‘The worst project in Australian history’: Taxpayers will be slugged with $500MILLION bill if Sydney’s controversial light rail project fails
- Australians may have to pick up the bill for Sydney’s light rail project is it fails
- The Department of Transport was confirmed as the guarantor for a private loan
- NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the loan ‘will be paid back’
Taxpayers could be slugged with a hefty $500million bill if Sydney’s controversial light rail project fails.
As work on the contentious light rail continues, New South Wales taxpayers may have to front the amount if the consortium behind the project goes under.
To ensure the light rail is completed sooner, the government requested an extra $500million loan, provided by private banks, to the ALTRAC Light Rail Partnership.
The NSW State Government on Friday admitted it is guarantor for the hefty loan.
Taxpayers could be slugged with a hefty $500 million bill if the controversial Sydney light rail project fails
Transport Minister Andrew Constance initially refused to answer the question posed by Labor about the funds but said the loan ‘will be paid back’.
‘The NSW Government is not loaning the funds, but is providing a guarantee on the drawn down portion of the loan,’ he said in the state’s budget hearing.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the project was now set to be completed in 2019 – a year earlier than intended.
Ms Berejiklian said ‘every major project has its challenges’ but her government was ‘pedal to the metal’ to bring the project’s completion date forward to 2019.
But Labor deputy leader, Michael Daley described the light rail as the ‘worst project in Australian history’.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance (pictured) initially refused to answer the question posed by Labor but said the loan ‘will be paid back’
Earlier this week dozens of businesses and landlords will file a class action lawsuit against the NSW Government over the light rail project
‘We don’t know when it’ll be finished, and we don’t know what it’ll cost,’ Labor deputy leader Michael Daley said.
Earlier this week dozens of businesses and landlords filed a class action lawsuit against the NSW Government over the light rail project.
More than 60 clients joined a class action seeking around $40million in compensation over disruption caused by Sydney’s light rail project.
Sydney’s light rail construction has caused major traffic disruptions since the inner-city development began three years ago.
Sydney’s light rail construction has caused major traffic disruptions over the past three years
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