JUST when is an announcement a re-announcement?
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That's the question we were left pondering on Wednesday after Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced the Coalition Government's plan to duplicate the Great Western Highway from Lithgow to Katoomba (if re-elected).
It was certainly an exciting announcement, bold even - but was it really new? Certainly there were key phrases that had us sensing a touch of deja vu - "duplication", "30 kilometres".
As it turned out, we had good reason to be curious.
It took just a quick check of the archives to find an article from June last year that said: "Planning is underway for a 30-kilometre duplication of the Great Western Highway from Katoomba to Forty Bends, which will provide a safe and efficient link between the Central West and the Sydney motorway network." Sound familiar?
Of course, the devil is in the detail and a closer reading reveals last year's announcement was about planning while Wednesday's announcement concerned design and construction.
It's a difference of just a few words, but they are important words.
And those two bites of the same policy cherry again illustrate the great advantage of incumbency in an election campaign - as does the convenient timing of the announcement just a little over a fortnight out from an election.
Nobody was fooled by all of this, but the government doesn't care about that. The only real concern for the government is whether the plan is likely to be a vote winner or not, and in this case they should be confident of a positive result.
Transport links to Sydney remain one of the most important policy battles for all levels of government and all significant improvements will be welcomed by residents - and businesses - west of the Great Dividing Range.
Better links - road and rail - mean better opportunities for the Central West, and who really cares whether it's a Coalition or Labor government that delivers them?
In an election when the Coalition's terrible Sydney stadiums policy has become a millstone for all National and Liberal candidates, a major highway upgrade announcement to benefit the people of the bush could not have been more timely.
Now voters must decide if it's a case of too little, too late.