E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
RICHMOND BRIDGE
SUNDAY, 6 APRIL 2025

SUBJECTS: Funding for Richmond Bridge.
 
SUSAN TEMPLEMAN, MEMBER FOR MACQUARIE: Thank you. I'm Susan Templeman, the Member for Macquarie, and I'm delighted to be here with Infrastructure Minister Catherine King to talk about some top up funding for this really important Richmond Bridge project. What people know about Richmond Bridge is that it goes underwater when there's a flood all too often. There's also terrible traffic congestion here, and what the Richmond Bridge project is about, which I've been advocating for, for many, many years, is to ease traffic congestion for people who live on the north side of the river, but also to provide greater flood resilience, so that we have a bridge that doesn't go under at the slightest flood. So the project is about creating a bridge, and approaches, that stay above water in any of the floods we've had in the recent years. So to about a one in 20 flood resilience.

Now, the challenge has been that the previous Government never bothered costing it properly. So as the work's been done by the New South Wales Government now under the Minns Government, we've got to see the costings, and what that's shown us is the funding that was set aside by the previous Government did not go far enough, to not just build the bridge, but to build all the approaches that need to happen, and to also make sure that there's no unintended consequences for local suburban streets. So, what this funding does is make sure we can build properly the bridge and the approaches, and I'll hand over to the Minister to talk about the details of the federal commitment.

CATHERINE KING: Thanks very much, Susan. Well, it's great to be here at North Richmond, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. And can I just say to the people of Susan's seat, you could not have a better advocate than Susan. She has been relentless when it comes to this bridge. She first stood up, I think, almost 15 years ago now, when the Prime Minister was Infrastructure Minister, making the commitment here. Of course, with the Liberals in power for over a decade, you can see this project really did not proceed under the Liberal National Party. Behind us the Richmond Bridge, there is a $500 million commitment that is now going through its planning and environmental approval stages. Once that's done, you will start to see the construction work. But we knew there was a missing piece, and of course, what we didn't want to do is fix the bridge and then put all of the traffic problems onto the suburban roads and really not have that congestion coming in and coming out. So today, we're announcing an additional $114 million to the Richmond Bridge project to make sure that we've got the entry and exit roads right and that traffic redesign right, to enable not just the flood proofing of Richmond Bridge, but also the traffic proofing into the future, so that we don't have the sort of congestion we've got at the moment in terms of Richmond Bridge, and that we're really making sure we're funding the full project, not just parts of the project.

Susan and I have stood here before. We've talked a lot about how important this project is. I've sat in people's homes not far away who were really concerned about the previous Government's proposals, the direction in which that bridge was coming, and that consultation, that work with the local community, that Susan has done has meant we're actually getting a better project, a better project, because she's taken the time to listen. She's taken the time to advocate, both to the State Government and to me, and I'm really pleased to be able to make this announcement today, happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: Amazing. So first of all, let's start what's been the reception from the community.

KING: Well, why don't we get Susan to ask that, to answer that as the local member?

TEMPLEMAN: Well, the community is about to find out that the Federal Government has increased the funding, but we have had recent community meetings where that has been a really key request that, please don't break this project into some smaller stages, please do it properly and do it once. Hawkesbury Council has also requested that this funding be delivered so the funding request has been very clear from the community, and what this announcement does is give certainty to the people who get stuck on this side of the bridge, whether it's seven o'clock in the morning when there's traffic, or whether it's during a flood, they now have certainty that they will be able to use the bridge and the approaches and have a much better trip from one side of the river to the other. It's going to help them on a daily basis, but it's also going to help them at times of river rising.

JOURNALIST: When's this project expected to be completed?

TEMPLEMAN: The New South Wales Government’s indicated that the project has, it'll take several years to do, but by towards the end of this decade, it's a big project, and that's their expectation. So several years, and the sooner we get started, the better.

JOURNALIST: So potentially around the 2030s before it's completed, what sort of I guess, delays can commuters expect while construction takes place?

TEMPLEMAN: Well, the New South Wales Government is anticipating by the end of this decade, and of course, there will inevitably be some work that gets done, but let's keep in mind that the old bridge is being maintained while the new bridge is being built. And even beyond that, the old bridge that you see behind us is going to be maintained as a pedestrian and bicycle precinct, and that's something that's really important to the Hawkesbury because it's more than 100 years old. It's one of two bridges that really opened up this area many, many, many decades ago. So, it'll be a much smoother project, because what's being constructed is new. It's not overlapping what's there. But inevitably, there will be pressure points, and I'll obviously work through with the New South Wales Government to ensure that their planning process takes into account the needs of local commuters.

JOURNALIST: And last question, and I appreciate you may or may not be able to answer this, but we're going to speak to the Liberal candidate about the bridge here, and if he supports those changes, do you anticipate the Coalition to support this infrastructure?

TEMPLEMAN: I would hope that the entire Hawkesbury community supports that there is finally going to be appropriate funding for a project that has been talked about for decades, but only Labor has made the significant progress that it needs.

JOURNALIST: Amazing. Anything else?

KING: No, I think that's fine.

JOURNALIST: World peace? Move on to world peace and tariffs?

KING: We can if you want to.

JOURNALIST: No, we’re all good. Thanks.

CATHERINE KING: You're most welcome.