Albo says no more dollars for WestConnex

BY JORDAN FERMANIS

Hundreds of people packed into the Balmain Town Hall last Thursday. On May 19 a public meeting was held by the No WestConnex community action group. The meeting was addressed by members of the No WestConnex Action Annandale branch, journalist Wendy Bacon, Greens candidate for Grayndler, Jim Casey and Labor MP for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese.

The day of the meeting coincided with the announcement of the approval of the Australian National Audit Office parliamentary audit into the WestConnex project. According to a letter from the Acting Auditor-General Rona Mellor, the audit is designed to:

“Assess whether appropriate steps were taken to protect the Commonwealth’s interests and obtain value for money in respect to the $3.5 billion in Commonwealth funding committed to the NSW Government for the WestConnex project.”

The timing of this announcement could not have been better for Anthony Albanese. In his address, Mr Albanese drew on his request for the audit on 4 February 2016 as a sign of his staunch opposition to the motorway project.

Mr Albanese set aside $25 million for the planning of WestConnex as the Minister for Infrastructure and transport in the previous federal Labor government.

Mr Albanese’s position on the project has come under scrutiny following redistribution which has meant his seat now includes Balmain.

In a room in which Mr Albanese had little support, he passionately delivered a promise that under a federal Labor government no further funding would be contributed to WestConnex.

“The fact is this, as the minister there is not one dollar contributed by the former federal Labor government for construction of WestConnex and if we are elected on July 2, I’ll be the Infrastructure and Transport Minister; if I’m in the parliament and if I’m the Minister, there will be not one dollar from the federal Labor government for the WestConnex project,” Mr Albanese promised.

With a close battle for the seat of Grayndler expected between the Greens and Labor, a strong position on the WestConnex project is critical in determining who will win the seat. In the meeting Greens candidate Jim Casey emphasised the need for community unity in stopping the WestConnex project from going ahead.

“We can stop WestConnex and I think that’s the way we have to approach this. The information is important, understanding all the problems with it, that’s important. But I think we have to keep returning to how can we organise to stop this road,” Mr Casey said.

Mr Casey also used the meeting to promote the Greens position, which is to stop WestConnex and redirect funding into public transport.

“WestConnex is 1950s style thinking. It revolves around L.A. style ‘spaghetti junctions’, one in Rozelle, the other in St. Peters, the green lungs of the inner city. It’s talking about more cars, more roads, no public transport,” Mr Casey said.

The need for community consensus to stop Westconnex was echoed by journalist and No WestConnex advocate Wendy Bacon. Ms Bacon has launched an ongoing investigation into the flow of funds into the WestConnex project and has been a campaigning with the community against the motorway.

“Whatever you’re told, this is a federal, state and local issue. If you doubt that, or if you doubt that it is a federal issue, look at any WestConnex brochure, where it carries the logo of the Australian and New South Wales governments,” Ms Bacon said.

Ms Bacon also added that private interests had hijacked the project with the help of state and federal government funding.

“The deeper problem is about the way power is exercised and the way decisions about transport policy are made in Australia. Instead of being guiding by evidence and the public interest, private interests have literally taken over the planning process,” Ms. Bacon said.

As both candidates for Grayndler expressed their disapproval of the project, Mr Albanese used the meeting to try and assert political leverage by attacking the Greens as being counterproductive in their attempt to derail the project.

“The Parliamentary audit needs someone who understands the way the Parliament works, who understands the way that the system works and can properly represent the interests of the community in getting outcomes. In making a difference, not just having a protest, but making a difference,” Mr Albanese said.

“The way that movements are successful is they build alliances, they don’t try to divide people that essentially agree on the same objectives,” Albanese added.

Mr Albanese is sure to win some votes by announcing that he will not support the WestConnex project.

However voters will be dismayed that Albanese was quick to shift blame onto the NSW state government and seemed only to replicate the longtime Greens stance of supporting more investment in public transport as an alternative.

Wendy Bacon summed up the concerns of the meeting as it transpired into what resembled more of parliamentary question time than a public debate on the issue.

“This is not about roads or no roads and as we said we don’t need a debate between the ALP and Liberal,” Ms Bacon said.