Opposition leader of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), Chris Minns, has labelled the government’s toll relief package announced on Tuesday as “too little, too late”, saying the opposition has been on the government’s case for two years about the need for toll relief in the state.
“The government steadfastly stood against any suggestion that toll relief would be coming, and coming to the rescue of the motorists of Sydney, who have been put in a situation where they now have to use toll roads that have been privatised by the NSW government,” he said.
This comes after Premier Dominic Perrottet announced that NSW drivers will save up to $750 (US$542) a year on tolls via a new relief package designed to ease cost of living pressures.
Around half a million motorists will receive rebates paid quarterly into their bank accounts under a Toll Rebate Scheme delivered as a part of this month’s Budget.
The scheme will see motorists receive a 40 percent rebate for tolls incurred once they spend more than $375 annually, with a maximum benefit of $750 back per year.
Perrottet said on Tuesday that the new scheme would allow more NSW motorists to benefit from targeted payments than the existing Registration Relief Scheme.
“This new program will provide more relief, more often to more motorists. The number of road users receiving toll relief will more than double. Almost 300,000 extra drivers will benefit,” he said.
“Our strong economy means we can ease cost of living pressures by ensuring there will be many more drivers eligible for relief, especially in areas across western, northwestern and southwestern Sydney.”
However, Minns called the scheme a band-aid solution and criticised the government for privatising toll roads in Sydney, a move he says has kept tolls high.
“I think many motorists will be saying today, ‘Yes, you’ve delivered an element of toll relief, but how did we get to this situation in the first place? Why did you progress the privatisation knowing that in effect, you would create a 100 percent privately owned toll road monopoly in the most tolled city on the face of the earth?’”
Transurban, one of the world’s largest toll-road operators, now owns 100 percent of Sydney’s WestConnex, Cross City Tunnel, Hills Motorway, Lane Cove Tunnel, and M5 West, and at least 50 percent of the city’s other toll roads, bar the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel, which are still owned by Transport NSW.
To use the WestConnex M5 East or M8, car and small truck drivers are charged 50 cents per kilometre, with a cap of $7.50, while trucks over 2.8 metres in height and 12.5 metres long pay $1.60 per kilometre capped at $22.50.
However, Perrottet defended the privatisation, saying that when it comes to roads like WesConnex, the government partners with the private sector to deliver those roads, and then through an asset recycling approach, unlocks billions of dollars to be invested in other infrastructure across NSW.
“Our approach to building the motorway network unlocks capital which we can invest in infrastructure that Labor never could,” he said.
Perrottet added that when his government came to office in 2011, there was no infrastructure being built across the state, and a $30 billion infrastructue backlog under Labor.
“And the same philosophy of Labor back then still exists today. Nothing has changed. That’s why they opposed WestConnex,” he said.
“They (Labor) still are around saying we shouldn’t have completed the WestConnex transaction. Well then there wouldn’t have been further investment in infrastructure across the state, we wouldn’t have been able to unlock capital, and there wouldn’t be a $5 billion West Invest Fund to help the communities of Western Sydney.”
The Toll Rebate Scheme will be in place for a two-year period, during which time the government has said it will finalise and implement long-term toll reforms, the details of which have not yet been released.
