Newcastle Labor councillors have taken aim at a $155 million cash splash on western Sydney pools while a proposed indoor aquatic centre at Broadmeadow remains unfunded.
The NSW government on Thursday announced a $400 million infrastructure program for 21 projects, sourced from the $1.6 billion WestInvest Community Project Grants - Competitive Round.
It included four new and upgraded swimming centres in Blacktown and Hawkesbury to "provide residents with a heat refuge in the summer months and a place for exercise and relaxation all year round".
In a joint statement, Newcastle Labor councillors condemned the announcement as "pork-barrelling".
"If we were to simply receive our fair share of funding from the NSW government, we would be in a position to upgrade existing pools and receive a year-round aquatic facility at Broadmeadow," Ward 3 Labor councillor Peta Winney-Baartz said.
A Venues NSW presentation of the proposed Hunter Park shows an aquatic and leisure centre as part of the masterplan. But funding is yet to be committed towards any Hunter Park infrastructure.
The Labor statement said the privatisation of WestConnex led to creation of the $5 billion WestInvest fund while the privatisation of the Port of Newcastle contributed to the first stage of Newcastle Light Rail ($340 million) and $1 million annually for community projects. Meanwhile the government will rake in an extra $810 million in coal royalties this year.
Ward 2 Labor councillor Carol Duncan said the investment in western Sydney was "another example of immoral and unethical pork-barrelling by the NSW government".
"Our local communities continue to miss out on their fair share of government investment, while the NSW Liberals use our city as a cash cow to fund their commitments for electoral gain," she said.
The Herald put questions to NSW Treasurer Matt Kean asking if the government would commit to funding an indoor pool, or any part of Hunter Park, but did not receive an answer.
A spokesperson for the Treasurer instead said the 2022-23 budget "continued to deliver more than $4 billion in funding for the just over one million people who live in the Central Coast and Hunter region, and $5 billion through the WestInvest fund for the more than 2.6 million people in West and South West Sydney".
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