Election 2022: What Labor and the Liberals are promising Gilmore

With less than 48 hours remaining in the hotly contested campaign for Gilmore, The South Coast News has compiled a list of funding pledges from both major parties, from roads to school upgrades and affordable housing. Find the list here.

With less than 48 hours remaining in the hotly contested campaign for Gilmore, The South Coast News has compiled a list of funding pledges from both major parties, from roads to school upgrades and affordable housing.

Incumbent Labor candidate Fiona Phillips took aim at disaster resilience, social programs, and health services throughout her campaign, ahead of the opening of the new Eurobodalla Hospital in 2025.

“We’ve been through some really tough times over the past couple of years,” Ms Phillips said.

“We’ve had to deal with drought, bushfires, floods and the pandemic. But our community isn’t down for the count, and we know that we can all do so much better.

“We can have better health services, better roads, better internet and phone and reception and a better life for everyone here in Gilmore.”

Incumbent Labor candidate Fiona Phillips and Liberal candidate Andrew Constance.

After stepping aside as the NSW member for Bega and his portfolio as Transport Minister in 2021, Liberal candidate Andrew Constance campaigned on infrastructure investments; from road bypasses to park upgrades and clean energy projects.

Find out what the candidates are offering below:

Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

ROADS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Long-gestating road and infrastructure projects were high on the agenda for both major candidates when campaigning began earlier this year.

Major road bypass projects in Nowra, Moruya, and Milton-Ulladulla received renewed attention amid the 2022 Federal Election campaign, with the latter benefiting from a $352 million windfall in the 2022 federal budget.

At her campaign launch in April, Fiona Phillips hit out at her Liberal rival, telling the press the former Transport Minister had failed to deliver the Nowra bypass.

Mr Constance pledged $40 million in State and Federal Government funding in April for the route, funds that would be used in the initial stages of construction. By comparison, Labor committed only $5 million – the amount, they say, was asked for by the Shoalhaven City Council.

“After many decades, not enough work has been done,” Mr Constance said in a Facebook video.

“The $40 million is about getting the right planning undertaken to get on with this incredible job.

“Nowra has become one big choke point, and we need to get on with that.”

Ms Phillips echoed some of her opponent’s talking points, but instead blamed the delay of the project on the State Government.

“It shouldn’t be political, but the government should have started the Nowra bypass decades ago,” Ms Phillips said.

“There’s no surprise that Andrew Constance has just all of a sudden piped up and found the Nowra bypass, (before the election).”

Overall, Ms Phillips said Labor will commit $32 million to the route.

Another $40 million has also been pledged by the party to assist the Shoalhaven City Council in fixing roads, many of which were damaged or destroyed in rain events, including near Kangaroo Valley.

That is in addition to a $7.5 million pledge for the Sanctuary Point District Library and $1.5 million pledge to the Labor and Greens-led Shoalhaven City Council for its community waterways project.

In the election campaign’s final days, Mr Constance threw his support behind a $6 million pledge to upgrade Paringa Park in Shoalhaven, with funds being used to build a multi-level storage facility at the popular picnic and swimming spot.

In April, the Liberal candidate also announced funding for family-friendly projects in the Shoalhaven, including two new pump tracks – a circuit-style complex used by BMX riders - in Sanctuary Point and Sussex Inlet, as well as two new playgrounds in Kangaroo Valley and Kiola, south of Ulladulla, which received investment promises of $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.

“These projects bring the community together,” Mr Constance said. “It really does drive the opportunities recreationally for our young people.”

The following month, Mr Constance traded playgrounds for work grounds when he announced plans to invest $85 million in a new cogeneration energy plant at the Manildra manufacturing centre near Nowra.

The funds, which were a budgetary commitment, would be used to future-proof the starch processing plant’s manufacturing capabilities with a new gas-generated facility.

The project was touted by Mr Constance as an alternative to plans floated by the Greens of introducing a tax on carbon. “This is about technology, not taxes,” he said.

In the later weeks of the campaign, Mr Constance also threw his support behind plans by the Federal Government to invest in new naval helicopters, expanding the HMAS Albatross facilities near Nowra.

The Federal Government has set aside up to $360 million to expand facilities at HMAS Albatross to house the expanded helicopter fleet.

Nearby, Ms Phillips announced in the campaign's final days that a future Labor Government would commit $1.5 million towards maintaining the Shoalhaven River system, part of the party’s $200 million urban rivers and catchments program.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND DISASTER RESILIENCE

More than two years after the Black Summer bushfires, both Labor and the Liberal party offered their vision for a more resilient region.

At the top of both parties’ agendas was telecommunications.

In early April, the Liberal’s Andrew Constance announced that applications to Telstra for two new towers under the Regional Connectivity Program had proven successful. The towers are aimed at improving notorious black spots near Batemans Bay.

“We need to fill in these gaps and doing this will mean complete coverage from Batemans Bay to Ulladulla,” Mr Constance said.

“It’s key for emergency services, particularly when we see car accidents – people need to be able to reach those services.”

The announcement followed the release of the 2022 Federal Budget in March which was welcomed by Mr Constance who said that $480 million to be invested in NBN upgrades would also positively affect the region.

“It will help businesses grow and in turn help them create more local employment opportunities.”

On April 6, Labor’s Fiona Phillips unveiled what she called a “game changer” for the region: a $6.5 million investment by Labor in addressing mobile internet black spots on the south coast and expanding NBN access.

Making the announcement outside Termeil petrol station – the same spot Mr Constance would announce the two new towers days later – Ms Phillips promised that an estimated 45,000 homes across the region could gain access to high-speed, full fibre NBN access.

“I have been working with people across the South Coast through our mobile black spot survey and with Telstra to improve mobile coverage across the electorate,” Ms Phillips said.

“That includes the construction of the new Clyde Mountain Mobile Tower, improved battery backup at mobile phone towers and adding my support to Telstra’s submission to the federal government to fix black spots along the Princes Highway.”

Under the plan, $3.5 million will be spent addressing mobile black spots along the Princes Hwy, particularly from Batemans Bay to Ulladulla.

A further $3 million will be spent improving mobile coverage in communities with severe coverage issues, including Jamberoo, Lilli Pilli, Worrigee, and Kangaroo Valley, which was recently closed off to the rest of the state for days by landslides.

In addition to expanding services, there was also a commitment by both candidates to fortify existing infrastructure against disasters.

On May 4, Ms Phillips announced that Labor would pledge of $750,000 to help protect the Mt Wandera telecom tower, as well as $221,000 to improve infrastructure in South Durras, including replacing timber power lines and re-laying internet cables underground to protect against fires.

“The communities on the South Coast tell me they want to feel safer,” she said.

“That means preparing for the future. That means having better power, better telecommunications.”

Two days later Mr Constance made a similar announcement in Mogo.

The Coalition unveiled plans to use funds previously allocated under the Federal Budget to build up the resilience of regional communications.

At least $106 million will be spent across the country in high-risk communities hit hard by the bushfires, such as South Durras and Conjola, according to the plan, as well on deployable connectivity assets such as NBN trucks and RFS bases.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

In the final days of the campaign, Labor’s Fiona Phillips announced in Ulladulla that the party would pledge more than half a million dollars to help build a disability housing complex.

Speaking outside Jindelara Cottage on Wednesday, Ms Phillips said an Albanese Government would provide $638,000 to the disability housing centre, which would go towards helping to build a purpose-built residence on land purchased with the support of the Shoalhaven City Council.

“A purpose-built residence for people with a disability right next to a respite care facility means better care and a better life for some of the most vulnerable people in our community,” Ms Phillips said.

The announcement came after a similar one by the Liberal’s Andrew Constance.

In April, Mr Constance announced that a future Morrison Government would also spend $638,000 on the site, which he said would help support families and carers, as well as residents.

In Gerroa, Mr Constance announced a $60,000 pledge to support the Veterans Surf Project to expand its weekly program at Seven Mile Beach, should the Morrison Government be re-elected.

The announcement came not long after the former Transport Minister announced the Liberal Government would also pledge $5.5 million to rebuild the Gerringong Surf Lifesaving Club.

Further south, Ms Phillips took aim at health, housing, and social services.

In Nowra, Ms Phillips announced a funding package to address housing problems faced by many residents, some of whom were facing crisis situations due to family violence.

The ambitious $1.5 million investment in crisis accommodation in the region would be made alongside plans to build 30,000 new affordable houses, 4000 of which will be for crisis accommodation.

“We’ve got so many people that are homeless, it’s near-on impossible to keep up,” Ms Phillips said.

Nearby, speaking outside of the Havenless School in North Nowra, Ms Phillips announced that the party would also pledge more than $448,000 for outdoor learning spaces at schools in North Nowra and Moruya.

The investment came less than a month after a similar project was announced for Bomaderry High School where Labor pledged $300,000 for an outdoor learning area. Another $45,000 was also pledged for shade and rain protection at Ulladulla High School.

After the shock result of the Bega by-election whereby former-doctor Michael Holland beat out Mr Constance’s successor, health was high on the agenda for both parties, as it was for locals.

Mr Constance echoed his previous commitment to the new multimillion-dollar Eurobodalla Hospital in Moruya throughout the campaign, restating his role in getting the project off the ground.

Speaking outside the proposed hospital grounds, which were only purchased weeks before the election, Ms Phillips was critical of the State and Federal Governments’ performance in health.

At the event, Ms Phillips announced alongside party heavyweights that Labor would pledge $8 million for a cancer treatment centre at the hospital. She believed the government had failed in delivering on promises of cancer treatment in the area.

“It’s shameful that this has not happened,” she said.