Opinion
www.westernweekender.com.au
Dear Weekender
Have your say: write to the editor
Homework was done
I write in response to your editorial (From The Editor’s Desk, Western Weekender March 15), in which you ironically called upon me to “do my homework” on the clean up of the Hunters Hill site plan. Mr Dodds, I have studied and investigated this matter for over three years now since I was fi rst given a copy of the contract signed by the former Labor Government in June 2010 to send ALL the contaminated soil to Kemps Creek. In October 2010 I held that contract in my hand to force the then Labor government to cancel the contract – and I was successful. Now the Liberals and Nationals are in government, we have developed the right plan to clean up the site. ANSTO will test all the soil during the clean up stage, we have two licensed facilities to take the soil – nothing will be sent to Kemps Creek that hasn’t already been sent there over the last 20 years. I would be happy to offer you a personal briefi ng to ensure you have all the facts on this matter. Tanya Davies, State Mulgoa MP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WestConnect strategy
One of the fi rst acts of the O’Farrell Government was to create Infrastructure NSW (INSW) and tasked it with prioritising Infrastructure investment in NSW. Following extensive research WestConnex was identified as the
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cornerstone piece of INSW’s State Infrastructure Strategy. Immediately the O’Farrell Government committed $1.8 billion to ensuring this road actually happens. Tony Abbott has committed a further $1.5 billion if the Coalition is elected at the Federal election. WestConnex is a modern and innovative solution to completing Sydney’s Orbital Road Network. WestConnex is in essence three roads; the M4 extension, M5 Tunnel duplication and a North/South distribution tunnel that connects the two motorways. The M4 extension will begin near Church St, Parramatta. It will widen the road over the viaduct and all the way to Parramatta Rd. From here it will be a combination of tunnels and new surface roads all the way to Taverners Hill which is about 2.5km from Broadway. At Taverners Hill a tunnel will run under the St Peters area and connect up with the duplicated M5 tunnel. WestConnex reflects modern road designs that focus on moving cars to city centres but importantly distributes them to various entry points to avoid bottlenecks. Building long roads from outer suburbs to single entry points to cities is 1970’s thinking. We already have a western distributor and an eastern distributor. WestConnex will add to this by providing an inner west distributor and second western distributor. It will cost $10 billion to $13 billion to construct and there will be tolls. There is no way that this road
can be constructed without them. What the O’Farrell Government has made clear is that only new and upgraded roads will have tolls. So far the Gillard Labor Government has ‘kind of’ offered $1 billion to this project, which is half a billion less than Tony Abbott and it comes with plenty of strings attached. Those strings include an extra $5 billion to $8 billion of costs that provide almost no benefit to western Sydney commuters. In fact many road experts suggest this would make traffic congestion worse. Like Peter Newman who sits on the board of the Federal Government advisory board Infrastructure Australia. He said: “The y are not even doing that in America anymore… They are pulling them out. The freeways that went straight into the cities destroyed them.” Th ink about it for a second, if you extend the M4 to George St where do the cars go when they get there? That is why distributors are so important. The O’Farrell Government is committed to WestConnex. So when it comes to the Federal election people have a choice between Labor’s option with less money, higher tolls and more congestion or the Liberal promise of more money, lower tolls and a project designed by experts. Stuart Ayres, State Penrith MP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Betting sponsorship
In the light of the growing storm over
sports betting, will the Penrith Panthers and Council continue to name our stadium “Centrebet Stadium”? Th is name is an insult to local families made poor by the pokies and football players themselves who are now admitting to gambling problems. Pam Ahearn, Penrith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Column was out of line
After reading Laura Jayes’ article in the Weekender on March 8, I felt compelled to write in. To suggest that the objections to the 457 work visas are racist based is way out of line. Personally I don’t think visas should have been implemented in the fir st place. Doesn’t Ms Jayes fi nd it ironic that despite having the highest educated workforce in history, Australia now has a skills shortage? Obviously something is awry. It takes time, money and subsequent training for TAFE and university graduates to gain their required skills. Unfortunately, many of our graduates have been denied the opportunities to utilise their potential skills and abilities, simply because it has been cheaper and more expedient to import skilled workers. Would Ms Jayes like to predict the consequences if this continues? As for “market forces” and “market driven” etc, I bet these phrases were well used by the bankers who caused the GFC. Sue Joyce, Penrith
The Western Weekender reserves the right to edit letters for the sake of accuracy and space. For more information, see our public notices section.
Friday, March 22, 2013
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