TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW WITH HAYLEY WILKINSON, WIN TELEVISION, JANUARY 10
Subjects: Road Funding, Peter McLay
E&OE
Starts: 12pm
HAYLEY WILKINSON
We've had a lot of holiday traffic on our roads, yourself included, going around, travelling and what are the state of the roads at the moment?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
The state of the roads are not only appalling, they're dangerous, and this has happened basically in the last six months. Were the roads bad beforehand? Yes, they were and we had provided, as a Coalition Government, record spending as far as making sure that regional roads were looked after. But the recent wet weather, indeed the flooding, has caused these roads to be disastrous.
Disastrous beyond appalling. Appalling to the point where they are dangerous and some of the potholes, if you're a motorcyclist or, indeed, in a small car, they are, they are going to be deadly and I know the State Government has stumped up half a billion dollars, and that is commendable, for road recovery throughout NSW.
It's up to the Federal Government now to, at least, match that State funding. The Federal Government must prioritise regional road funding. I know the Prime Minister has been to Forbes, I know the Prime Minister has been all over the countryside looking at the flooding situation and I commend him for that. But it's also incumbent upon him to make sure that he now comes good with a road funding package, particularly for regional roads, that at least matches the $500 million the New South Wales Coalition Government has provided.
HAYLEY WILKINSON
And today $50 million was announced for the Newell Highway. Is it enough?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, we welcome that, but when you consider that $626 million has been stripped out of just the NSW infrastructure profile, just the NSW profile let alone the whole country, $626 million has been stripped out of the NSW budget and much of that is regional roads funding.
When I was the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure and Regional Development, I provided record funding for the councils – I represent 13 councils – to the point where one of the mayors said he'd never seen such funding. They were battling to find the staff to be able to utilise all that funding.
And now what we see with all this recent weather is roads in appalling, dangerous conditions, $626 million stripped out of the State funding budget by the Federal Government, and whilst the money that has been announced for the Newell Highway is commendable and welcomed, it's not enough. We need the Federal Government to stump up, at least, at least equal to what the State Government has provided, that's half a billion dollars.
That half a billion dollars is for metro and regional councils, but the real problem, the real concern, are the regional councils, they just can't sustain the funding level. And we have holiday makers, we have people visiting from throughout Australia visiting these wonderful areas, the wineries, the festivals, everything that there is to see and do in these regional areas. But not only that, we've also got heavy harvesting gear, we've got tractors and headers and harvesters moving from paddock o paddock, from farm to farm.
We've got trucks carting grain and the sides of the roads are just so banked up and potholed. They're causing danger and as you drive around you see cars veering to avoid the potholes. It's going to cause a death if it hasn't already.
This is terrible, it just needs to be fixed and it needs to be fixed now. It needs a commitment by the Federal Labor Government.
Thankfully, The Nationals are the country conscience, we always have been but we're not in government and so I call on Anthony Albanese, I call on the Ministers who sit around that Cabinet table, particularly those very few who happen to be in regional areas – they would know the state of the roads – and it's now, for them, time to find their voice and to speak up and to make sure that the Labor Government, federally, stumps up at least the amount of money that the State Government has provided.
HAYLEY WILKINSON
And, even just talking to a couple of locals today that went on holidays and came back into the area. they said they knew that they were back in the Riverina because they started to feel the roads become bumpier and swerving to avoid potholes. Reputation wise, that's pretty terrible.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Oh, it's a great concern and we want people to come and enjoy everything that there is on offer in regional areas. We know that the regional areas are the best place in which to live. Now, when I was the Deputy Prime Minister, I provided just the Riverina councils more than $55 million under the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. So, the program is there. The funding model is there. The stream is there. Let's see Labor put at least $500 million into the LRCI fund, into that stream so that we can get these regional roads back to a state where they are safe on which to drive.
HAYLEY WILKINSON
And Wagga does have quite a backlog in fixing its roads, in particular, and the price tag on that is going to be millions itself. That's not even including our other LGAs within the Riverina area. Does that price tag concern you at all?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It does concern me and you look at Wagga Wagga City Council; I've spoken to both the Mayor, Dallas Tout, and the General Manager, Peter Thompson, but also road users throughout the city and they've identified, as you say, millions of dollars’ worth of road improvements and road upgrades that are just needed to bring it back to the State in which the roads were. Let alone Bland Shire, which has one of the biggest road networks in the State, and I represent that West Wyalong Council as well. Weddin Shire, the roads are just dangerous, in and around Grenfell. It's every one of the 13 Local Government Areas that I represent have been badly affected by the recent rain and many of them, including Wagga Wagga, have been badly affected by flooding.
HAYLEY WILKINSON
And, finally, how urgent is it that the funding is handed out?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It's critically urgent, it needs to happen today, this week, but it can't wait any longer. I've written to Catherine King – the Infrastructure Minister – I have a good relationship and association with Catherine, and I know she's a country Member herself. She, indeed, comes from Ballarat, so she would know that regional areas need this road funding. She would know, from her own experience of driving around her country electorate, that the roads are in poor shape and she would know that this funding is needed, not next week but now, right now. And, I've written to her, I’ve explained the situation. Late last year I went out and called for additional road funding. I see that the Federal Government has stumped up some but it's only a fraction. It's only a fraction of what they stripped out in the October mid-year and economic fiscal outlooks the MYEFO situation, the budget that they had handed down in October stripped away so many hundreds of millions of dollars of funding that the Coalition had pledged to infrastructure. They've stripped it away – $626 million – not good enough. They now need to come good with, at least, a package matching the State Government’s half a billion dollars.
HAYLEY WILKINSON
All right Michael, it's quite a sad day here in Wagga. Can you tell me a little bit about the funeral that's taking place at 2 o’clock?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Peter McLay was a respected Police Inspector with 35 years of experience in the NSW Police Force. Peter McLay was a family man, husband of Sharon, a father of Samuel and Angus. He was a great, great sportsman here in Wagga Wagga. He represented the Australian Under 19 cricket team and they toured Sri Lanka and India back in 1985. He was a left arm orthodox slow bowler; he could take wickets that nobody else could even dream of. He was a wonderful fellow.
He's passed away at 56 years young. It's way too young to die, it's way too young for somebody who contributed so much to this community. He was so highly thought of, he was so well respected and he was a friend to all who ever knew him. He often was the voice of the Police. In difficult times he was the voice of calm and reason when things were happening in our community. He contributed much to the Wagga Wagga sporting community, both through cricket, through Aussie Rules but so much more and we will miss him dearly. I know his funeral service is going to be large today, well attended by people who will come from throughout this country to pay respect and honour to a great man, and we will miss him. We mourn him and we will feel his loss very, very keenly.
HAYLEY WILKINSON
Thank you, Michael.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Ok. Appreciate that.
Ends: 12.09pm