7th August, 2025.
This year marks 40 years since the first stage of the Maldon-Dombarton railway line was unveiled. It is a project which remains incomplete. Five years of construction at a cost of $30 million followed the unveiling before the project was stopped. A large portion of the link would still need to be built, but leftover infrastructure from its initial stages, including land acquisition and bridges, is in reasonable condition from when the project was started decades ago. The fortieth anniversary has passed with development and the line of Sydney slowly going further and further south. I recognise the work undertaken in protecting the line and corridor. Many councillors and mayors have had their part in it. I thank each who has supported the project, along with those from far regional councils and regional mayors who see the benefit of the plan and what it would bring to the regions. We do not have Ronald Reagan as president or Michael Jackson pairing with Stevie Wonder and Cyndi Lauper to sing We Are the World, but many things are the same as in 1985. I hope that in 40 years we will be celebrating the completion of the project.