A Labor government would take action to “save” the Royal National Park from the Liberals’ road-building agenda, NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley has revealed.
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The move, announced during Mr Foley’s budget reply on Thursday, would see the national park nominated for world heritage listing.
“Labor won’t have a bar of a toll road being carved through one of our state’s most popular, most visited national parks,” he said.
Fairfax Media revealed last week the government was considering acquiring 60 hectares of national park to build the F6 Extension, which would link the M1 Princes Motorway with the Sydney motorway network.
Alternatively, according to an internal government report, about 460 houses and 40 commercial properties between Loftus and Waterfall would be bulldozed.
“This is Australia’s oldest national park, created in 1879,” Mr Foley said during his budget reply speech.
“The second oldest anywhere in the world, after Yellowstone in the United States.
“The Americans wouldn’t come at an idea as silly as this. Not even President Donald J. Trump would plough a motorway through Yellowstone.”
Mr Foley said a Labor government would “act to nominate the Royal National Park for world heritage listing”.
“We will save one of the most special natural places on earth ... from the Liberals,” he said.
The Illawarra was mentioned briefly in the budget reply, with Mr Foley reaffirming Labor’s Jobs Action Plan that was revealed just prior to November’s Wollongong byelection.
The Labor leader described the Illawarra as “a major economic contributor” and said the plan was “a comprehensive strategy to back the region’s potential”.
“We’ll secure the future of the steel industry - and we’ll grow jobs in the tourism industry with an upgrade to the WIN Entertainment Centre,” he said.
“And unlike those opposite we’ll upgrade the Appin Road.”
The party’s Illawarra spokesman, Keira MP Ryan Park, said the region would be “front and centre” of a Labor government agenda.