In the first of our 5 questions in 5 days, we asked our federal election candidates: What do you think is the single most crucial piece of infrastructure the Illawarra needs?
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Candidates who didn’t respond – Cunningham: Nathan Waters (Science Party); Whitlam: Susan Pinsuti (CDP), Marcus Hewitt (Liberal); Gilmore: Steve Ryan (CDP), Fiona Phillips (Labor).
CUNNINGHAM
Cath Blakey (Greens)
It's not a single piece of infrastructure, it's many.
We need regulatory and investment reform to ensure every household, business and school has access to solar electricity.
Cunningham currently has 10,205 small scale solar installations. We lag behind the rest of the state, ranking at 118 out of 150 electorates, for rooftop solar.
The Greens want to help the community take the power back from energy companies, take control of our electricity bills, reduce pollution and create more solar jobs.
The Illawarra can benefit from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's schemes to support households and businesses installing solar with no upfront costs.
We need to ensure a fair price for solar is paid by energy companies.
It’s essential to work with homes and business renters and their landlords to reach agreement on installing rooftop solar. These model agreements should include battery power storage as its cost comes down.
Michelle Blicavs (Liberal)
Tourism infrastructure is one of our most important needs in the Cunningham electorate currently.
With visitor rates increasing by 132% in the last year, the refurbishment of the WIN Entertainment Centre to a Tier 2 Convention Centre has been identified as a need by the local community. An upgraded venue has the capacity to increase economic benefits to the region by $39 million and an additional 287 ongoing jobs.
As a local Liberal I have been focussed on building economic growth and jobs across Wollongong. If elected as your representative in Cunningham, I will continue to drive support for jobs and growth in our region.
The Coalition is delivering lower taxes for Illawarra small businesses which means our businesses will be in a position to employ more, invest more, export more and bring economic growth to our region.
Michelle Ryan (CDP)
The completion of the Maldon-Dombarton rail network is a crucial piece of infrastructure for the Illawarra.
This long-awaited network will help stimulate the economy by linking the west to Port Kembla Harbour and then globally via the harbour.
Sharon Bird (Labor)
The Illawarra needs to expand business opportunities and create new jobs and to achieve this we need good access to Sydney and our neighbouring regions through the Maldon-Dombarton rail link and the Appin Road. We also need reliable, high speed internet connections.
Labor has committed to $50 million towards the Maldon-Dombarton rail link and will work with the private sector to finally build the stalled project - we call on the NSW Government to match this funding to make it clear it is supported by both levels of Government.
This Rail Link would create a freight rail connection from Port Kembla to the Main South Line at Picton, providing a major boost to the Illawarra and south-western Sydney and free up the line of freight trains enabling more commuter passenger services.
Labor has also committed to upgrading the notorious Appin Road to improve capacity, safety and invest in local jobs. Our commitment covers the entire length of the road, unlike Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement that only covers Campbelltown to Appin.
Labor will also fix Malcolm Turnbull’s mess and re-start the roll out of Fibre-To-The-Premises NBN.
John Flanagan (Non-Custodial Parents Party)
Completion of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link is the single most crucial piece of infrastructure that the Illawarra needs.
In 2011, the estimated cost of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link was between $624 million and $667 million (reference ACIL Tasman "Maldon-Dombarton Rail Link Feasibility Study", September 2011).
From the ACIL report, the benefits for the completion of the railway line would be: increased exports through Port Kembla; less goods trains and more rail passenger services to and from Sydney; reduced truck traffic on the Mount Ousley Road; more investment opportunities in the Illawarra area and reduced noise and air pollution.
As a result, all residents of the Illawarra, as well as the overall Australian economy, would benefit from the completion of the rail link
WHITLAM
Tom Hunt (Greens)
The Greens favour good public transport.
The Illawarra needs a faster rail link to Sydney. The alignment hasn’t improved since it was built in the 1800s.
The trip takes longer than it ever did, especially with the current timetable. Express trains average 55kph. If we had a good rail line to Sydney, people wouldn’t be driving to Sutherland to catch the train. It would take thousands of cars off our major roads, reduce carbon pollution and free up congestion.
It’s intolerable for people forced to work in Sydney, causing many to leave the region. People should be able to communicate via mobiles and WiFi on the train.
The journey should take no more than an hour. The present line is grossly inadequate for the amount of passenger and freight traffic it could be carrying. If we can build the Sea Cliff Bridge where we did, there surely are no barriers.
Jan Mandelson (Nationals)
I think an upgrade to the rail link between the Illawarra and Central Sydney that would supply a high speed, cost effective and affordable link to ensure that our families are able to access work, major hospitals and the airport.
Currently we have a rail link that takes as long as a trip in your motor vehicle does.
Its crazy to think that in 2016, we still do not have an effective and fast rail link to our major city and still using a rail line that was built in the 1800s.
Wayne Hartman (Non-Custodial Parents Party)
Completion of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link is the single most crucial piece of infrastructure that the Illawarra needs.
In 2011, the estimated cost of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link was between $624 million and $667 million (reference ACIL Tasman "Maldon-Dombarton Rail Link Feasibility Study", September 2011).
From the ACIL report, the benefits for the completion of the railway line would be: increased exports through Port Kembla; less goods trains and more rail passenger services to and from Sydney; reduced truck traffic on the Mount Ousley Road; more investment opportunities in the Illawarra area and reduced noise and air pollution.
As a result, all residents of the Illawarra, as well as the overall Australian economy, would benefit from the completion of the rail link
Stephen Jones (Labor)
Fast, reliable broadband services for all households and businesses.
I was recently appointed Labor’s Regional Communications spokesperson and I know how important the NBN is for my electorate.
In the Southern Highlands, 74 per cent of people report an unreliable internet connection and residents in places like Tullimbar, Albion Park, Oak Flats and Haywards Bay experience particularly slow ADSL connections.
But I can tell you that Labor is putting the communications needs of communities outside of major cities front and centre. We will roll out superior Fibre-To-The-Premises NBN to up to two million additional homes and businesses and spend exactly the same amount of public funding as the Coalition.
We will also commission Infrastructure Australia to develop a plan to transition all other premises onto FTTP.
The Illawarra is home to 28,000 small businesses, many of which operate from home and they need strong broadband services to thrive. This is one of my highest priorities for the region.
GILMORE
Ann Sudmalis (Liberal)
Within the Gilmore electorate the most important piece of infrastructure is undoubtedly a new bridge over the Shoalhaven River.
This bridge has been spoken about by successive state and federal governments for years, but no action was taken until I managed to secure $10 million to cover all the planning and geological studies needed to not only build the bridge, but also ensure it fitted into the surrounding road network.
That planning is almost completed and the finalised designs will soon be drawn up.
The next stage is to get the funding to build the bridge, and to that end I recently took the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to look at the bridge while I explained how it was a choke point.
I have fought long and hard to have funding allocated to build the bridge, and have been involved in detailed discussions with my State Government colleagues and state authorities to make sure it happens. I will continue to lobby for this infrastructure investment as it is critical to unlock the potential of the South Coast, for residents, tourism and other business endeavours.
Carmel McCallum (Greens)
The Port Kembla Steelworks is the most crucial infrastructure in the Illawarra, as it provides a huge input to employment, directly and indirectly, and not just in the Illawarra, but in the Shoalhaven.
If the steelworks close, it would be almost impossible to rebuild such a massive construction under today’s costs and indifferent political will. It is essential that we maintain a strategic capability to produce quality steel to meet Australian standards.
The steel industry also presents the opportunity to invest in the new innovative economy, providing worthwhile skilled employment in the renewable energy sector, government project procurement, building and defence construction and national economic security.
The real prospect of zero-emission steel production has the potential for Australia to advance to a clean energy future.