Bill Shorten’s western roadblock: Labor puts the breaks on Sydney infrastructure
THE federal government has warned the rollout of Sydney’s second airport at Badgerys Creek and the WestConnex motorway project are under threat after Labor and the Greens blocked its infrastructure bill in the Senate.
The opposition and the minor party refused to support the new bill unless the government agreed to 29 amendments, including mandatory assessments of all projects for their impact on climate change
. The government claimed its new infrastructure bill would allow fast-tracking of road projects for Western Sydney by allowing the government to make decisions on infrastructure without being impeded by bureaucracy.
Senior ministers yesterday accused Labor of delaying vital road projects in Sydney and backlogging the $50 billion national infrastructure package announced in the Budget.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott convened an urgent meeting of his Cabinet infrastructure sub-committee on Tuesday to plan a response to the unexpected move by the opposition to block its road building bill.
The government claimed the amendments would impose a new layer of red and green tape on projects and delay major infrastructure projects for Sydney, including WestConnex, a second airport and a $3 billion roads program for Western Sydney.
The changes would require Infrastructure Australia (IA) to consider the environmental benefits and sustainability of WestConnex and Badgerys Creek as well as conduct new cost-benefit analysis. It would also restore power to the states to veto projects.
The opposition claimed the government’s bill, which was passed in the lower house in November after debate was gagged, was flawed and was designed only to reduce the independence of IA to assess infrastructure projects.
Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Jamie Briggs accused Labor of siding with the Greens to delay projects it had previously given bipartisan support to. “The Coalition is committed to investing $50 billion in infrastructure across Australia by 2019-20, including almost $15 billion in NSW,” Mr Briggs said.
But the Labor Party and the Greens are blocking our attempts to ensure the roads of the 21st century are delivered quickly and efficiently.
“Their amendments will make approvals for infrastructure slower by drowning projects in red and green tape.
“It will jeopardise the delivery of nation-changing infrastructure projects such as Badgerys Creek and will ensure major projects such as WestConnex are held up, ultimately making the process more costly.”
