Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to give voice to the deep anger, frustration and sense of betrayal gripping the communities of the Central West. The business support package recently announced by the New South Wales government for those impacted by the indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass is an absolute disgrace. If governments believe they can drop some small change on our area, wash their hands of it—and us—and walk away, they had better think again.

Cheap talk and token gestures don't cut it when livelihoods are on the line. This crisis was not an act of God; it was caused by the outright negligence of successive governments. They well knew that a bridge built by a convict chain gang in 1832 would fail. But instead of fixing it, Macquarie Street chose to monitor the decay while prioritising billion-dollar vanity projects in Sydney, including $2 billion for a new expressway to the airport. Our local economies are being smashed by their neglect, yet all they can offer is a paltry $10,000 grant. That doesn't even cover businesses in Lithgow or further west. To a small family business in Little Hartley, 10 grand is only a drop in the ocean for what they really need.

I've been out on the ground with locals who are living this nightmare every single day, and I can tell you that the pain is real. I spoke with Shannon Kus, local father and owner of Erins Quality Outdoor Power Centre. He rightly pointed out:

Ten thousand dollars wouldn't even cover a week's wages for a lot of businesses. It wouldn't even cover the fuel bill, let alone the overheads we are racking up just trying to keep the doors open. It's absolutely disappointing.

Ange Richardson, the manager of Hartley House Cafe, who employs up to eight workers, put it even more bluntly:

It's not really a support package. I'm not sure how ten thousand dollars is really going to help us at all. We needed it weeks ago and it needs to be ongoing. We'll have to keep scrimping to survive. It's a joke.

This package is totally and utterly inadequate. It highlights a government completely out of touch with what's happening on the western side of the sandstone curtain.

Governments are supposed to serve the people they represent, not wreck their businesses and insult them with pathetic token gestures while families struggle to put food on the table. Worse still, the package deliberately excludes businesses in Lithgow and further west. And why? The answer is simple: to save money. This closure has disrupted the entire western New South Wales supply chain, sending freight costs through the roof. Yet those businesses get zero support. It also completely ignores our larger employers, whose staff are now at immediate risk of being laid off because of this debacle. To add insult to injury, the support offered to our local councils is equally pathetic. This package is an insult to the hardworking residents suffering through this government-made disaster. Our business owners are literally selling their homes to get through it. It's an outrage caused by governments.

The state and federal governments are going to be hearing a lot more from our communities because the sandstone curtain will not stop our voices. We will not be quiet. We will not be bought off with token gestures. We demand meaningful financial support to all areas affected, and ultimately the delivery of the genuine high-speed access in and out of the Central West that we deserve. Get on with it, federal government. Do your jobs and deliver it.

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