More than a week after the Gong Shuttle bombshell, government MPs are still reluctant to talk to the public about the decision.
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Last Wednesday afternoon, Transport for NSW sent out an emailed statement that there would be fares on the Gong Shuttle from January 29.
That statement did not quote Transport Minister Andrew Constance, Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward or any other MP.
Instead, it fell to an anonymous “Transport for NSW spokesperson” to deliver the bad news.
In the following days Transport Minister Andrew Constance released several terse responses before jetting off to the United States last Friday.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian chose not to respond to Mercury questions at all – not even those about the “forever more” guarantee she offered the Gong Shuttle as Transport Minister in 2013.
The timing of the announcement was bad for Mr Ward, who was on leave last week.
Once the Mercury was made aware of this, we chose not to try and contact him until he returned.
Mr Ward arrived back in the region on Tuesday and, since then has posted a Facebook image of him at Kiama Leagues Club holding his Melbourne Cup betting ticket followed by media releases about marine estuary management and the naming of a waterbombing tanker.
No word about the impossible-to-miss outcry over the Gong Shuttle.
The Mercury made a number of calls and texts to the parliamentary secretary over the last two days but to no avail.
We were left with the impression Mr Ward – like Mr Constance and Ms Berejiklian – would prefer it if the whole Gong Shuttle issue just went away.
Clearly, it’s a decision government MPs and ministers want to stay as far away from as possible.
But Labor spokesman for the Illawarra Ryan Park said they can't do that forever.
“This government is kidding themselves if they think they’re going to hide from the fury that the Illawarra community has expressed over the last week,” Mr Park said.
“Gareth Ward needs to earn his keep as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast and get this decision reversed or his position in that role is simply untenable.”