tollways

The NSW Coalition budget on June 21 locks in a wage cut for public sector workers, brings in a new land tax and further entrenches the privatisation of transport, reports Jim McIlroy.

Several candidates running in the February 12 byelection for the former Liberal premier Gladys Berejiklian’s seat of Willoughby are outspoken opponents of the tollway tunnel projects. Peter Boyle reports.

Doncaster resident Barry Watson used freedom-of-information laws to obtain an audit about canopy tree loss caused by the early works for the North East Link tollway project. He spoke to Green Left about this and more.

Anti-toll road activists are stepping up their protests against the North East Link. Isaac Nellist reports.

Anti-tollway activists are disappointed that the Greens councillors seem to have accepted the North East Link is a fait accompli, writes Mary Merkenich.

The Victorian Labor government is proposing to widen Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway to more than 20 lanes, arguing this would ease congestion on a thoroughfare that resembles a car park during peak time.

Residents gathered at several sites near entrances to the environmentally and socially disastrous WestConnex tollway tunnel on July 13 to protest the opening of the NSW Coalition government's signature $27 billion transport nightmare.

And so it begins. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been hitting the airwaves telling us all how successful she has been at raiding the public pantry and flogging off the spoils.

On the other side of the political divide Labor MP Jo Haylen is busy telling her Summer Hill electorate just how much WestConnex is on the nose — but conveniently neglecting to mention that her party is right behind WestConnex.

The inability of the Liberal Party to find candidates for Hunter seats for the March New South Wales state election suggests that even its party faithful recognise that Gladys Berejiklian’s Coalition government is headed for electoral defeat and, probably, a total wipe-out in the Hunter.

Experts have rejected claims by the new CEO of the controversial $17 billion WestConnex tollway that halting Stage 3 of the project would necessarily cost taxpayers “billions” and have a “detrimental” impact on local neighbourhoods.

The NSW Coalition government has brought down a budget designed to bedazzle NSW voters ahead of the 2019 March state election.

The Coalition’s election war chest is made up of a massive surplus from increases in revenue from Commonwealth grants, rising land taxes and the proceeds from the sale of state assets — boosted by the federal government’s Asset Recycling Scheme.

A toll road spiderweb is spreading across Sydney, with the cost of vehicle journeys set to rise substantially in coming years.