The second stage of the Parramatta light rail in Sydney’s west will go ahead after a “significant” $600m funding pledge by the New South Wales government, despite a recommendation from the state’s independent infrastructure body to delay it.
The treasurer, Matt Kean, and other key ministers had refused to put a timeline or a price tag on the project, but the premier, Dominic Perrottet, said on Twitter that more than $602m will be committed for it in the upcoming budget.
The figure had been flagged in an earlier – but since-deleted – post that appeared on Perrottet’s Twitter account on Wednesday morning.
I’ve decided to end the suspense…due to popular demand… $602.4m will be committed in the Budget to moving ahead with the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 megaproject.
— Dom Perrottet (@Dom_Perrottet) June 1, 2022
This tweet will not be deleted.
The initial outlay for the Parramatta plan comes after Infrastructure NSW released advice that it should be delayed alongside other “mega-projects”, including the Beaches Link motorway and M6 extension in Sydney’s south amid spiralling costs and external pressures.
Perrottet said he was pushing ahead as infrastructure delivery would continue to be the “foundation stone” for his government and the state’s economic prosperity.
“If the government was looking for an easy way out, an opportunity to slam the brakes and bring it all to a halt, this would be the moment,” Perrottet told the Sydney Morning Herald’s infrastructure summit on Wednesday.
“We need to be adaptable in that capacity in the market.
“We also need to be clear that the projects that we select are the right projects, at the right time, delivering the best value for the people of our state.”
The state’s infrastructure minister, Rob Stokes, said it was a matter of prioritisation.
“We can have it all – we can’t do it all at once,” he said.
Kean said the next stage of the Paramatta light rail project would get the region ready for the future.
“It will open up western Sydney and unlock huge opportunities, creating jobs and also driving investment to set Parramatta and the wider western Sydney region up for even greater success,” he said.
Infrastructure NSW has said the government should reassess the need and timing for the central tunnel of the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Lithgow, further stages of the Sydney Metro, and regional major dam projects.
Finding significant construction workers to complete the projects was also flagged as a possible issue by the body.
The opposition leader, Chris Minns, accused the government of strategically timing the release of the report from Infrastructure NSW after the federal election so as to not affect votes in western Sydney.
“[Western Sydney] doesn’t have the infrastructure to keep pace with the population as it is today, it doesn’t have anywhere near enough infrastructure to keep pace with the population projections of the NSW government,” Minns said.
“The pressure is now on Dominic Perrottet to explain what the government’s intentions and priorities are over the next 10 years.”
