NSW minister defends rushing local project after budget triples

A NSW Labor minister says he has “no apologies” for asking bureaucrats to rush a $50 million bridge project in his ward; a project the state auditor’s office criticized for lacking a completed work file.

The state’s Roads and Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison’s office has told Transport for NSW (TfNSW) officials to speed up construction of a new bridge across the railway line in the Maitland suburb of Thornton, according to the NSW Audit Office.

The bridge is located a few minutes’ drive from the minister’s house; She and her husband, former Maitland councilor Robert Aitchison, have registered a self-managed super fund, which the minister described in a public disclosure form as a “property rental” partnership.