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Visit the What a waste: Minister celebrates spending millions to reopen Newcastle train station
The Transport Minister, Andrew Constance, is wasting millions of taxpayer dollars to essentially reopen a Newcastle train station his government closed just a few years ago.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) Secretary, Alex Claassens said the Minister’s re-opening of the Wickham Train Station in Newcastle today is nothing but a reminder of the Minister’s incompetence and his government’s bungling of Newcastle transport.
“How ridiculous to think that we’re actually expected to celebrate this monumental government stuff up,” Mr Claassens said.
“There’s nothing ‘glorious’ about this at all. The amount of taxpayer money this government has wasted on this project is obscene.
“The Minister is here in Newcastle making a song and dance about wasting millions of dollars on a project that has inconvenienced commuters and caused pain for local businesses and workers.
“We know the government rushed through the initial closure of the rail line without any proper consultation or planning, and that the cost blow outs have been out of this world.
“The Minister might claim this is a win for Newcastle commuters, but we know he doesn’t give two hoots about commuters or workers. All he cares about is making sure the property developers are happy.
“The Minister can roll out all the glossy brochures he wants and point to the Gold Coast inspired palm trees all day – nothing will change the fact that this is just the reopening of a train station his government closed a few years ago.
“The fact that the Minister is in town celebrating this complete disaster of a project is offensive to the people of Newcastle.”