Labor Leader Michael Daley backflips on comments to ‘rip up’ light rail
Labor leader Michael Daley has been forced to clarify that he would not rip up the maligned light rail project if elected Premier in March.
NSW
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Labor leader Michael Daley has been forced to clarify that he would not rip up the maligned light rail project if elected Premier in March.
On Friday morning Mr Daley said on Sky News he would have to make “some very hard decisions” about the light rail project if he was triumphant at the election and didn’t rule out ripping up the project.
But after Transport Minister Andrew Constance labelled the idea “priceless lunacy” and likened it to setting a pile of cash on fire Mr Daley released a statement backing away from the comments and clarifying that he wouldn’t’ destroy the $2.1 billion project.
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Mr Daley had told Sky News that he would assess the project once it’s up and running and then make a decision whether to “rip it up”.
“We’ve got two options — if it’ll be up and running sometime in the next one or two years, if I’m the Premier I can’t rip it up and then pay compensation to the private consortium … for 15 years,” he told Sky News.
“(If I) rip it up I’ve still got to pay … for 15 years for running a light rail that doesn’t exist.”
“We’ll pray that it works but if it doesn’t I’ll have to make a decision won’t I, but who knows.”
Altrac has a contract with the government to build, operate and maintain the Sydney and Inner West light rail for 15 years.
Mr Daley didn’t dismiss the idea of ripping the light rail out of the ground when he was asked if he would “consider” such action.
“If it’s a scourge on this part of Sydney and is wrecking traffic on a regional basis we’ll have to make some very hard decisions,” he said in response.
The project is expected to be completed by late 2019 or early 2020.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance seized on the comments to attack Mr Daley for “being out of touch”, telling The Daily Telegraph any move to rip up the project was “priceless lunacy” and linked it to burning a pile of cash.
“Ripped up, ripped off by an inexperienced Labor leader this reckless behaviour reminds me of when he was Roads Minister under the last Labor government. He is out of touch with public sentiment and would sooner see hundreds of buses return to George St and along Anzac parade choking the city,” he said.
“Ironically it would be years of disruption while Michael Daley and (Shadow Roads Minister) Jodi McKay backed up their excavator. He might as well put hundreds of millions of dollars of cash in a big pile at the bottom of Martin Place and set a match to it.”
“It is just priceless lunacy from a bloke on L-plates — and not L for leadership.”
Mr Constance said the project will be successful once it’s opened with each light rail vehicle able to carry up to 450 people, the equivalent of nine buses.
Just an hour after Mr Constance spoke out on the issue Mr Daley released a statement saying he “unequivocally ruled out “ripping up” the Sydney light rail”.
“We will make hard decisions in government but ripping up the light rail is not one of them given the contract has been locked in by the Liberals,” Mr Daley said in the statement.
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