A Shorten Labor Government will upgrade the Moruya Regional Airport and undertake planning for the construction of the proposed Milton-Ulladulla bypass on the Princes Highway.

These two projects, with a combined cost of $3 million, will support important infrastructure projects to boost economic and tourism growth on the NSW South Coast.

We would also work with the NSW Government to ensure the replacement of the existing southbound bridge over the Shoalhaven River at Nowra and get the National Broadband Network back on track.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show public sector infrastructure investment declined by 20 per cent between the September quarter of 2013 and the September quarter of 2015.

The Abbott-Turnbull Government cuts to infrastructure investment have short-changed regional communities on the South Coast at the very time we need to boost investment and ensure job creation in growth sectors such as tourism.

A Shorten Labor Government would get infrastructure moving again by investing $2.5 million to expand the Moruya Airport’s capacity.

This project will also add 34,000 square metres of commercial space and provide exciting new opportunities for food exporters to access markets in Australia and around the world.

Labor’s $500,000 commitment for planning to advance the Milton-Ulladulla Bypass will ease traffic congestion that is holding back economic growth.

Residents of Milton and Ulladulla, and holidaymakers who visit this beautiful region, are all too familiar with traffic queues that at peak holiday times can extend for kilometres.

NSW Roads and Maritime Services has identified a bypass corridor, but to this point no funding has been allocated.

It’s time to get this project underway.

Visiting the South Coast today we also inspected the site of the proposed new bridge over the Shoalhaven River at Nowra.

The existing bridge is coming to the end of its useful life. It cannot be rehabilitated under current traffic conditions.

A Labor Government will work with the Shoalhaven Council and the NSW Government to plan for its replacement as soon as possible.

Labor will move quickly to deliver first rate fibre-to-the-premises to homes and businesses in Gilmore.  Malcolm Turnbul’s copper-based Fraudband will be phased out under a Labor Government.

Labor understands the NBN’s applications in critical areas like education and health as well as its potential to help businesses in rural and regional Australia access international markets.