Below: Sydney Harbour: The new government has committed to upgrading ferry wharves and expanding services west of the Harbour Bridge
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Canberra’s commitment is to a different project. Last year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised $2.1 billion in federal funding to complete the $2.6 billion Parramatta to Epping Rail Link (PERL) during the federal election campaign. Now, O’Farrell wants that project deferred and the Commonwealth’s funding re-allocated to the North West Rail Link plan he took to the state election. So far, the Commonwealth Government has stuck to its guns on PERL, arguing that the funding is not transferable, but the issue featured in the first meeting between Prime Minister Gillard and Premier O’Farrell, with O’Farrell reportedly taking heart from the discussion. For her part, Berejiklian says the state government is continuing to negotiate with Canberra. ‘This project is so critical for the future of our public transport needs,’ she says. ‘We have a population the size of Canberra’s in the north-west of Sydney and,
We don’t want to see public transport politicised; we want to see the dollars go where they are most needed. regrettably, there are inadequate transport services there to support those people. By putting the rail line to the north-west of Sydney, it not only assists those people who don’t have those public transport options, but obviously takes thousands of cars off the road, which helps all of us in getting to work and home with less congestion on the roads. ‘We have said from the outset that what is in the best interest of the people of New South Wales is construction of the North West and South West rail lines. We have made that position very clear. It’s not only what the government is saying; it’s also what the transport experts have been saying for a long time. ‘We don’t want to see public transport politicised; we want to see the dollars go where they are most needed. That’s certainly the strong case we will be outlining to the Federal Government.’ So does the government have a Plan B if the Feds don’t budge? It’s a scenario Berejiklian isn’t prepared to contemplate. ‘We don’t really want to engage in a hypothetical on this. We have been very strong on where we think the dollars should go and where the public transport priorities are,’ she says. For Berejiklian, it’s very much one strategic step at a time. ‘Restructuring is only the first step, it’s going to take some years to build the type of system we want, to get the type of system people want to use,’ Berejiklian says. ‘Regrettably, it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. The new structure is the first step and we believe very strongly that the new structure is absolutely necessary to start building a transport system that a global city like Sydney deserves.’
Volume 2 Number 1
6/30/11 5:12 PM
