Nationals announce $2bn Pacific Hwy deal

Updated: 14:22, Saturday September 15, 2012

A federal coalition will finish the long-awaited upgrade of the Pacific Highway by stripping two billion dollars from a Sydney commuter rail project, a move backed by the NSW government but slammed by federal Labor and the Greens.

In a pitch to regional voters, including those in the former NSW Nationals seats now held by independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, Nationals leader warren truss says Labor’s pledge to complete the Pacific works by 2016 is just another broken promise.

Mr Truss says a coalition government will deliver a four-lane highway from Sydney to Brisbane by ending a stand-off between cash-strapped NSW and the federal government.

But Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the coalition’s plan means the Pacific Highway upgrade won’t be completed this decade.

And Greens transport spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon says expanding Sydney’s rail network should not be sacrificed to make the Pacific Highway safer and it shows the axe will fall on public transport under an Abbott government.