Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone slams state election ‘pork barrelling’

Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone says the state election is proving to be the “biggest pork barrelling exercise”, claiming his residents were losing out on much-needed funding as the major parties focus on key seats.

Fairfield City Mayor Frank Carbone said he’s glad he didn’t join the “state government election circus”. Picture: AAP IMAGE/Melvyn Knipe

Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone has slammed the state election campaigns of both major parties, saying it was proving to be the “biggest pork barrelling exercise” with election promises for western Sydney largely dedicated to a small selection of marginal seats.

Mr Carbone, who opted not to run as an independent for Cabramatta at the upcoming election, said promises to spend money in western Sydney were primarily focused on the “marginal electorates of Penrith, Parramatta, Riverstone and Leppington”.

“I’m so glad I didn’t join the state government election circus,” he posted on social media.

“This election is proving to be the biggest pork barrelling exercise where billions of dollars all borrowed money, is all going to marginal seats to win the election, instead of areas with the greatest need.”

Mr Carbone told this publication the government needed to know the Fairfield community shouldn’t be treated like second class citizens.

Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone. Picture: Robert Pozo

“Follow the money trail, they’re not spending on the needs of the community, but on the needs of the political party,” he said.

“We need to stand up to make sure our community voices are heard and give our residents a better quality of life which we can’t do if we stay silent.”

Mr Carbone said he was glad he didn’t join the “state government election circus”. Picture: Melvyn Knipe

Mr Carbone said the Penrith electorate, marginally held by Liberal MP Stuart Ayres, had already received millions of dollars in funding from WestInvest.

“The more than $200m that has already been provided through WestInvest wasn’t enough and the hundreds of millions provided for the upgrading of the hospital and roads in those areas never happened,” he said.

“They (government) spend it on those areas (marginal seats) and we all need to pay for it through taxes, just so they can win those electorates.”

Mr Carbone said the delegation of WestInvest funding was not based on the needs of the community.

“Fairfield is the most needy area in the Sydney metropolitan area but we have the least funding and I’m disappointed that some of our infrastructures are not upgraded,” he said.

He said the fight for upgrading Fairfield Hospital was “a lot of hard work”.

Despite an initial funding commitment of $115m from Labor, Mr Carbone said “more needs to be spent” as the hospital “does not have the appropriate facilities to deal with emergencies”.

“We have one of the oldest populations and we proposed to build an upgrade at Cabramatta leisure centre for the elderly with a gym, aquatic facility and we missed out,” he said.

“We look around and see what they (other electorates) got and the figures don’t lie.”

Mr Carbone recently ended speculation he would not run for the seat of Cabramatta or Fairfield at the upcoming state election.

After discussions with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns, Mr Carbone said he was left unsatisfied with the government’s commitment to improving funding in his electorate.

“I was willing to forgo my role as mayor if it meant that my community finally receive the funding it deserves” he said.

“However after many conversations, it recently became apparent to me that despite still being encouraged to contest the seat as an independent by many, that no funding was available or committed to our city.”