Liverpool council campaign for Fifteenth Ave upgrades questioned by state MPs

A southwest Sydney mayor has accused two state ministers of “letting down” residents for not supporting a funding push for road upgrades following claims the campaign was a “blatant abuse” of taxpayers dollars for electioneering.

Fifteenth Ave in Austral is the “spinal road” leading Liverpool CBD into the new Badgery’s Creek airport.

A southwest Sydney mayor has accused two state ministers of “letting down” residents for not supporting a funding push for “forgotten” road upgrades following claims the campaign was a “blatant abuse” of taxpayers dollars for electioneering.

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun called for council to allocate $100K from the general funds during a previous mayoral minute to appoint a person to oversee the campaign, lobbying, advocacy and petitioning to the NSW Government for upgrades to Fifteenth Ave in Austral and Cowpasture Rd.

The campaign tender revealed a ratepayer funded media and social media campaign, signage in the form of confutes and pop up street stalls to organise a resident petition to be tabled to parliament would be included in the scope of works.

Leppington MP Nathan Hagarty. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

In a letter to the Office of Local Government, Leppington MP Nathan Hagarty said the proposed campaign “extends far beyond traditional lobbying efforts and into electioneering” two months from the September elections.

“These techniques are all commonly used in campaigning for election to public office,” Mr Hagarty said.

“The decision by council to use ratepayers money for electioneering purposes is even more alarming considering I understand the council is currently under investigation by your office.”

A Liverpool Council spokesman confirmed council appointed Niobe Consulting, Crossley Transport Planning and Captivate Consulting to work on the project – which is in its early planning stage.

Fifteenth Ave in Austral.

“They were selected following an independent procurement process because of their expertise in transport planning, delivering strategic transport outcomes in NSW, ability undertake transport focused community engagement projects and urban transport advocacy,” the spokesman said.

Liverpool MP and councillor Charishma Kaliyanda said Mr Mannoun should be “upfront with ratepayers $100,000 of their money to campaign for himself rather than on fixing the issues they’re concerned about”.

“This is a cynical attempt by Ned Mannoun to paper over his litany of broken promises and get his face on signs funded by the ratepayer as we come up to another council election,” she said.

Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun. Picture: Monique Harmer

When asked whether Mr Mannoun’s face would be the face of the campaign, a Liverpool Council spokesman said: “The campaign has not yet been finalised.”

Mr Mannoun hit back, saying Mr Hagarty and Ms Kaliyanda should work with council to get this “long overdue and vital infrastructure underway rather than playing politics”.

“It’s a shame they are letting down the residents in their electorates by blocking attempts to get the infrastructure in place,” he said.

“Nathan and Charishma failed Austral when they were on council and now they are failing them again as MP’s. They could have built the footpaths and roundabouts in the seven years they had on council but chose not to.”

Liverpool MP Charishma Kaliyanda. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Mr Mannoun said council were building 10kms of footpaths in Austral and questioned whether the MPs would write to the Minister of Local Government and “complain about that being campaigning too?”

“Rather than bother the OLG with an irrelevant complaint, why not come campaigning with me and all the other stakeholders and take positive action rather than negative reaction,” he said.

The Office of Local Government has been contacted for comment.