Motorists in the Hunter should be outraged at having to pay $30 more for their car registration, when the proceeds will be going to fund upgrades to Sydney transport, says Hunter based MLC Robyn Parker.

 During question time today, Robyn Parker asked the Treasurer why motorists would be paying more to register their cars, when the State Labor Government’s transport blueprint does nothing to alleviate traffic congestion on the New England Highway.

“It’s appalling that Hunter motorists will be paying a $500 million vehicle registration tax to pay for the State Labor Government’s transport blueprint and they get nothing in return for local roads or new transport projects,” says Robyn Parker.

“The Minister’s dismissive and brief reply in Question Time didn’t even contain any information on why Labor has no forward transport plans for the region as part of the blueprint.

“For example, 20,485 Maitland workers drive their cars to work each day and these motorists won’t see any new infrastructure in Maitland or the Hunter as a result of this new tax.

“In fact the only thing Labor does fund in the Hunter is more and more transport studies to tell us things we already know.

“It’s about time the Hunter received its fair share of funding from this NSW Labor Government, who have become better at wasting taxpayers money than spending on much needed infrastructure.

“For example, how many local projects would have benefited from the $300 million that Labor has already spent on the now dumped CBD Metro project in Sydney? This is taxpayers money that would be more than welcome on a variety of needs in this region, from schools, to hospitals and affordable housing.

“This Sydney-centric Labor Government cannot continue to ignore the needs of our region and slug taxpayers again and again with no return.”