The simplest message Premier Mike Baird can take from yesterday’s impressive public showing against plans to cut the Newcastle railway line is to shelve any plans to do so until after the election.
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If Mr Baird still thinks the plan makes good sense and still holds a majority to form government, he can proceed post-March, 2015.
But given the level of anger and frustration at yesterday’s rally, attended by up to 3000 people, he may not be able to call on any sitting Hunter Liberal MPs to back his plan.
The government has talked about huge contractual penalties to be incurred if work on ripping up the railway from Wickham to the CBD does not proceed.
If that is the case, then pay up and be prepared for a grilling during the election campaign about how contracts so heavily weighted in favour of developers were signed when the government is supposed to be representing the interests of NSW residents.
Surely the message could not be trumpeted louder that the people of the Hunter do not want the railway cut and certainly do not want any links or benefits to go to Liberal MPs and developers tainted by the ICAC hearings.
If Mr Baird is true to his word, then he should scrap the plans on the basis of giving Newcastle City Council control of what development takes place on the land.
The council post-Jeff McCloy wants a heavy railway on the land.
In the Gettysburg address, President Abraham Lincoln described democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
The federal Coalition has been reminded of this and has made several budget policy backflips that reflect the “for the people” part of the equation. The NSW Coalition should follow suit.
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