The mayor of Wagga, Greg Conkey, deserves praise for reigniting the call for an upgrade of the Brindabella Road, a proposal that has the potential to develop a booming business and tourism infrastructure from the ACT to the Riverina and North East Victoria.
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Isn't the linking of the federal government's tax cuts to a stimulating increase in infrastructure projects and jobs what the economic experts have been calling for?
Reserve Bank Governor, Philip Lowe, (an old Wagga boy by coincidence, born and schooled here), last week called for "a cash splash" on public works).
Now there's a wink and a nod for all the parliamentary and local government leaders quoted in The Daily Advertiser journalist Jody Lindbeck's story about Conkey's call.
Not that the Brindabella Road concept is new.
We need the administrative roadblocks removed.
Indeed, as editor of The Daily Advertiser in the 1980s, stories, leading articles and columns supporting the same plans passed through the newspaper at my direction quite regularly.
So much so, that my newspaper colleague, the late, and great, Patrick "Scoop" Sullivan of The Gundagai Independent would chide me about the odds of the project coming to fruition.
The Brindabella stories continued under my successor, Michael McCormack MP, and now, as The Daily Advertiser's story back in May about the project's worth resurfaced, his portfolios as Nationals' leader and Deputy PM include Minister for Transport and Regional Development, ought to have a profound impact on getting it up and running; but will it?
In The Daily Advertiser's story announcing Conkey's call for action, we have the same old problem - too many cooks (in the form of spokespersons for the government tiers involved) spoiling the broth.
There are the feds saying, "we are waiting to see if the project is named a priority by the state government, then we are willing to look at it".
Meanwhile, the local Tumut council, through deputy mayor John Larter, said it would "need to speak with the (state) minister to see what can be done and that is the plan" and Conkey has already spoken to the ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, because six or seven kilometres of the 40 unsealed kilometres of the road are on the ACT end - all of which is a perfect example of what Bob Hawke described in 1979 as "we must surely be the most over-governed country in the world".
Obviously, the local councils can see the enormous benefits of the Brindabella Road concept (everyone can); more direct access to Canberra Airport and that city's services and facilities, tourism all ways to the ACT, Southern Highlands, North East Victoria, the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and the three big river valley systems of the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray and the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project potential.
What, then, are we waiting for? We need the administrative roadblocks removed. This is a national project for the immediate benefit of two states and a territory and dozens of cities, towns and villages.
No more waiting for state premiers to make up their minds but for the Deputy Prime Minister to let the NSW Premier and others know the feds are taking over the Brindabella project right now.
If it is good enough for "Our Gladys" to dole out amounts of between $10,000 and $110,000 for her 66 Coalition members, then it is only reasonable that we voters demand such largesse be extended in the national interests and the Deputy PM should indulge in similar beneficence for all the people.
Why, then, must we all sit around waiting for the politicians to talk to each other any further about its worth. It's a given!
So let's get cracking Michael, Gladys, Andrew, Greg, John and treasurer Josh Frydenburg - Governor Lowe has given you the lead and as the federal opposition's shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, already looking daily as more knowledgeable and enthusiastic than his predecessor (Chris Bowen) ever did, said: "The government cannot leave all the heavy lifting to the Reserve Bank".
"Scoop" Sullivan too, I reckon, might well be saying: "Get on with it!"
While we are on the subject of public transport, recently a Griffith letters writer to The Daily Advertiser highlighted the second class treatment rail passengers in NSW regional areas experienced.
While the state government spends billions to keep Western Sydney public transport commuters happy, here in regional NSW as Greg Adamson wrote: "Isn't it time the state government led a new generation of transport for regional NSW".
