It has taken around twenty-four years but the $15 billion 657km Pacific Highway upgrade, from Hexham a suburb of Newcastle to the Queensland border, is now complete.
The prime minister celebrated this fact at New Italy on the Far North Coast – even though he personally had little to do with the planning, implementation or funding of most of this upgrade. Not being a member of parliament when the project began and only being part of a federal government for the final seven years.
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| Left to right: Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan, Deputy Prime Minister & Nationals MP Michael McCormack, Prime Minister & Liberal MP Scott Morrison, NSW Premier & Liberal MP Gladys Berejiklian |
Current road toll
Between 1 January 2020 & 17 December, 292 people have been killed on NSW roads - 178 on country roads [NSW Transport, 18 December 2020].
At least 10 of these deaths were on the Pacific Highway.
Media reports revealed that one person was killed just north of Sydney, one on the Central Coast near Lake Munmorah, one on the Mid-North coast at Nabiac, one at Charlestown, one at Harwood in the Clarence Valley, two were further north about 5kms south of Woodburn, one south of Tweed Heads, another across the Queensland border at Nerang and one down south at Albury near the Victorian border.
