Analysis
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It was a map of Australia, printed inside one of this year’s glossy budget documents, which best summed up the ongoing lack of federal investment in Illawarra-specific infrastructure projects.
The graphic – headlined “Building Australia” – outlined the Turnbull government’s 10-year national infrastructure plan “to reduce congestion, improve safety and create jobs”.
While it showed cash had been, or would be, splashed across the country in coming years – just $155 million for half a new bridge at Nowra was the closest the Illawarra got to a slice of the overall $75 billion spend.
In this year’s budget alone, $1.5 billion was set aside for “priority regional and urban infrastructure” in NSW. Of that money, the lion’s share – almost $1 billion – went to the Pacific Highway bypass of Coffs Harbour on the state’s Mid North Coast.
The cash for the planned 14km bypass, which sits in the National Party-held electorate of Cowper, was announced ahead of the budget being handed down by Treasurer Scott Morrison on Tuesday night.
The federal injection of funding complements state money being pumped into upgrades along the Pacific Highway between Hexham, near Newcastle, and the Queensland border.
Those upgrades began in 1996 and are expected to be completed by 2020. At present, about 80 per cent of the 657km stretch of that section of highway has been upgraded to a four-lane divided road.
The focus on the Pacific Highway in the state’s north comes as a Fairfax Media campaign – of which the Mercury is part of – calls for similar investment in the Princes Highway between the Jervis Bay turnoff and the Victorian border.
The campaign, called Fix it Now, has called for an 80/20 funding split between the federal and state governments for upgrades along the dangerous stretch of highway, which shares the same national route number – Highway 1 – as the Pacific Highway.
Of note, the Princes Highway in NSW is part of an overall network of highways that circle the country and link all mainland state capitals over a length of about 14,500km.
This year’s budget also saw $3.3 billion allocated to the Bruce Highway and $1 billion to the M1 Pacific Motorway in Queensland – both of which form part of Highway 1.
There was no mention of the Princes Highway in NSW within this year’s budget papers, let alone the section south of Nowra.
On that front, South Coast road safety campaigners would no doubt be left feeling short-changed by a new federal government initiative dubbed “Roads of Strategic Importance” (ROSI).
Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis hinted last week that the Princes Highway could benefit from such a fund, when she flagged a study into the strategic importance of the stretch of road south of Nowra was under way.
However, the budget papers stated the $3.5 billion to be spent over the next 10 years as part of the initiative had been been earmarked specifically for regional corridors in Northern Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, and connections between NSW and the ACT.
Just over $2 billion was allocated under the ROSI initiative in this budget – the majority of which, $1.5 billion, went to northern Australia.
A total of $100 million was allocated to the Barton Highway corridor connecting NSW and the ACT.
The main focus of the government’s infrastructure plan was to “benefit people and businesses in every state and territory”, the glossy budget document said, “by improving road safety, tackling congestion and delivering essential rail links”.
In terms of NSW rail infrastructure, this budget saw $400 million allocated to duplicate 2.9 kilometres of freight line between Mascot and Port Botany.
The Illawarra’s long-awaited and incomplete freight rail link – the Maldon-Dombarton line – went begging, despite a 2018/19 budget allocation of $7.9 billion for rail projects across the country.
A Mercury analysis of the past three years of budget papers shows the Illawarra has received little Commonwealth cash for infrastructure over that period.
Even the largest single allocation of money – the $155 million for the Nowra bridge – has not yet been locked in.
The NSW government has to come to the party with matching funds to ensure the bridge is built.
City deals in spotlight
The head of Regional Development Australia Illawarra (RDAI) has called on the federal government to fast-track its plans, saying the growth of Western Sydney will have a major impact on the region.
RDAI chief executive Debra Murphy said while the 2018-19 budget was fiscally responsible, it didn’t go far enough when it came to planning “second-tier” cities such as Wollongong.
The call came as western Sydney becomes a region in its own right through a significant investment in infrastructure.
The cash splash can be linked to a new “City Deals” framework, which Ms Murphy said provided a platform for local, state and federal governments to “bring their piece of the puzzle” to the negotiation table.
The Turnbull government has signed three city deals – in Western Sydney, Launceston and Townsville – since December, 2016.
The Western Sydney City Deal, signed on March 4, is a 20-year agreement between Canberra, the NSW government and eight local councils “to deliver jobs, rail and investment for the people of Western Sydney”, a budget statement on regional Australia said.
The Commonwealth has committed $125 million to fund the deal, which builds on its $5.3 billion Western Sydney Airport investment.
RDAI has been working on connectivity between Western Sydney and the Illawarra for “quite some time”, Ms Murphy said, and a Wollongong City Deal has been in the works for about 18 months.
“We’re ready to go with a city deal but we’re sort of waiting for the government to release the next tranche of deals,” she said.
“What we would like to do is to up the ante and say ‘well, if you’re a government that’s responsible in terms of planning for the long term, we need to bring some of our plans forward because what happens in Western Sydney will have a major impact on the Illawarra’.”
MP’s frustration as freight link neglected
An Illawarra Labor MP has vowed not to walk away from the fight to complete the region’s missing rail link, despite no Illawarra mentions in her party’s alternative plan for the country.
Member for Cunningham Sharon Bird’s pledge to see the entire Maldon-Dombarton link built came as $400 million was pumped into a section of freight rail line between Mascot and Port Botany in this year’s federal budget.
Ms Bird on Friday hit out at the Turnbull government for again overlooking the Maldon-Dombarton – a partially-built 35km link that would leave the main southern line near Picton and join the Moss Vale-Unanderra line near Port Kembla.
“I will never walk away from that,” Ms Bird said of her Maldon-Dombarton campaigning. “We had $50 million on the table to work with the private sector to build it when we lost government, and the first Abbott budget removed it.”
The Labor MP said the project was more than just a dollar figure and line item in the budget papers.
“This government … just don’t seem to be giving it any sort of priority or engaging with the broader links of our region to south-western Sydney, particularly the new airport,” she said.
“Our road links, our rail links, the capacity of the port – these are real job opportunities.”
Opportunities for workers was highlighted during Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s budget reply on Thursday night. At the centre of his alternative plan was a promise to almost double the Coalition’s tax cuts if Labor wins the next election.
Of Illawarra significance, Mr Shorten also vowed to prioritise Australian-made steel in infrastructure projects.
Whitlam MP Stephen Jones said Labor would invest money into education, aged care and healthcare.
“When you don’t give $80 billion away to some of the world’s biggest companies you’ve got plenty of money in the budget to do things for the good of the Illawarra community,” Mr Jones said.
“Our alternative plan ... means that we can give a fair tax cut to low and middle-income earners – a tax cut almost double what Malcolm Turnbull was putting on the table.
“We are prioritising low and middle-income earners because that is where the need is the greatest.”