The NSW government paid $15 million to a state owned corporation for the Sydney M4 motorway's one-month toll-free period, WestConnex Minister Stuart Ayres has revealed.
WestConnex Minister Stuart Ayres confirmed the NSW government paid the Sydney Motorway Corporation $15 million during the recent four-week toll period at a budgets estimates hearing on Wednesday.
The distance-based toll on the newly-widened section of the M4 motorway between Parramatta and Homebush ranges from $1.77 to $4.56 for cars and up to $13.67 for trucks each way.
Transport NSW data suggests motorists have opted against using the new road in a bid to avoid tolls since the free period ended in mid-August.
The $15 million payment to SMC was criticised by the opposition and the Greens, who said the government was effectively buying a gift for someone with their own credit card.
"Who struck this deal? Because it's a bad deal," opposition roads spokeswoman Jodi McKay told reporters.
"How can you have the government paying $15 million in compensation on a road it still owns?"
Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said the benefits of the toll-free-period would go entirely to the private owner when SMC is sold off later this year.
"It's the public who lose out in the end. They pay tolls and then pay again without even knowing."
Mr Ayres has defended the government's decision to fork out the fee.
"It was a perfectly reasonable position to invest in a period of time where road users could experience the road, see what benefits it offered them and then allow them to make that decision once the toll came in," he told Macquarie Radio.
