The Greens have jumped onboard a transport policy that Labor has traditionally called their own around election time - the Maldon-Dombarton rail line.
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This time around, Whitlam MP Stephen Jones has said Labor was "committed" to it, but only when asked at a press conference on an unrelated matter.
On Friday, Greens NSW candidate for the Senate David Shoebridge was in town to champion the completion of the rail line - for both freight and passenger rail.
"This is the critical infrastructure link that is essential not just for the Illawarra but also for south-west Sydney," Mr Shoebridge said.
'It's really extraordinary that decades after it started it still hasn't been completed.
"Importantly what we are announcing today isn't a feasibility study but it's about prioritising the rail link from the $25 billion Green Infrastructure Fund the Greens propose to establish.
"Nobody in the Illawarra will benefit from another feasibility study. We just want to get this done and get it done properly with dual electrified links between south-west Sydney and the Illawarra."
Mr Shoebridge said the lack of promises on the Maldon-Dombarton line at this election was an instance of a "frustrating lack of vision" from both major parties.
"For too long the Illawarra has been treated with contempt by both major parties," he said.
"It's unwinnable for the Coalition and it's safe and able to be ignored by Labor. The clearest way you can send a message that the Illawarra deserves investment is to vote one Greens in this election."
The region has heard plenty of talk about the completion of the rail line, but yet to see shovels hit the ground. Mr Shoebridge suggested this election could bring a different result.
"This federal election can produce a very different parliament," he said.
"A parliament where no major party has absolute control, where we have the balance of power shared between Greens and progressive independents.
"That's the kind of parliament that gets things done. That's the kind of parliament that delivered an ICAC in NSW, it's the kind of parliament that delivered the NDIS federally and it's the only kind of parliament that will finally deliver this rail link."
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
