Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In Easter of 1988 the then next section of the F3 freeway opened to a place called Freemans Waterhole in my electorate. The result was the spilling of both Pacific Highway and National Highway traffic through and on the roads of the Cessnock Local Government Area. There began my fight for what is now known as the Hunter Expressway. I am delighted to be able to say that this Saturday the $1.7 billion Hunter Expressway will be open to traffic, making an enormous difference in the Hunter Valley: an enormous difference to travel times and an enormous difference to road safety but also, importantly, bringing people from the Upper Hunter to Newcastle and the Sydney market up to half an hour more quickly than has usually been the case and, just as importantly, providing a bypass for towns like Maitland and Cessnock and many communities in between.

I was a young councillor back in 1988. The big news finally came under the Rudd government, when Prime Minister Rudd and transport minister Albanese announced the $1.7 billion required for the project. I thank everyone who supported that campaign along the way. This is the biggest land transport project ever undertaken in the Hunter. It is going to make an enormous difference to so many people. I welcome it and look forward to the residents of the Hunter enjoying it into the future.