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Saturday July 31, 2010

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Two Murrays Blog: Rego to Rise

Posted by: 2UE | 24 February, 2010 - 3:03 PM
Registration to rise by $30 as NSW government wastes $271m

Buried in the blizzard of spin from Premier Kristina Keneally last Sunday, when she unveiled the latest transport blueprint for Sydney, was the announcement that vehicle registrations will rise 30 bucks a year from July the first...

The measure is expected to raise about 500 million dollars over the next 10 years; what a pity we've already lost 271 million dollars (that's how much Ms Keneally has confirmed at this stage, anyway) on the failed Metro project.

So... every motorist will be required to cough up even more money from this July to pay for a project (like the NW Rail Link). But the Premier's told us: work on that won't start for another seven years. Pay now, build much later.

That's bad news for John Mitchell from Fishing Ppint up on the central coast. He's written to the Herald, asking if he can safely assume the new 30 dollar levy on vehicle registrations will apply only to vehicles registered in Sydney postcode areas? No, John Mitchell: you'll be paying too.

And how about this from C.H. Ainsworth who lives at Kingscliff, up near Tweed Heads... who asks in the Telegraph why people living in rural NSW should have to pay for a metropolitan transport plan they'll never use.

I contacted the state government today... and was told, yes, the registration increase will apply to every vehicle in the state. But I was also told: the toll paid by motorists crossing the Harbour Bridge goes into a pot of money that is spent on transport projects in rural and regional NSW.

I'm not sure how much of that Harbour Bridge toll money is filtering back to Kingscliff: C.H. Ainsworth writes: Up here, we've lost our rail line, the Pacific Highway is a goat track, and now we're going to be slugged for another transport plan for Sydney.

If you are a country voter, just pencil Saturday March 28 2011 into your diaries: the date of the next election.

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