WestConnex loan 'helps to pay itself'
A A$2 billion concessional loan from the Australian government to the New South Wales government to fund the building of the WestConnex road project in Sydney will be paid back through increased tolls."[Motorists] are prepared to pay the tolls for these sorts of facilities, in order to get to market quicker because they make money by getting to market quicker," Treasurer Joe Hockey said at a ground-breaking event yesterday."We have to borrow money in order to build, and in this case we are building infrastructure that is going to deliver a dividend," Hockey said."Now, thousands of trucks are going to use these sort of tunnels and they can pay their way. "This is not just about commuters getting a better deal, it's also about truck transport and logistics, and speed is money in those situations.""It helps to pay itself and from a Federal Government perspective, it's a damn good investment because if we increase the speed of delivery of logistics right across Australia, the economy will strengthen, you'll get more jobs out of that as well," he said.