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Labor vows to reinstate Sydney M4 cashback

NSW Labor leader Luke Foley has promised to restore the cashback scheme for users of the M4 if elected next year.

NSW Labor Leader Luke Foley speaks at the state Labor conference.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley has vowed to reinstate the M4 cashback at the state conference. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Drivers who use the M4 in Sydney's west will be offered cashbacks if Labor is elected to government next year.

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley on Saturday vowed to restore the scheme for private users on the motorway - worth about $193 million each year.

The toll was removed in 2010, but reinstated for part of the M4 between Parramatta and Homebush following a 7.5km widening.

Mr Foley told NSW Labor's state conference the upgrade will be paid off in full by mid-next year, but the Berejiklian government will continue to charge tolls until 2060.

"There's a place for toll roads - but the M4 is not a new road," he told hundreds of delegates at Sydney's Town Hall.

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In a clear pitch to western Sydney voters nine months out from the election, Mr Foley said tolls make life harder for families who were already under financial pressure.

"A Labor government will restore the M4 cashback for the families of Sydney's west," he said.

"You pay the toll, send us the bill, we pay you back."

Depending on the distance travelled, cars and motorbikes are now charged between $1.77 and $4.74.

The refunds will be funded by "savings measures" to be fully outlined before the March 23 poll, Mr Foley said.

The Labor leader also promised to keep the M5 cashback scheme, and no changes to the coalition government's discount on registration costs for drivers who spend more than $1300 a year on tolls.

The initial M4-M5 cashback was announced by former Labor premier Bob Carr at the same conference in 1996.

Mr Foley also committed to stop any further privatisation of public assets and to redirect billions of dollars from projects in the Northern Beaches and Bankstown for a new fast rail line between Westmead, Parramatta and the Sydney CBD.


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