Central Western Daily, 23 July 2007
In 'Criticism of rail line is not surprising', 23 July 2007 by Bill Barwood, I read with surprise how NSW is against the inland route. Take a look at http://www.mbira.com.au - the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail Alliance Website. In there they give 3 different paths for the rail to go. The price varies from $3Bn to $3.6Bn. If Sydney is against developing the rest of the state, so be it. We will push on with Commonwealth money. I am getting sick of naysayers in the Western area. Every time anyone tries to fix problems, there is the old adage, 'No-one's done that here before' and they give up! If we have a NSW ALP government that does nothing when even a train breaks down on the Harbour Bridge and stops 10,000s going home on time, then we can be sure they will save even more money going through the Coastal route. Everything in the budget is to save money and prop up the bureaucracy in Sydney. So if Canberra is more about nation building let's go with the Feds! Why hold your breath for some party-room deals to come good for us and seeing if we can beg some money out of a run-down old rail network in Sydney? In North Queensland the coal industry shifts more freight by rail than anywhere else in Australia. IT pays for the Brisbane commuter services. If had enough freight here from farmers and mining interests then the Commonwealth can push on and give NSW government the flick. We are part of Australia! Why should we out here be overlooked because the coastal fringe where people retire to takes precedence because that is where all the businesses and interests are settled? There is more to NSW than the 150km from the seaside. There is 10,000s of hectares over here and we are in the middle of it in the Central West. Surely we can see this area take the opportunity to get this area growing with rail transport and go with it and not be sucked in by Sydney's apathy to our area. You have to fight and lobby to get any progress. If the NSW ALP government will not listen to the need for rail infrastructure in inland NSW, then we will find another level of government that will.