With five weeks until polling day, Committee 4 Wagga (C4W) CEO Chris Fitzpatrick wants concrete commitments about the levee bank, Wagga bypass, Murray Darling Medical School, inland rail and airport privatisation.

The community campaigner threw down the gauntlet to Nationals MP Michael McCormack, Labor’s Tim Kurylowicz, Greens candidate Kevin Poynter and newly minted independent Richard Foley.

C4W deemed the levee bank the single most important election issue, warning of a clean-up bill running into the “billions of dollars” if the city’s flooded.

“If we got inundated with water, we would lose population, jobs, businesses would leave and developers would lose confidence,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.

“In 2012, the federal government spent up to $10 million in flood recovery for people displaced by the evacuation, so $7.75 million to pay for one third of flood protection creates an insurance policy.” 

Wagga council last week passed a rate hike to fund its third of the estimated $7.75 million construction cost.

Mr Fitzpatrick said the bypass, medical school, inland rail and airport privatisation were all equally important.  

“The state government committed $100,000 for a (Sturt Highway) bypass in March last year, but we haven’t seen any outcomes yet,” he said.

“The federal government needs to come to the table to deal with the city’s congestion and future transport needs.

“We applaud the (Turnbull) government’s $594 million budget commitment to inland rail, but it’s important that project doesn’t drop off the radar.

“Studying medicine in regional centres leads to a high retention of doctors, but if they study in the city it’s difficult to drag them out here.

“For the airport to develop and be a success the federal government needs to sell part of the land so it can be subdivided for aeronautic business.”