BARRY Collier has performed a U-turn on the proposed F6 motorway extension, and would consider supporting it if it was in a tunnel under Sutherland Shire and met other conditions.
The newly re-elected MP for Miranda had been previously unequivocally opposed to the project for what he said were "a host of reasons".
He revealed his changed stance after being challenged in Parliament by Cronulla MP Mark Speakman, who blamed the failure to build the road link on the "inertia and obstruction" of former Labor governments.
Mr Speakman said Ryan Park, the present Opposition spokesman on roads and an Illawarra MP, had told the government he believed there was now bipartisan support for the project.
"Does the Member for Miranda now accept that he is wrong?" Mr Speakman asked?
Mr Collier initially deflected the question, saying Mr Speakman and Liberal candidate Brett Thomas could have raised the matter during the Miranda by-election, but failed to do so.
He said Mr Speakman should see if the government would put up $6 billion to build the road underground through the shire, "then let him come back and ask me what my views are".
Pressed by the Leader, Mr Collier said he would "have to have a look at it" if the road was built in a tunnel from Loftus to Taren Point Bridge and met other conditions in the policy his predecessor Graham Annesley gained "a mandate" for in the 2011 election.
The conditions included the extension being three lanes in each direction, in a tunnel under the shire and with emissions stacks properly filtered and placed away from homes, parks and schools.
Mr Collier said other conditions included the need for extensive community consultation, no secret deals to force motorists on to a tollway, and integrated public transport.
FREEWAY PLANS
STUDIES of the proposed F6 motorway extension are being funded by $1 million allocated for planning in the state budget.
Cronulla MP Mark Speakman said traffic forecasts within the corridor would allow the development of detailed transport requirements, including public transport improvements and mode connections.
Modelling was being carried out to test feasibility taking into account tolls for the rest of the Sydney motorway network.
Mr Speakman said design concepts needed to be co-ordinated with the WestConnex project and improvements planned for Port Botany and Sydney Airport.
‘‘Both state and federal government MPs from the Cooks River in the north to the Victorian border in the south, wholeheartedly support the extension of the F6,’’ he said.
‘‘We will be fighting for further planning money and eventual construction of this project.
‘‘However, we will do so facing enormous challenges [because] this government has inherited a $55 billion net debt and a $30billion infrastructure backlog.’’
Mr Speakman said because of the challenges ‘‘it will not happen overnight’’.
Back in the house, straight on attack.
IT WAS a case of ‘‘back to the future’’ when Miranda MP Barry Collier gave his inaugural speech in Parliament ... for the second time.
Mr Collier quoted from the address he gave in May 1999 after being elected for the first time.
“The people of Miranda were justifiably outraged at the Liberal council’s open slather approach to development, and the pressure that is placing on the shire resources and at the detrimental impact that this rampant overdevelopment is having on the environment and on their way of life,’’ he said at that time.
Fourteen years later, he observed: ‘‘Clearly, the Liberal councillors have not learnt the lesson of 1999’’.
Mr Collier said ‘‘overdevelopment’’, rather than Liberal MP Graham Annesley’s mid-term resignation, was the main reason for the 27 per cent swing against the government.
By the time the by-election was held, much of the anger over Mr Annesley’s departure had dissipated and voters were thinking about local issues, which also included Sutherland Hospital’s needs, fire station closures, rail timetable cuts and reduced TAFE courses.
‘‘These are the major issues to which I will devote my efforts over the remainder of this term of Parliament,’’ Mr Collier said.
He said the by-election result also reflected ‘‘seething disconnect’’ across Sutherland Shire about the closure of the ‘‘iconic, 100-year-old, world-class Fisheries Research Centre at Cronulla’’.
‘‘Those who argue that the Fisheries closure was not a factor in the Miranda by-election truly do not understand the close-knit Sutherland Shire,’’ he said.
Mr Collier said if anyone doubted local issues mattered in the by-election, they should consider an experienced Labor scrutineer’s observation of an ‘‘extraordinary number of ballot papers with messages written on them’’.
‘‘Far from offensive, these were, by and large, messages to the government about the very issues I have just outlined,’’ he said.
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