COUNTRY Labor has slammed the NSW Nationals’ funding pledge to build the Muswellbrook Bypass, saying the party “cannot be trusted”.
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On Thursday, Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen announced the government would “go it alone” – and commit the full $266 million required to back the project.
The pair, while in Muswellbrook, told a press conference that following the completion of a report into the route on the New England Highway, a preferred corridor had been identified and construction was likely to start as soon as 2022.
The 9.1km bypass will begin about 1km south of the highway’s intersection at Muscle Creek Road and reconnect to the existing thoroughfare about 1.2km north of Sandy Creek Road.
But, Country Labor’s Upper Hunter candidate Melanie Dagg said everyone had “heard it all before”.
“In March 2015, the Nationals made a promise to the people of Upper Hunter they would soon begin work on the Muswellbrook and Singleton bypasses,” she stated.
“Four years later, neither project has been delivered.
“Now, Mr Barilaro is again promising the Muswellbrook Bypass for the 2019 election.
“However, this time around, he’s guaranteeing a scaled-down version of the project that is six years late.
“This is typical of the Liberals and Nationals who over-promise and under-deliver right across NSW.”
Days before the 2015 election, $92 million was promised for the Singleton Bypass and $68 million for the Muswellbrook Bypass.
“The locals were told that work would begin the following financial year,” Mrs Dagg said.
“After plenty of excuses and delays, the government told councillors in November 2018 that it was ‘unrealistic’ for the bypass to be built by 2020.
“Last month, when Mr Barilaro was in Muswellbrook, he said the project wasn’t on the Nationals’ agenda – and indicated it was an issue for local officials.
“He was even quoted in the Muswellbrook Chronicle as saying, ‘It isn’t on the agenda… it’s on the agenda of the council but that work has to be done, there’s a lot of work to do before you can actually start building a bypass’.
“Let’s be honest.
“Politicians have been talking about a Singleton and Muswellbrook bypass since I was a little girl.
“I drive on these roads every week and we have to stop the talk and actually deliver for the people of the Upper Hunter.”
Mrs Dagg received strong support from Shadow Minister for Transport and Roads, Jodi McKay.
“Now, just like in 2015, several weeks out from an election, the Nationals have again announced that the Muswellbrook bypass will be built,” she said.
“Locals have seen these hollow promises again and again – and they are not buying it.
“How can voters in the Upper Hunter really trust that the Nationals will deliver on this project?”