IT was President Kennedy who said: "We choose to go to the moon and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard."
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This is a lesson Regional Roads Minister Paul Toole could learn.
Tinkering with a second-grade highway by throwing good public money after bad lacks vision as it will not deliver what the Central West needs.
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The Great Western Highway has been mismanaged for a generation, tinkering at the edges. To unlock the full potential of this region, connectivity to the outer Sydney metropolitan road network is vital.
A new superhighway is the only option. What Paul Toole proposes, a 31 kilometre duplication, cannot even guarantee any time saving, leaving businesses and citizens still winding across a substandard roadway with all the current restrictions and obstacles in place.
When John Barilaro stood with Paul Toole and said this upgrade would unlock the economic potential of this region, they were both having us on.
History has shown us that politics throws up different types of politicians: The visionaries who leave a legacy of real change, putting the country first; the daily spin merchants who toe the party line with empty rhetoric, reacting to the daily news cycle; and the smiling pork barrellers who take every bit of credit for giving our money back to us to keep us quiet.
Over the years, various routes have been outlined with tunnels to make this happen. CENTROC was involved at one stage to push this along.
The frustrations of Graeme Burke trying to run his transport business, outlined recently in this newspaper, should embarrass our politicians both state and local. It is shameful.
Where is the local council's push to put pressure on the regional roads minister and not be distracted endlessly on fourth order issues like a go-kart track and second circuit?
After the war, Australia had to populate or perish. We need the same approach to maintain and increase our living standards out here.
A highway corridor opens up so many opportunities for the Central West. And with $100 billion on the table over 10 years for infrastructure, never has there been a better moment.
History has given Paul Toole a unique gift in timing; massive infrastructure funds available at rock-bottom interest rates available to a cabinet minister in the state government holding the key portfolio of regional roads minister. The sad part is this is a lost opportunity by Paul Toole.
He could cement a lasting legacy by not just doing some of the other things because they are easy but, as Kennedy said, also doing the hard things like fighting for a superhighway and capital funding.
To continue tinkering at the edges of this never-to-be highway is condemning the people of the Central West to ongoing limited development, stifling the true growth potential of the region.
We deserve better. What a shame.
