ANTHONY Albanese envisions Novocastrians being able to catch a train from Newcastle at 6.30pm and be at Sydney Olympic Park in time for a Knights game, as Labor pledges $500 million toward a fast rail line connecting Newcastle and Sydney, if elected to government later this year.
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The federal Opposition Leader, who will visit Newcastle on Sunday, has pitched his party as the government that "actually gets work underway on high speed rail", eventually connecting Brisbane and Sydney via Newcastle with stops on the Central Coast.
During his visit, Mr Albanese was expected to declare an elected Labor government would establish a High Speed Rail Authority to begin work on the project, with the pledged half-billion-dollar budget allocation to begin corridor acquisition, planning and early works.
"We'll start with a fast rail corridor but we'll plan and build for the move to high speed rail," Mr Albanese said, "Faster rail would see travel times from Newcastle to Sydney cut to just two hours. And once high speed rail is up and running, this journey would take only 45 minutes.
"You'll be able to jump on the train at 6:30pm and be at Sydney Olympic Park for the start of the Knights game. It will make the region more connected, giving businesses opportunities for closer collaboration and integration as well as an incentive for people looking to relocate to the region."
In a speech titled 'Future Made in the Hunter', to be delivered Sunday, Mr Albanese also promised to throw support behind the Glendale Interchange "helping turn north west Lake Macquarie into a new employment superhub".
"It will unlock investment and opportunity across the Lower Hunter, creating 3800 new jobs and spurring the construction of 2700 new residences," he said.
Furthermore, Mr Albanese said Labor's National Rail Manufacturing Plan would reverse the NSW government's move to shift train manufacturing offshore, and return the work to the Hunter.
"For decades, the Hunter made trains for Sydney and the NSW network," Mr Albanese said, "Then, the state Liberal Government turned their backs on workers here and decided to buy trains from overseas.
"The previous Liberal NSW Premier declared that workers in this great state are no good at building trains ... a Labor Government I lead won't make that mistake."
Mr Albanese said investing in rail infrastructure "doesn't stop at the end of the line" and that "the trains that run on the tracks should be made in Australia too".
"Our National Rail Manufacturing Plan will mean that trains should be built here again," he said.
The key election pledge comes as the population of the Hunter Valley and Central Coast is expected to grow by around 200,000 by 2040.
Mr Albanese said a fast, and eventual high-speed rail link would revolutionise the regions for local workers commuting to Sydney, as well as decentralising the state.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader has also pledged to save the Hunter's GP Access After Hours service, lambasting the Prime Minister and the current federal government for hitting local families with a "triple whammy" of reduced health services.
GP Access, which is operated by Hunter Primary Care, faced significant reductions in services at the end of 2021, prompting outrage from residents, the medical establishment, and local and state Labor members and candidates.
The service provides after hours medical care and advice to residents of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the surrounding region from Maitland, John Hunter, Calvary Mater and Belmont hospitals, as well as the Westlakes Community Health Centre.
On Christmas Eve, the clinic operated from the Mater closed entirely, while services elsewhere face reductions, attributed to - among other factors - government funding cuts, a freeze on Medicare Benefits Scheme revenue, and demand slowing during COVID lockdowns.
Mr Albanese pointed to GP Access as an example of Liberal governments treating the Hunter as "a difficult question to be ignored", and said families in the region had been left in the cold.
Mr Albanese sentiments echoed that of his Shortland MP Pat Conroy who, in December, said more than half-a-million dollars in federal government funding to be cut from the service would force reductions to GP Access operating hours by nearly half on weekends and public holidays.
"These reckless acts will add to health inequality, and they wouldn't happen if it was on the north shore of Sydney or in the Sutherland Shire," Mr Albanese said, "Labor will restore this funding to ensure your community can access the healthcare you deserve. That is central to Labor's commitment to strengthen Medicare - one of the great divides in values in Australian politics."
"I've chosen to start the year here in the Hunter because I believe this community represents the resilience and resourcefulness of Australia," he said.
"I think there is so much the Hunter can teach us about adaption and change and reconstruction and innovation."
Mr Albanese was expected to speak in Newcastle during his visit on Sunday.