WESTCONNEX Action Group (WAG) has called for a halt to Federal funding of WestCONnex following yesterday’s announcement that the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) will be auditing the Australian Government’s decision to commit $3.5 billion to the toll road. 

“We’ve always said WestCONnex has all the hallmarks of a dirty project – no transparency, escalating costs, corrupted planning processes, contracts signed before approvals are granted and more,” said WAG spokesperson Pauline Lockie.

“The ANAO’s decision shows that they recognise there are huge question marks over WestCONnex, and a Federal audit into why so much of our money is being risked on this sham is well overdue.

“Its recent audit of the East-West Link toll road condemned Tony Abbott’s decision to commit Federal funding to the project, which would have returned just 45c for every $1 of taxpayer money wasted on it.

“We expect the ANAO will make similar findings when it comes to WestCONnex, which is bigger, more expensive, and even less transparent than that disastrous project. 

“The Baird Government has already wasted over a billion dollars of Australian taxpayer money on WestCONnex. And they will waste millions more before the ANAO reports its findings in January unless the Federal funding for WestCONnex is halted.

“Over $2 billion of the $3.5 billion in Australian taxpayer dollars committed to WestCONnex is still yet to be paid. Which means there’s still time to stop this horrific waste of our money – and redirect this funding into areas like health, education, and public transport.

“This audit announcement makes it crystal clear that WestCONnex is a Federal election issue.

“We call on both the Labor and Liberal parties to take real action to protect Australian taxpayers by committing to halting Federal funding for WestCONnex,” said Ms Lockie. 

Media contact: Pauline Lockie 0414 470 106, Kathryn Calman 0421 181 057

More information about the audit can be found on the ANAO website at bit.ly/anaowcx