How delighted I was when in the recent Budget, the Federal Government finally recognised the
merits of the Singleton by-pass.
When, during last year’s election campaign, I announced a Labor Government would deliver
construction funding, our political opponents described the promise a stunt because the project was
not yet construction-ready. How things have changed.
More than two decades ago, a newly-elected Howard Government cancelled the contracts the
Keating Government had signed for the Belford Bends Deviation build. We fought hard and
successfully to have the funding restored. We then spent another decade trying to convince the
Howard Government to build the Hunter Expressway. We had no success. Thankfully, the Rudd
Government funded and built the project. The Singleton By-pass is the next step in improving the
efficacy and safety of our arterial road. Of course, Singleton will secure significant benefits too.
The final task is to convince the RMS to do the project once and to do it properly.