Joint press conference - McKenzie, McIntosh, Mannoun and Kayal - Fifteenth Avenue upgrade

SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT – JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE – AUSTRAL, NSW

SENATOR THE HON BRIDGET MCKENZIE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
LEADER OF THE NATIONALS IN THE SENATE
SENATOR FOR VICTORIA

MELISSA MCINTOSH MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WESTERN SYDNEY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR ENERGY AFFORDABILITY
MEMBER FOR LINDSAY

SAM KAYAL
LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR WERRIWA

NED MANNOUN
MAYOR
LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL 

TRANSCRIPT

JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MELISSA MCINTOSH, SAM KAYAL AND NED MANNOUN

TOPICS: Western Sydney roads, Fifteenth Avenue funding, Western Sydney Airport. 

AUSTRAL, NSW

20 JANUARY 2025

E&OE…

SAM KAYAL

Good morning everyone. It's Sam Kayal here, the Liberal candidate for the seat of Werriwa. I'm here with Bridget McKenzie and Melissa McIntosh. What a great day here. This community is a winner today. I am proud to announce that a Dutton Coalition Government will deliver the $1 billion upgrade to Fifteenth Avenue. Our commitment of $500 million matched by the State Government of $500 million will deliver the upgrade to Fifteenth Avenue.

This is the corridor linking Liverpool to Western Sydney Airport. Our community has been taken for granted for a long period of time by Labor and only a Dutton Coalition Government can be trusted to deliver this infrastructure project. I want to hand over to Bridget McKenzie to say a few words. Thank you.

BRIDGET MCKENZIE

It is fantastic to be back in Western Sydney. And Sam, what a wonderful community you have. Anthony Albanese wants a cheer and a bouquet of flowers for actually delivering the funding that he's cut from this community for the vital infrastructure that Western Sydney and indeed the duplication of Fifteenth Avenue.

Since they have come to power Anthony Albanese has cut more than $2.5 billion from critical infrastructure projects from communities just like this in Western Sydney. From the announcement on the weekend, we've got Western Sydney Airport opening next year and the duplication of this road not being complete until after 2030.

The former Coalition had the planning money in our March 2022 budget. That was cut by Anthony Albanese in his first budget. He then has delayed and cut projects exactly like this one that were meant to deliver the transport infrastructure that Western Sydney needs to deal with the increased congestion, the increased growth and the transport implications of Western Sydney Airport opening that are happening right now in these communities.

The Prime Minister needs to release the funding profile because we heard from his press conference yesterday, he doesn't know when this is going to start. He cut the planning money, he delayed this project and it's communities like this that are going to pay for that level of incompetence.

NED MANNOUN

Well, good morning, everyone. My name is Ned Mannoun. I'm the Mayor of Liverpool City Council. This is a great day for Liverpool. Liverpool and Austral are taking the growth of Sydney. We have over 1000 new homes being built every single year and having Fifteenth Avenue upgraded will allow those people who are moving to these areas with young families to be able to have the infrastructure that they deserve.

Austral is going to have over 30,000 homes, going to have over 100,000 people and it's great that this road is finally going to be built.

It's unfortunate that it's going to take over six to seven years, or the Prime Minister doesn't even know how long it's going to take. The planning money was cut. And now they're putting it back in. And let's face it, it's because of the election.

Because of the great advocacy of Sam, we now have the money being put into this road, and it's so important. This is the road to the airport. It was only Tony Abbott himself with Joe Hockey, who announced $5 billion to build the airport, to build Northern Road to build Bringelly Road. And now it's great to see Peter Dutton and his team will be building Fifteenth Avenue when they get elected and as Prime Minister.

We met with Peter Dutton only in October when he himself came to Liverpool Council to find out what the area needs. He was back in Austral a couple of weeks later and it's great to see that only a few months after meeting with him that he is committed to building this road. This is great news for our area. We look forward to this road being built. And I want to thank everyone, to Senator McKenzie, to Melissa and to Sam for their great work in this announcement today.

MELISSA MCINTOSH

Thanks very much. As the Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, I'm so proud that the Dutton Government to come in the future, is going to fund this road upgrade. The Albanese Labor Government has form when it comes to trying to hoodwink the people of Western Sydney. This is not the first time that they have cut funding from people who desperately need infrastructure upgrades, to repackage it again and then to think everyone should be so grateful for funding that is not in fact new funding.

And Sam, you along with your community, have been fighting so hard for this road upgrade. Coming here from Penrith today I literally had to dodge potholes. And can you believe in just a couple of years time people will be driving along this road dodging potholes but not only in their cars but in their trucks because this is a major freight road for Western Sydney International Airport.

We've got a huge amount of population growth coming to Western Sydney. But we've also got an extraordinary amount of visitors coming to Western Sydney too. We need infrastructure that is fit for purpose.

But as I said, Sam, if it wasn't for your community fighting so hard, you can see the size for the petitions run by council behind us. This should have been done, as Bridget said, so long ago. The Morrison Government committed to the planning funding for this road. The Albanese Labor Government cut the funding and now today they expect everyone across Western Sydney to be grateful. We're not grateful. We're going to get on with the job and we're going to get Australia and Werriwa back on track.

ENDS 

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