Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to raise a grievance about the development of the Hunter region. The Hunter region is home to nearly 600,000 people. We are a region of opportunity, a region of growth and a region of great quality of life. While Newcastle is home to the largest coal-exporting harbour in the world, the knowledge based sector is the largest employer in the Hunter region, employing almost twice as many locals as the goods-producing sector. We are a strongly diversified economy and we are building competitive advantages in tourism, defence, health and professional services.

If we want to advance the Hunter, then we need to advance Newcastle. The centrepiece of the Hunter region is the Newcastle central business district. I have got to say it is a pretty unimposing centrepiece. The derelict buildings, empty shopfronts and graffiti vandalism send the wrong message about Newcastle to locals and tourists alike, casting a gloom on our identity as Novocastrians. Vandalism, graffiti and crime are in part a result of a lack of people presence in that part of town. The offenders get away with it because no-one sees them committing the crime.

In 2008 the New South Wales government commissioned the Hunter Development Corporation, or HDC, to investigate ways to rejuvenate Newcastle over the next 20 years. I commend the New South Wales government for commissioning this report, but commissioning a report is only the first step. There is no point in commissioning a report if you are not prepared to act on it. In May 2009 the HDC report, Newcastle City Centre Renewal, was released; but, unfortunately, since then the report has become caught in the cogs of a dysfunctional Labor government. The HDC report outlines a clear strategy for renewing the Newcastle city centre, including the relocation of 60,000 square metres of University of Newcastle facilities to the city, the relocation of state and federal justice facilities to the city’s civic precinct and an improved public transport system that involves a new station at Wickham and investment in the city’s public domain. For more than 18 months, HDC’s researched report has been bogged down in bureaucracy. I acknowledge that the report is not without controversy. There are some who would like the Newcastle CBD to stay as it is. Perhaps the federal member for Newcastle is one of those people. I think the people of her electorate deserve to know where she stands on this issue, and I also think the people of her electorate deserve a member who will stand up and fight for a better Newcastle. But, unfortunately, the federal member for Newcastle is about as interested in the revitalisation of the Newcastle CBD as the Knights are in playing in the AFL. Strong leadership is about making tough decisions.

On any weekend or summer night the foreshore is packed with people. It is positively vibrant, yet Hunter Street and the mall resemble a ghost town. If you fired the cannon at Fort Scratchley down Hunter Street you would be lucky to hit anyone. If 20 years ago, despite a strong party opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev could tear down the Berlin Wall between east and west, what excuse do our governments have for failing to lift the rail line ‘iron curtin’ that keeps Newcastle from showing its full potential? The experts commissioned by the government ‘strongly recommended a transport solution based on withdrawing the rail line to Wickham, developing a new terminus, preferably west of Stewart Avenue, and better serving the CBD by a flexible bus system’. If the government was not going to listen then, why waste taxpayers’ money commissioning their advice? The government report states:

The future of Newcastle CBD will not be determined by any one issue, trend or project.

For many years, however, the future of the CBD has for many groups been strongly tied to the future of the heavy rail line. I agree that the future of the Newcastle CBD will not be determined by any one issue, trend or project; however, the rejuvenation of Newcastle’s transport infrastructure will undoubtedly be a catalyst project for the development of our region. Let me be clear, my preferred option is for a light rail transport system, which could extend all the way to Maitland. But the advisers commissioned by the New South Wales government say that this is not yet feasible and that a flexible bus system is the best current option. While I am sensitive to the needs of regular rail users, I believe this is a logical compromise.

Research by the Hunter Valley Research Foundation found that the trend in our region over the last 20 years has been for a steady decline in public transport usage, with the number of people travelling to work by public transport falling from seven per cent in 1981 to two per cent in 2001. We can reverse this trend, of course, but let us be clear about which is the chicken and which is the egg. When it was first built over 150 years ago, the Newcastle rail line served a great purpose as a freight line from the harbour. Indeed, the Newcastle rail line has been an important part of the history of our city. But just as its presence was a catalyst for the growth and development of our region in the past, its absence will be a greater catalyst for growth and development in our region in the future. It is time to lift the iron curtain that has been keeping Newcastle from showing its full potential.

Newcastle is a harbour-front city, with a CBD which may as well be landlocked 200 kilometres from the coast. We must take better advantage of our spectacular harbour. We need to open up from the foreshore to the CBD, removing the physical barriers and providing opportunity. This is why I support the Newcastle heavy rail line terminating west of Stewart Avenue. I support the HDC proposal for the former rail corridor to take on a park-like character, integrating with the foreshore park and reconnecting the city with 15 new links to the harbour. This is not about redeveloping the land or the airspace above the rail line. If executed correctly, this proposal is the ultimate way to kick-start the revitalisation of our languishing CBD. Action is needed to arrest the vacant sites appearing around Newcastle. Action is needed to stop the exodus of businesses like David Jones. We need to attract a critical mass back to the Newcastle CBD; it is only with a critical mass that we can stop the exodus of businesses.

The cost of indecision is already too great. We have already seen the New South Wales government purchase the old post office site. Yes, in this particular transaction there were other factors at play such as vandalism, graffiti and deterioration—all due in part to a lack of people in the area. But a Newcastle CBD bustling with energy would have provided more options to investors to make something of what is one of the most stunning buildings in our region. When the GPT Group announced in August that it was abandoning its proposed $600 million redevelopment in the CBD, CEO Michael Cameron said:

… a lack of commitment from the Government to fully endorse the Hunter Development Corporation Report and ensure the renewal of the Newcastle city centre has led to GPT’S decision to exit its Newcastle land holdings.

That lack of commitment by the New South Wales government has cost our region thousands of jobs. It has started an avalanche. We cannot afford to keep shooing away investment like it is a misbehaving dog. Last week, I wrote in the Newcastle Herald that there has been too much fence-sitting on this debate already. After becoming the shadow minister for regional development, I looked in my backyard and saw an issue critical to the development of the region in which I live. What did I see? I saw too many cautious comments and closed consultations by political leaders. It is political cowardice, and it must end. We cannot wait endlessly for more reports. All three levels of government of all political persuasions must commit to the Newcastle City Centre renewal. Last Thursday, on 14 October, the Minister for the Hunter, Jodie McKay said:

I have indicated my strong preference for the removal of the heavy rail line into Newcastle to drive forward urban renewal.

Well, then, why isn’t the minister acting on her ‘strong preference’? After all, she is the Minister for the Hunter and the Minister for Tourism. It is a remarkable insight into the workings of the New South Wales Labor government when we see a minister sitting on her own agenda for more than 18 months. According to analysis by the Hunter Business Chamber, the Hunter region is getting less than its fair share from the New South Wales state Labor government. With nine per cent of the state’s population in the Hunter region, it receives less than five per cent of the allocations for major works. The Hunter region produces 33 per cent of New South Wales exports and 20 per cent of the $400 billion New South Wales economy. Yet, since 2000, the Hunter has received less than five per cent of annual New South Wales government infrastructure expenditure, and the region continues to figure poorly in New South Wales government infrastructure plans.

Last Friday, the Leader of the Opposition in the New South Wales parliament, Barry O’Farrell, committed to a new Hunter infrastructure board that will be empowered to make local decisions. A local infrastructure board is a great proposal as long as it is properly funded and properly allocated. I want to see a fair share of funding come back to the Hunter region. I think it is time that state and federal governments were committed to the same.

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