The Berejiklian Liberal Government’s Sydney metro area infrastructure projects are now $14 billion over budget.
Virtually every project in the Sydney metro area is over budget and behind schedule.
- The city light rail is $549 million over budget, and mired in a $1.1 billion court case.
- The cost of the WestConnex tunnel system has almost doubled, and is $8.6 billion over budget.
- Yesterday, the cost of Western Sydney’s new M12 motorway jumped by $130 million.
- The cost of knocking down and rebuilding perfectly good stadiums in the center of Sydney has ballooned to $2.2 billion.
While big city projects are running over budget, regional towns have been left begging for basic infrastructure. Roads are in need of repair; water management is in turmoil, and small towns have suffered power blackouts throughout the summer.
The cost of these blowouts is more than double what the Liberals and Nationals are spending on schools over the next four years.
An analysis of the Liberals’ own figures shows their waste, mismanagement and wrong priorities (table below).
Project |
Blowout ($millions) |
Sydney Light Rail |
$549 |
Pacific Highway Woolgoolga to Ballina |
$1,200 |
WestConnex (incl. Sydney Gateway) |
$8,600 |
Newcastle Light Rail |
$35 |
Northern Beaches (bus) B-Line |
$207 |
New Intercity Fleet (Central Coast) |
$1,100 |
Tibby Cotter Bridge (Moore Park) |
$28 |
Nepean Green Bridge |
$29 |
Sydney Metro City and Southwest |
$1,500 |
Sydenham to Bankstown Corridor |
$624 |
Arthur Phillip High School |
$225 |
Western Sydney M12 Motorway |
$130 |
TOTAL |
$14,227 |
Quotes attributable to Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Ryan Park
“The Berejiklian Liberal Government can’t be trusted to deliver infrastructure on time and on budget.
“Now it’s $14 billion down the drain – and hundreds of new schools or hospitals that could have been built in NSW.”
Quotes attributable to State Member for Newcastle, Tim Crakanthorp
“This $14 billion dollar blowout could have been spent on 10,922 teachers or 12,217 nurses for ten years.”
“The Berejiklian Government is using the Hunter as a cash cow for these projects while wasting billions of dollars of your money in Sydney.”