Every Federal election is labelled as the most important in a generation. But for suburbs like Austral, Middleton Grange and West Hoxton, this upcoming one truly is. This election is a clear choice between a Labor government and its $1 billion commitment to build Fifteenth Avenue, and a Liberal Party that ignored that road for 12 years and is now attacking the project, laying the groundwork to walk away from it. For more than a decade, the Liberals watched our community grow and did nothing to support it—no planning, no funding, no upgrades and no solutions. They let development rip, created the congestion, then turned their backs. They caused the problem, and now they are trying to white-ant the solution.
After years of hard work and advocacy from local members of Parliament Anne Stanley and me, Labor acted. In January the Federal and State Labor governments committed $1 billion to finally upgrade Fifteenth Avenue—a generational investment to fix the mess that the Liberals left behind. Unlike the Liberals, this is not spin; it is genuine progress. Early works are underway at Cowpasture Road, surveying and planning are progressing along the corridor, and I commend the new Minister for meeting with me in one of her first meetings to talk about this important project. This upgrade will ease congestion, support the new Western Sydney airport, create local jobs and unlock economic opportunity right across the south-west. Labor is building it; the Liberals did not even try.
How have the Liberals responded? It is not with support, and not with cooperation. Instead, they have launched a full-blown misinformation campaign. With the help of their anonymous Facebook troll army, they have falsely claimed that the project will not be finished until 2040, questioning the funding and implying delays where there are none. They are not raising legitimate concerns; they are lighting political fires and hoping they catch. This is political arson, plain and simple. They have ignored this road for 12 years, and now that it is finally being upgraded they are undermining it. They are setting up excuses now so they can quietly walk away from the project later—and blame Labor while they do it. It is the same Liberal playbook: promise delivery, undermine progress, cut funding and shift the blame. Once again, it is the community of south-west Sydney that will pay the price.
Let us be clear about the Liberal Party's legacy when it comes to south-western Sydney. For 12 long years, at all levels of government, the Liberals oversaw rapid growth with no plans to support it. They approved thousands of homes without proper infrastructure. They ignored road upgrades, underfunded public transport, overcrowded our schools and neglected parks, sports fields and open spaces. Here is the biggest irony: The same Liberal councillors that are now attacking Labor's road project online cannot even get the potholes fixed on existing local roads. They failed on the basics, and now they want to tell us how to deliver major infrastructure. Now that Labor is delivering, they are throwing rocks from the sidelines. Instead of cooperating and acting in the best interests of our community, they are obstructing.
A billion-dollar road project does not happen overnight—nor should it. It requires proper planning, environmental approvals, community consultation and careful staging. Rushing it leads to costly mistakes. Labor is taking the time to get it right. The Liberals started none of this and now they are rewriting history to cover up for their abject failure. This election is not about hypotheticals. It is about real consequences for real communities. For residents of Austral, Middleton Grange, West Hoxton and beyond, the choice is crystal clear: a Labor Government that has committed $1 billion, has started the work and is delivering with a clear plan, or a Liberal Party that ignored Fifteenth Avenue for over a decade and is now undermining a project it never truly supported. Make no mistake, if the Liberals win, they will do what they always do: delay, undermine, cut and blame.
If the Liberals actually cared about Fifteenth Avenue, they had a decade to act. They did not. They ignored the problem, and they ignored my community. Now that Labor is delivering, they are doing everything they can to tear it down. The people of south-west Sydney deserve better. They deserve roads that work and governments that listen. They deserve infrastructure that keeps pace with our growth. Labor is building it, and the Liberals are undermining it. Do not risk the Liberals and do not let them abandon us again.
