Koalas, cyclists, an Upper Hunter town and an abattoir were the big winners after another day on the campaign trail leading up to the March 25 state election.
Port Stephens MP Kate Washington and shadow environment minister Penny Sharpe announced on Wednesday that a NSW Labor government would provide $2 million funding to Port Stephens Koala Hospital over the next four years.
The two politicians toured the koala hospital and met two patients, female joey Rose and adult male Kyrie, which had survived brushes with death.
A Wards River farmer rescued Rose after she was picked up then dropped by a wedge-tailed eagle, and Kyrie lost a toe escaping the Mambo Wetland bushfire near Salamander Bay last year.
The Coalition state government helped build the hospital with a $3 million grant in 2019, and Labor announced before the 2022 federal election that it would provide $3 million to extend the hospital and provide staff for an ongoing breeding program.
In Newcastle, local MP Tim Crakanthorp said Labor would spend $950,000 on a new on-road cycleway connecting Mayfield with the existing Throsby Creek path at Islington Park.
The cycleway will start at the Scholey Street Bridge and continue along Chinchen Street to Maitland Road, passing Newcastle TAFE and Islington Public School.
"Anyone who travels through this area knows how busy it can get and the dangers that can pose, particularly with a school nearby," he said.
Upper Hunter Nationals MP Dave Layzell continued the giving on Wednesday afternoon when he announced the Coalition would grant Muswellbrook Shire Council another $9 million to build a water pipeline from Denman to Sandy Hollow.
The council won $18.9 million from the government for the pipeline in 2020 on the condition that it served the proposed Yarraman abattoir and feed lot at Hollydeen, outside Sandy Hollow.
Mr Layzell said the new money, which follows a Muswellbrook Chronicle report last week about water insecurity in the two towns, would help the council "progress the pipeline to construction".
"Muswellbrook Shire Council also has an eye to the future, including the potential that this infrastructure could help deliver new business opportunities in the western part of the LGA," he said.
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