[Greens-Media] FW: MEDIA RELEASE: M4 Widening contract signals the start of new tax on the people of Western Sydney (Greens NSW)

[Matthew Hilton]

Media Release
5.12.14
M4 Widening contract signals the start of new tax on the people of Western Sydney
Greens NSW MP and Spokesperson for Roads and Transport, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, has warned that today's announcement awarding the M4 Widening contract to consortium Leightons - Rizzani de Eccher Australia signals the start of a new tax on the people of NSW with the people of Western Sydney set to suffer the most from this Government's short sighted vision for Sydney's Greater Region.
 Dr Faruqi said:
"The announcement of the successful bid for the M4 Widening project comes at a time when the Victorian Government is looking to tear up its contract to build Melbourne's own version of the WestConnex lemon, the East West Link.  The NSW Government needs to pull its head out of the sand and take notice before the lessons from Victoria come home to hit every NSW taxpayer where it hurts.
 "There has been no toll on the M4 for the past twenty years.  It is the people of Western Sydney who will feel the sting of this folly.  The widened and tolled M4 will just move the gridlock down the road. Commuters will be now be paying for the pain of sitting in a $300 million car park.
 "What's worse, even with the failures locally of the Cross City and Lane Cove Tunnels, the NSW Government is still intent on securing billions more in federal taxpayer dollars to fund this ill-conceived project.  The private sector won't touch it because it knows the business case just doesn't add up.
 "Premier Baird is pushing ahead with this project without any clear vision of what Sydney needs - a world class public transport system.  WestConnex is not the answer.  I call on the Premier to shelve this wasteful project and invest in the future of NSW." Dr Faruqi concluded.