Premier calls for nation-building funding, not car parks, from Canberra

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Premier calls for nation-building funding, not car parks, from Canberra

By Alexandra Smith and Tom Rabe

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Cities Minister Rob Stokes have criticised the former federal Coalition government’s approach to infrastructure, insisting its controversial commuter car park scheme was shortsighted.

Speaking before The Sydney Morning Herald’s infrastructure summit on Wednesday, Perrottet said he thought the Commonwealth should be focused on nation-building projects, and he had already had constructive conversations with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about infrastructure.

Premier Dominic Perrottet and Cities and Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes.

Premier Dominic Perrottet and Cities and Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“What I want from the Commonwealth government is them working closely with us on those major infrastructure projects to drive productivity and build our state within our vision for NSW,” Perrottet said.

“If they come on board there, that makes more sense – and leave those smaller projects to local councils and state governments. That should not be the area of responsibility for the federal government.”

The federal $660 million Commuter Car Park fund was last year the focus of a scathing report by the Auditor-General that found 77 per cent of its projects were pledged to Coalition seats ahead of the 2019 election.

Infrastructure NSW on Tuesday released its five-yearly independent advice to government on the infrastructure priorities for the state for the next two decades. It included hitting pause on some megaprojects, such as the Beaches Link and the M6 motorway in Sydney’s south.

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However, the strategy recommended that long-touted fast rail be progressively funded and delivered by both state and federal governments.

Perrottet said money for fast rail was included in the March federal budget and its delivery would be critical to the state realising its vision for dividing Sydney and the regions into six cities.

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“I think from a political level, having the federal government working with the state government, and understanding our vision for the state should help them in buy into that vision,” Perrottet said. “They would be assisting us achieve that rather than having bespoke projects being chosen that are out of sync with the state.”

Stokes said the controversial commuter car park program had been a source of irritation for NSW.

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“The community car parks absorbed a huge amount of time and effort that was probably not reflective of their overall strategic benefit to the economy,” Stokes said.

“The Commonwealth have a powerful role in their funding allocations because they will influence what projects we do first, because that leverage funding will show will allow us to do a lot more.

“So, when the Commonwealth comes in, and wants to do a series of car parks, that’s a bit frustrating from a state building infrastructure perspective.”

Infrastructure NSW also recommended the state’s annual $27 billion infrastructure spend be diverted to smaller projects that will provide “high returns and faster paybacks with less budget and delivery risks”.

Stokes said NSW would remain a big building state but it would change the timing of its megaprojects and focus on smaller scale works.

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“One of the things the state infrastructure strategy tells us with the megaprojects is contract them a little later, but look for significant regional projects that you can bring forward in the meantime,” Stokes said.

“So there are plenty of other connectivity projects that could better link the beaches in the shorter-term that we can bring forward. So we’ll be looking at those sorts of things.”

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