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Toll cap for NSW drivers
The NSW government has announced a $60 toll cap it says will benefit nearly three-quarters of a million motorists from January 1.
The upcoming state budget will allocate $561 million over two years to the toll cap, Roads Minister John Graham said on Sunday.
He said it was an election promise delivered, with motorists able to claim back toll costs above $60 a week through a quarterly refund from Service NSW.
More motorists are going to access the $60 toll cap scheme than originally anticipated and I am very pleased to say more than 700,000 motorway users are now going to benefit.
Motorists, particularly in western Sydney where access to public transport alternatives have been more limited than in other parts of the city, have been crying out for relief from the ever-rising burden of tolls on the family budget.
Depending on where they live motorists can expect to claim back several hundred dollars a year through the scheme, from an estimated $199 in Gosford to $540 in Glendenning, according to Transport for NSW forecasts.
The NSW government will also proceed with toll rebates for heavy vehicles using the M5 East and M8 tunnels, with implementation on track for January 1.
Trucks will receive a rebate for a third of their trip travelled on the M5 East and M8, costing $54 million over the two-year trial.
The state government is undertaking an independent review of toll roads, led by Professor Allan Fels and Dr David Cousins who will report back with recommendations to make the system safer, fairer and more efficient.
The Minns Labor government’s $60 toll cap is part of ending an era in which government placed more emphasis on growing toll revenue than on helping people get around Sydney without breaking the bank.
-AAP
24m ago21.00 EDT
The Australian government may be liable for tens of millions of dollars in compensation to asylum seekers after it posted their personal details online while they were in immigration detention, our top story reveals.
The mass data breach, discovered by Guardian Australia in 2014, resulted in information being used, in some cases, to allegedly threaten asylum seekers, or persecute and even jail their family members.
Of the nearly 10,000 asylum seekers whose privacy was breached nearly a decade ago, those who suffered “extreme loss and damage” will each be eligible for more than $20,000 in compensation after a decision from the administrative appeals tribunal.
For more, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Ben Doherty here:
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Article from www.theguardian.com