The bumbling mismanagement by the Rees Labor Government on essential infrastructure for electricity supplying the Sydney CBD, has led to a multi-million dollar piece of machinery being encased in concrete, Shadow Treasurer Mike Baird and Shadow Minister for Industry Duncan Gay said today.

“I have never seen such incompetence. The $10 million boring machine was being used to dig under the city to upgrade electricity infrastructure,” Mr Baird said.

“This machine completed the first phase of the work representing about a third of the total tunnelling required and then due to a lack of planning approvals was buried,” he said.

“Just a few weeks later, with the power going out across the city, it appears the project is back on the agenda.

“Only problem is that the initial machinery is now buried under Sussex Street.

“If this project was properly specified from the start for a single machine, there is no doubt the state could have saved millions.

“This is an obscene waste of money. 

“It’s this sort of waste which will have the ratings agencies questioning the retention of the state’s AAA credit rating when the state budget is delivered next month, as the Labor Government cannot control expenses,” said Mr Baird.

Mr Gay said this $10 million waste of taxpayers’ money is a direct result of Energy Minister Ian Macdonald’s failure to plan for the future.

“Mr Macdonald’s stop start approach to planning is simply not good enough. The recent blackouts in Sydney were also a direct result of State Labor’s complete inability to plan for the State’s future energy needs,” Mr Gay said.

“Mistakes like this have to be paid for, and people will see it in their electricity bills,“ he said.

Media Contact: Wendy Black 0418 532 534

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