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- 28 March 2006
David Knight Bridge Opening
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Page: 21529
The Hon. CHRISTINE ROBERTSON [11.32 p.m.]: In February I had the pleasure to represent the Government at the opening of a new bridge over the Castlereagh River at Deringulla. Deringulla is a small locality just to the south of Coonabarabran, and it lies on the road between Coonabarabran and Binnaway that goes on to Coolah. This road plays in important role as a freight transport route for the various agricultural enterprises that take place along it, including an abattoir, saleyards and grain silos. The narrow two-lane timber bridge over the Castlereagh River has been replaced with a modern, low-maintenance concrete structure. The new bridge is six spans wide, 71 metres long and can support B-double access, which is vital to local industry.
This project was undertaken in conjunction with the upgrading of Cookaburra Creek Bridge and McCallaughs Creek Bridge on Main Road 129. The upgrade of the bridge also means that industries in the towns along the road's route, including Coonabarabran and Coolah, can be better serviced. The old Deringulla Bridge was built in 1937 and was not designed to carry heavy vehicles. Before the opening of the new bridge, heavy vehicles had to detour up to 82 kilometres to travel between these towns. Now travelling time will be drastically cut and access will be opened up for heavy vehicles to a whole new part of the State. Perhaps best of all, the improved access for trucks will help industry in the area grow, which in turn will create jobs. That relates especially to the local abattoir that was having major problems shifting its produce because the bridge could not carry B-double trucks and they had to make a major detour.
At the opening it was announced that this bridge would be named after local identity David Knight, who was tragically killed when his plane crashed last September whilst flying back from Murwillumbah with his wife. David Knight was described by the Mayor of Warrumbungle shire as a pillar of the local community, as he had founded the Deringulla abattoirs many years ago and had been a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight Australia, who volunteer their services to provide non-emergency flights for financially and medically needy people. Whilst his love of flying tragically claimed his life, it also allowed him to contribute in a major way to his local community for more than 50 years, as he ran his own business crop-dusting and running charter flights, besides his charitable work.
Naming the bridge after David Knight is certainly an appropriate honour for this fine local citizen. Several members of his family travelled to the bridge opening. However, perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the opening of the bridge was that all three tiers of government had worked together to build the bridge. The State Government had contributed $600,000 to match the Federal Government's funding of this project, whilst the Warrumbungle Shire Council also provided funding and carried out the construction works. The local Federal member, John Anderson, and I were able to jointly open this bridge.
This is yet another fine example of what can happen when the different tiers of government work together. Throughout New South Wales plenty of good infrastructure has been built because the different tiers of government have worked together to make things happen. That is a necessity because in many cases the resources needed to make things happen are only available when everyone pools their funds and works together in a spirit of co-operation to achieve things for their communities, regardless of their political colours. Unfortunately it does not happen nearly often enough.
For a start, there is the great GST rip-off by the Federal Government, which cannot be justified by anyone who is seriously interested in the welfare of New South Wales. This rip-off alone costs us $3.5 billion a year in funding that could be spent on vital infrastructure. For all the great outcomes achieved when the Federal and State governments work together, far too often the current Federal Government has allocated money in a way that buys itself votes without providing any real benefit to New South Wales, and simultaneously forces the State Government to reallocate resources to ensure that vital services continue.
There are other tangible examples. In January 1996 the New South Wales Government entered into a 10-year agreement with the Federal Keating Government to jointly fund upgrades of the Pacific Highway. This co-operation has totally changed the drive from Sydney to the Queensland border. But there is still plenty of work to do. In an earlier debate in this Chamber I spoke of the need for the current Federal Government to come to the table with money to continue the upgrade, a call that was echoed by the Federal member for Page, Ian Causley. So far these calls have only been greeted with the occasional trickle of funding.
The New South Wales Labor Government is willing to put aside political differences to get things done, but unfortunately the Howard Government is just interested in playing politics. It was my great pleasure to open the David Knight Bridge, and I hope to see many further examples of the different tiers of government working together.
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