The Berejiklian Liberal Government is raking in a fortune from stamp duty receipts on residential property transactions in Campbelltown.
But government investment in infrastructure and services in the region is severely lacking, says Labor MP Greg Warren.
A recent Question on Notice from Mr Warren to the Minister for Finance revealed the full extent of the NSW Government’s profiteering from Campbelltown in the midst of an overheated property market.
Mr Warren says that in the last three financial years (up to April 12 in the current financial year), the NSW Government has collected just shy of $163 million in stamp duty revenue in the electorate of Campbelltown, from residential property transactions alone.
The figure is also rapidly increasing as more and more housing is built around Campbelltown, with stamp duty revenue for the 2016-17 already up more than 13 per cent on the previous year, with almost three months to go until the end of the financial year.
“We now have a dollar figure for something we’ve known all along – the Berejiklian Government is happy to sit back and collect millions in stamp duty from Campbelltown while ignoring our infrastructure needs and services in our region,’’ said the State Member for Campbelltown.
“$163 million is a lot of money, and yet we still have a maintenance backlog to the tune of $10 million at our public schools, the fifth longest emergency waiting times in the state at our hospital, and a raft of infrastructure projects that the government should be funding.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“The Menangle-Spring Farm Parkway, a rail overpass connecting Broughton Street and Badgally Road, safety upgrades on Appin Road, the Maldon to Dombarton rail link – take your pick,’’ he said.[/social_quote]
“$163 million could go a long way towards delivering any one of those projects, but instead the government is letting it sit in the bank while local residents suffer the consequences.
“The government is profiting massively from our region, and instead of investing in services and infrastructure it’s holding onto the money as part of a massive $4.7 billion surplus while our infrastructure and services are left languishing,’’ Mr Warren said.
Sue Gay
Sorry Greg the upgrade of Appin Road will not work, only for the benefit of Developers, same as the spring farm link, nobody considers Appin and the effect it will have on our town, what is needed is a duplication of Appin Road. How many years has it been now. It is up to the Government to come up with a solution. I will say this since you have been talking about the lack of services last night whilst traveling across the Harbor Bridge, in peak hour and viewing concrete jungle at its best, I did observe the fleet of brand new very fancy double Decker buses, moving commuters to the North Shore.