By JONATHON HOWARD
THE Nationals’ candidate for New England Barnaby Joyce travelled to Mt Lindesay Road from Legume to Woodenbong recently, with the Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport, Darren Chester, and Nationals candidate for Page, Kevin Hogan, to highlight the dangers of the road dubbed ‘Australia’s worst’ by the NRMA.
After arriving shaken, but safely, at Urbenville for a special road users meeting, Mr Joyce commented that the locals took their lives in their hands every time they travelled the route.
“Truck drivers, school buses, mail vans and families use the road daily and the combination of blind corners with potholes, crumbling edges and uneven verges make it a game of Russian roulette for drivers every time they venture along it,” Mr Joyce said.
“That is why I asked The Nationals Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport Darren Chester and the Nationals candidate for Page Kevin Hogan to join me on the road-trip to see first-hand, the state of the road.”
The trio then met with road users, and representatives of the six councils, which share jurisdiction for the road, in the hopes of finding a way through the impasse at a state and federal level. An urgency motion calling for immediate action was passed at the meeting.
“The local communities have been campaigning for years for an upgrade of the worst sections of Mt Lindesay Road, but the issue has been put in the too-hard basket by the shining orbs of light in Canberra.
“Part of the difficulty is that responsibility for the road is shared by six different councils and that the road crosses over state jurisdictions and between federal electorates.
“I hope that following the election, Darren, Kevin and myself, if we are all lucky enough to win the support of the voters, can work together to provide some leadership at a federal level to drive this project forward.
“With Coalition governments in Queensland, NSW and at a federal level, I believe we should be able to come together on regional roads projects such as this, to see that people in regional areas aren’t treated like the city’s poor country cousins when it comes to infrastructure and government services.”
