As part of a cabinet reshuffle, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s has appointed Stuart Ayres as the minister for the $16.8 billion WestConnex motorway project.
Ayres lost his tourism and trade portfolio but picked up responsibility of overseeing the massive development, which according to The Australian, is the first time that an individual project has been given its own ministerial portfolio.
The newswire said Berejiklian is understood to be keen to fast-track development to avoid her first poll clashing with Sydney’s George Street being dug up for a $2.1 billion light rail project and residents angry their houses have been taken by the government for WestConnex.