Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to commend the New South Wales state Liberal government for the work that they are doing to deliver a better future for the people of Gosford and for the Central Coast. On 8 April at the state by-election our local Liberal candidate, Jilly Pilon, a small-business owner and passionate local, will seek election for the state seat of Gosford so the Central Coast can have a strong voice in the state government to ensure that Gosford and the Central Coast has its voice heard.

After 16 years of Labor's neglect, we are now starting to see the transformational results of 1½ terms of state Liberal government on the Central Coast. The world-class $348 million rebuild of Gosford Hospital is running on time and under budget, and it is set to be completed with a massive 800-space car park by the end of 2019. We did not get that under 16 years of Labor government. The state government is also partnering with the coalition government and the University of Newcastle in delivering the Central Coast Medical School and Health and Medical Research Institute, a $72.5 million investment on the very same site, and I am advised that up to 350 construction workers are being employed at the hospital worksite, with most opportunities going to local tradies.

On the other side of the city the state Liberal government is delivering on another election pledge to relocate more than 300 Public Service roles from the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation to Gosford. This stands alongside the federal coalition government's delivery of 600 new federal jobs into Gosford by the end of this year. With a growing population, many of whom commute, this is critical for Central Coast residents. This record of listening and delivering is much more important than the white noise and the smokescreens that we hear from Labor with their scare campaigns and their empty promises on commitments that they cannot even deliver because they are in opposition.

Let's take another example: the shocking state of some of our local roads. After 16 years of Labor's neglect, it took a Liberal government to deliver a $170 million upgrade of the major West Gosford intersection. Jilly Pilon and the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, have also announced a further $23 million roads package for the Gosford electorate.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:14 to 16:22

As I said before the suspension, Jilly Pilon and Premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced a further $23 million roads package for the Gosford electorate, which includes $8 million for roads in Point Clare, $2 million to improve safety around Point Clare Public School, including the important 40 kilometre per hour school zone, and $13 million for Blackwall Road and Memorial Avenue on the peninsula. At Ettalong, the state government responded to a desperate need, with a grant of $5,000 to the Broken Bay Scout Group after a vandalism attack at the Ettalong scout hall.

It has only be the Liberal government that has committed vital funds to build the Gosford regional performing arts centre, with $12 million towards this cultural heart, including the conservatorium. Labor, on the other hand, is busy protesting about which site the performing arts centre will go on—50 metres one way or the other—despite it being a council responsibility. But that is to be expected, because all you ever get under Labor on the Central Coast are protests and words and no delivery.

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