With the NSW South Coast also crucial to a state byelection on February 12,federal and state Labor joined forces on Thursday to promise more help for bushfire brigades and communities still suffering from the “black summer” fires two years ago.
Mr Albanese said a Labor government would back more projects on the Princes Highway that runs through the electorates south of Sydney,as locals seek pledges to duplicate the main road in the way the Pacific Highway has been duplicated for most of its route in the state’s north.
“We’ll make a range of specific commitments during the campaign,” he said.
“I’m a guy who,as infrastructure minister,doubled the roads budget.”
Road funding has been a flashpoint in Gilmore during long arguments about a new bridge being built over the Shoalhaven River at Nowra,a new bridge at Bateman’s Bay and a bypass being planned for Moruya.
Existing projects will duplicate the Princes Highway to the new Nowra bridge,but the main road will be a single lane for most of the route south of the town unless new commitments are made.
Campaigning in Moruya and Mogo on Thursday,Mr Albanese avoided specific pledges on roads and said only that a Labor government would negotiate with state leaders over projects.
Mr Albanese noted,however,the Princes Highway is not part of the national road network,unlike the Pacific Highway,which received 80 per cent federal funding for projects in the past.
Standing outside the Rural Fire Service operations centre in Moruya,Mr Albanese and state Labor leader Chris Minns promised $25 million for a new centre (in a 20:5 state:federal split) and heard RFS district commander Angus Barnes tell of the overcrowding in the building during the black summer fires.
The race for Gilmore is tightening with the entry of Liberal candidate Andrew Constance,the former state transport minister and member for Bega whose bid for Federal Parliament triggered the state byelection.
The Bega byelection is,an obstetrician who is said to have delivered many of the region’s younger citizens.
Gilmore is held by Labor MP Fiona Phillips with a margin of 2.6 per cent. She from the Liberals,who held the seat for the previous 23 years,naming health,bushfire recovery and infrastructure as key issues.
Mr Albanese and Ms Phillips heard on Thursday from shop owners in Mogo who said the pandemic had compounded the harm from the bushfires two years ago,which destroyed homes,stores and stock.
“I feel like we haven’t moved forward,” said Lorena Granados,who has owned Roman Leather Goods on the Princes Highway for 20 years and whose business is about 60 per cent smaller today than before the fires. She operates from a demountable after the loss of her home and store.
“Everything is just a temporary solution. We’re dependent a lot on tourists and we’re missing the international tourists. I feel like we’re still on square one,” Ms Granados said.
Mr Albanese was greeted warmly by passers-by including John James,a concreter sporting a Rabbitohs tattoo and sharing the Labor leader’s love for the South Sydney rugby league team.
But Mr James made no criticism of the government when asked how Prime Minister Scott Morrison was performing and whether Mr Albanese should win.
“I felt sorry for Scott Morrison. He’s had the worst trip of any pollie I’ve seen in my life with COVID,the fires,you name it,” he said.
“He’s not God and I don’t think anybody could handle it and I think he’s done a pretty good job.
“Big issues? I don’t have any,mate. I just want to retire and be happy with life. As long as I’m down here and I’m out fishing,I’m a very happy boy.”