-05-2009 19:45

infrastructure in the backyard

Anna
I had a meeting with the Transport Minister David Campbell just yesterday asking about the bus services, as the process seems to be taking a long time after the consultation they did on new services. I was also concerned after the debacle of the timetable changes on the Hills service. He has promised that of the 300 new buses coming, 20 will go to the Northern Beaches. He's also given an assurance that they will let people know when the new timetables and services will be. We'll keep the pressure on him, as it is so important that we have a decent bus service in our area.

Posted by: Mike at 15-05-2009 10:57