The three companies selected by the NSW Government this week to build Stage 3 of WestConnex have a troubling recent history of alleged corruption, bribery and tax-dodging. But it seems their combined lack of ethics hasn't prevented Premier Gladys Berejiklian from handing over billions of dollars in taxpayers money to the consortium consisting of Lend Lease, Samsung C&T Corporation and Bouygues Construction (LSB).

The controversial toll road project is not only causing pain to residents across affected suburbs, but the continued, rushed, policy of selling off the 51% majority of the project before its completion is set to dud the NSW tax payer out of monies that would have been raised.

NSW’s low and middle income earners were promised a miniscule tax break in last night's budget that would return up to $10.50 per week.

WestCONnex has been deliberately planned in stages not only to mask the cumulative impacts, but also to create the impression that each successive stage is necessary to 'link' the project together. As such, Stage 3 is an $8 billion road from the M4 at Haberfield to the M5 at St Peters, with the virtually unbuildable Rozelle interchange tacked on. The government is hoping to create the illusion that this will 'keep the traffic underground'. But if this were the case then WestCONnex would merely act as a giant u-turn.

The reality is that Stage 3 is a western bypass of the CBD, whose purpose is to allow north shore drivers to get a bit closer to the airport before they reach the next bottleneck. The shameful thing is that regardless of whether western Sydney drivers use it, this most expensive stage of WestCONnex is being paid for by forcing them to pay new tolls on previously free public roads.

You can learn more about WestCONnex Stage 3 in this talk by Terry Lee-Williams, the City of Sydney’s Chief Transport Advisor.

We hope this graphic captures some of the absurdity of the entire scheme.

MEDIA RELEASE

30.4.2018

SNAP PROTEST AGAINST ILLEGITIMATE

WESTCONNEX M4-M5 LINK APPROVAL

Berejiklian Government approves Stage 3 of WestCONnex without publicly informing the residents of NSW.

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday April 10 2018

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday, April 10 2018

Rally to protest Berejiklian’s continued desolation of the Balmain peninsula.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Fix NSW Transport rally and made it such a big success.

We had over a thousand people from over 25 community groups and unions attend. Our message to stop the tolls and put public and active transport first was heard loud and clear and we received prime time coverage on Nine, Seven and ABC news. A number of follow up articles appeared in the Blue Mountains Gazette, the Newcastle Herald, the Mosman Daily, the Inner West Independent, the South Sydney Herald and Australasian Bus & Coach.

Happy New Year and thanks for all your support through 2017. It was our biggest year of activity so far and no doubt our movement will continue to grow in 2018.

(cartoon by Cathy Wilcox for SMH)

Here's a blow-by-blow account of the significant events of 2017 that have contributed to exposing westCONnex as the toxic scam that it truly is.