THE North-West Rail Link met all prime ministerial criteria for federal infrastructure funding and should have topped Premier Nathan Rees's priority list and not been dumped.
That's the view of Hills Liberal MPs Michael Richardson and Wayne Merton. They listed the criteria as follows: Will the project expand Australia's productive capacity? Its global competitive advantages? Develop our cities or regions? Reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Improve our quality of life?
``The North-West Rail Link ticks all the boxes,'' Mr Richardson said. ``It would expand our productive capacity and our global competitive advantages by reducing the amount of time wasted sitting in traffic and cutting delivery times for goods.
``It would also help to develop our city particularly the fast-growing north-west sector, which has the worst public transport services in Sydney.''
Mr Merton said getting vehicles off the road would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.
``The environmental benefits of a rail link are profound,'' he said. ``How can the Federal Labor Government consider introducing a carbon tax without providing an alternative to the private motor vehicle? It's an outrageous impost on the long-suffering people of Baulkham Hills Shire.''
News last week that the North West Metro was left off the State Government's $40.2 billion wish list of projects it hoped that the Federal Government might fund embroiled Labor in controversy.
There have been lots of allegations that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was using the $20 billion infrastructure fund as a Labor slush fund to prop up marginal seats.
Mr Rudd has denied accusations that he scuttled the Metro because there were no votes in it for Labor, but Premier Nathan Rees said the Rudd Government was interested only in funding projects in areas of high population density.
Yet for the past month Mr Rees has refused to rule any projects in or out of November's mini-budget, repeatedly using the phrase: ``Everything will be considered.''
At an inner-city pub politics debate last week between the Premier and Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell, Mr Rees gave the first indication that he might not abandon the North West Metro, despite speculation to the contrary.
``If I was of a mind to scrap it, it would have been done by now,'' he said.
The western Sydney transport corridor is top of the NSW Government's list sent to the Federal Government for priority funding.
The corridor, which includes the $10 billion West Metro and the $5.5million M4 extension towards the city, is number one on the list of infrastructure projects that Mr Rees is asking Infrastructure Australia to support.
The North West Metro was not on the list.
A spokeswoman for Mr Rees said it was ``never part of the infrastructure because it has always been deemed to be fully funded by the Government''.
She added: ``The status of the North West Metro hasn't changed yet because at the moment the mini-budget process isn't complete.''
NSW Treasury secretary John Pierce told a parliamentary inquiry into the mini-budget that the project was being reviewed.
``The criteria being applied to the review of that capital program and rating agencies have given an indication of this are not looking for any great slashing and burning of the capital program,'' he said.
``That would simply store up problems for the future.''
Col Allison's Perspective in Blogs
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