Transport Minister John Graham confirms delays to NSW projects

A minister who looks after eight portfolios has confirmed delays to two massive projects while receiving criticism for being “out of the loop”.

The NSW Transport Minister says there may be delays to the Western Sydney Airport and Sydney Metro Southwest rail lines while coming under fire for being “out of the loop”.

John Graham, who has assumed the transport portfolio in the interim, was questioned relentlessly about the progress of transport projects, budgets, and the driverless trains at budget estimates on Wednesday.

NSW Transport Minister John Graham has been accused of being ‘out of the loop’. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Mr Graham, who holds eight portfolios in the Minns government, was unable to quantify how long the delay for the Western Sydney Airport line would be but said it was likely.

“Public speculation and media (are) reporting about a potential six-month delay … I can confirm that this is a project under time pressure and there may well be a delay,” he said.

It was also revealed that the delay could be longer than six months by Transport for NSW secretary Peter Regan.

But he said the Western Sydney Airport line, which was initially expected to be completed by late 2026, was still within its budget.

There was a further discussion about the delay to the ongoing Sydney Metro Southwest project, which was intended to be completed this year but has been delayed to 2026.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward asked whether the metro line would be open by June 2026.

The Sydney Metro Southwest Project was expected to open this year but has been delayed until 2026. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Mr Graham said he did not expect it to be a 12-month delay, saying “this line will be open in 2026, that’s the commitment that’s been made”.

Ms Ward questioned whether the delay would blow out the budget for the Metro Southwest project, to which Mr Regan said they were still working out the impact to the budget.

The NSW budget mid-year review revealed a $1.1bn decrease in capital expenditure.

Mr Graham said the capital slippage was “in the context of a $63bn budget” and was “not unusual”.

Ms Ward asked what had led to the decrease in capital expenditure, but Mr Graham remained tight-lipped, citing “big projects in delivery”.

Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray shared this sentiment, saying “there are a number of projects that come forward when funding becomes available”.

The ambiguity surrounding the capital slippage was “a very scary prospect for the people of NSW”, Ms Ward said.

“The people of NSW are entitled to know and they’re entitled to understand,” she continued.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward questioned Mr Graham on project delays and capital slippage in budget estimates. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Ms Ward then slammed Mr Graham for being “out of the loop” with issues concerning NSW transport.

“Are you out to sea, minister?” Ms Ward said.

“You don’t know about bullying in transport, you don’t know about the SafeWork investigations and you don’t know about the budget and where the billions of dollars have gone,” she continued.

This prompted Mr Graham to say Premier Chris Minns may reshuffle his team, meaning it is uncertain whether he will hold the transport portfolio much longer.

There was also confirmation that the metro would remain driverless.

“The position is that there are not drivers on the driverless trains,” Mr Graham said.

Ms Ward also asked about Point to Point compliance officers not completing their required tasks.

“(Compliance officers) are not working as required including taking dinner and eating ice cream while charging taxpayers,” she said.

Mr Graham was hesitant to comment but said “people are entitled to have dinner”.