NSW Election 2023: Dugald Saunders and Josh Black outline their plans to improve electorates infrastructure

We asked some of the candidates running for the seat of Dubbo five questions to gauge their vision for the next term of government.

Incumbent Nationals member Dugald Saunders contended recent rainfall has led to extensive damage on the electorate's road network but said the coalition has been injecting money into the issue to enable necessary repairs.

"There's no doubt the past few years have had a toll on our roads, not just in NSW but across eastern Australia. There's always more we can do to support councils to maintain their infrastructure, and I'm always willing to have those conversations to find positive solutions," he said.

"But this Government has a proven track record in building a strong economy, and investing in the infrastructure that matters to keep our state moving forward."

He said, across the Dubbo Regional Council area, the government had invested over $8.6 million into eight projects through the Fixing Local Roads fund and an additional $956,000 through the Pothole Repair Round.

On top of this funding, the government injected $7.7 million into six projects through the Fixing Country Roads scheme, over $6.6 million into five projects through the Fixing Country Bridges and $5 million through Regional the Local Roads Repair Program.

"Since 2019, we've delivered $1.8 billion to fixing local roads in regional NSW," said Mr Saunders.

Labor candidate Josh Black agreed the condition of roads in the electorate is not up to par.

However, he said there were issues with local roads long before recent rainfall events and the support the government has recently announced is "woefully short and years too late".

"The road condition is extremely poor, and has been for years. This hasn't just been the result of the last year or so of wet weather, but is the result of 12 years of neglect, under-funding, waste, rorts, pork-barrelling and cost-shifting onto councils by this Coalition government," he said.

"The refusal of the State government to properly fund council for road repairs is one of the main issues that got me to run for election."

He said funding and repair promises made by the Nationals and the coalition in the lead up to the election should be "taken with an ocean-full of salt".

"A last minute, panicked, cash-splash to fill potholes shows that this tired government is out of time and out of ideas," he said.

"They have had 12 years in government to do whatever they will promise over the next month, but they haven't delivered."

Labor is yet to announce its regional roads and transport police, however Mr Black said a "major announcement" on the issue can be expected in coming weeks. He said the Labor party would be "committed" to working with local councils to deliver funding as needed.

Locally, Mr Black said if elected he will be "pushing immediately" for money to be allocated for a study to explore the viability of a Dubbo Newell Highway bypass.

"Dubbo Council sent a letter to Dugald and the State government nearly 12 months ago requesting $75,000 and not one cent has been delivered. The previous Federal Government didn't provide any money either," he said.

"Proper planning is required now to reserve the land for the route. Under the Nationals everyone else can have a bypass, except for Dubbo. Dubbo needed another high-level in-town bridge for local traffic, and a flood-free heavy vehicle bypass."

Should the coalition be re-elected into government they're promising to splash more cash into fixing regional roads, said Mr Saunders.

"A re-elected Liberal and Nationals Government will invest a further $1 billion to upgrade the roads communities use every day in regional NSW, fast-track upgrades to freight pinch points and rebuild our road and transport infrastructure to be more resilient against natural disasters," he said.

Promised spending so far includes a $400 million injection for Fixing Local Roads, $300 million for the establishment of a new Fast Tracking Freight program and $300 million for a Build Back Better program to invest in more resilient State, regional and local road and transport infrastructure across regional NSW.

The state election is set to be held on March 25.

Kate Richardson - who is running for the seat of Dubbo for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party - did not provide responses in time for publication.

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