The federal government has been accused of pork-barrelling after the Illawarra’s Labor seats were snubbed in its latest cash splash.
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The heated commentary comes after a major Wollongong City Council project was overlooked in round two of the National Stronger Regions Fund.
Three projects in the Liberal seat of Gilmore received more than $11 million in Monday’s funding allocation, $9.5 million of which was splashed on the Shoalhaven Motorsports Complex.
Wollongong City Council received just $900,000 to help complete the remaining section of its Blue Mile project – the $5.7 million Tramway path between Belmore Basin and North Beach.
The long-awaited Fowlers Road bridge link to West Dapto missed out, leaving Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery and Throsby MP Stephen Jones seeing red. “It is appalling that they would allocate $9 million to a motorsport facility in the Shoalhaven that hasn’t even got council approval,” Cr Bradbery said.
At $90 million, the link project is worth more than council’s annual capital works budget.
Council is currently in a position to cover about $30 million, Cr Bradbery said.
“All we wanted was another contribution of $10 million to add to that fund,” he said.
“Am I meant to be grateful for $900,000 when Gosford and Wyong got $10 million? Wollongong has been dudded and this is a fine example. “That stronger regions fund is a national fund ... and it definitely smells of political overtones to me.” Mr Jones echoed the sentiment, saying the shovel-ready Fowlers Road project was “critical to the development of the area”.
“Bong Bong Road is a car park in the morning and the afternoon, [we] desperately need major infrastructure to support the West Dapto urban development and they’ve funded these other projects,” he said.
“Eighty per cent of the projects that have been funded are in Coalition electorates. I describe it as pork barrelling.
“Whatever the merits of those [other] projects, the guidelines of the fund are clear – it's about supporting economic development.
“Nothing could be more important to the economic development of the southern Illawarra than fixing the transport mess.”
Mr Jones has penned a letter to Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss, seeking a briefing on why the project wasn’t funded and what needs to be done to ensure it isn’t overlooked in the next round. Mr Truss’ office was contacted for comment.
