Corrections Minister and member for Parramatta Geoff Lee said the of the Parramatta light rail project was one of the biggest issues across the area and would probably influence votes.
NSW Corrections Minister and Parramatta MP Geoff Lee appears alongside federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher on Tuesday.Kate Geraghty
“I believe it will be a major influence on how these people vote,” Mr Lee toldThe Sydney MorningHerald andThe Age on Tuesday,after appearing at a press conference with Fiona Martin,the Liberal member for the
“I think they need to listen to the people. This is the last real missing piece.”
Wentworth Point and other suburbs near the banks of Parramatta River lie within Reid,which the Coalition holds with a slim 3.2 per cent margin. They are home to tens of thousands of people who were promised the extension of the light rail line from Camellia to Olympic Park by the state government.
While Lee said the state did not have the money to go it alone on the $3 billion second stage,federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said any request from states for Commonwealth funding had to go through “a well-established process”.
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“We have not,at this stage,received a request from the NSW state government in relation to Parramatta light rail stage two,” Fletcher said,adding that states needed to put forward proposals based on business cases if they wanted funding from the Commonwealth for projects.
However,Lee described as “ridiculous” the proposition that a fully-fledged business case and a letter from the NSW government was needed before the Commonwealth could consider funding.
“Governments make election commitments all the time without business cases. Any money would help start the process. Wentworth Point is one road in,one road out,” he said.
“The reality is we’re going to find it very difficult to fund this project. We’ve got significant commitments on our books already.”
An artist’s impression of the second stage of the light rail line over Parramatta River between Melrose Park and Wentworth Point.PAYCE
The second stage of Parramatta light rail is among projects which could be further delayed to push back large infrastructure builds amid rising construction costs and labour shortages.
Labor holds the federal seat of Parramatta,which would also be serviced by an extended light rail,by only 3.5 per cent. High-profile ALP candidate Andrew Charlton is vying with the Liberal’s Maria Kovacic for the seat.
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said the second stage of the light rail project,which was announced by his predecessor,was never conditional on federal funding.
However,he said the federal Treasury would be among those he would approach for money when he received the business case for the second stage.
Elliott said a “responsible government” waited for a business case before committing money.
The state’s transport agency has previously said that a “refreshed” final business case for the second stage was expected to be handed to the government’s expenditure review committee this year.
An earlier version of the final business case was presented to the government’s adviser,Infrastructure NSW,in 2019.
When the proposed route of the second stage was unveiled in 2017,the-then transport minister Andrew Constance said he was hopeful construction would start
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said the delay in the second stage of the Parramatta light rail was a joint failure by state and federal Coalition governments.
“Both the state and federal liberals won’t deliver,and the people of Parramatta and western Sydney are left without the transport service they’ve been promised as a result,” he said.
NSW Labor is yet to commit to the project should it win government in 2023.
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