LABOR has taken aim at the government’s delay in funding for the Scone bypass, claiming the tender announcement for construction was long overdue.
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Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Pat Conroy MP was in Scone on Thursday with Labor’s candidate for New England David Ewings to discuss issues of concern to the business community with the Scone Chamber.
“One of the core issues we talked about was infrastructure and the impact of the Scone bypass should it ever happen,” Mr Ewings said.
Mr Ewings said Labor has been critical of Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals for not delivering on infrastructure projects that were previously funded under the Labor government.
“Not just the Scone bypass but the Tenterfield heavy vehicle bypass,” he said.
“The issue is that it has taken nearly five years to even get to the point where they sign on it.
“I want to see some definitive negotiations between all levels of government that are stakeholders in the project to make sure it happens sooner rather than later.
“Regardless of whether you put a bridge over it or a railway over it, it is a safety concern particularly in Scone when traffic has to be diverted.”
Mr Conroy said the delay is completely unnecessary and the Labor government allocated $45 million to the project in the 2012 Budget.
“Labor funded the bypass, building on the massive $1.6 billion Hunter Expressway,” he said.
“The project, completed in a timely manner, has drastically reduced travel times for residents of the Upper Hunter, including those in Scone.
“Adequate infrastructure investment is essential if we are to grow the Hunter and New England regions.
“The region has enormous economic potential but is being held back by a Federal Government that is all talk when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is.”
Skyrocketing Energy Prices
Other issues of concern for Mr Ewings are the price of energy which has “skyrocketed in the past four months” and the need to boost employment in the area.
“We need policies and infrastructure spending in our area to alleviate the concerns of business owners,” Mr Ewings said.
“We have talked about how we can make sure that our businesses stay vibrant, how we can make sure that our young people and people that want to retrain have the capability to do that through TAFE.”
Mr Ewings also took a shot at the government’s rollout of the NBN saying it was not fit for use now let alone into the future.
“We can’t have an innovative society if we can’t connect and that is particularly important in regional areas so we have access to first world health care and proper education,” he said.
“It’s not just about watching Netflix – it’s about engineering firms and start-ups being able to transfer large files which are only getting bigger.
“You can’t get it with copper, it has to be fibre and we took a fully costed policy to the last election that would have delivered fibre to every home.”