Drivers on the Pacific Highway and the State’s other death trap highways would be the losers after it was revealed the Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport and Roads, David Borger, had been spending his time drafting press releases for local councillors on local parking meters in Sydney, Leader of the Nationals Andrew Stoner said today.

In Parliament today, Mr Stoner asked the Minister why he was wasting his time and Ministerial resources on minor local government issues instead of fixing the State’s highways, including the Pacific Highway.

Mr Borger avoided answering the question.

Mr Stoner said Mr Borger should stop spending his time getting involved in grubby local politics, and start addressing the important issues in his portfolio.

“David Borger is supposed to be one of the two Ministers with responsibility for the Pacific Highway but these leaked emails reveal he’s too busy starting petty squabbles with local councillors in Sydney to focus on the job,” Mr Stoner said.

“Rather than fixing the State’s death trap highways, David Borger was too busy searching for the most minor issue he could find, choosing to meddle in a Sydney council’s management of some parking meters.

“David Borger is a Minister for one of the biggest portfolios in the State, yet he has stooped so low as to draft press releases for a suburban councilor. What a joke.

“It’s no wonder the Pacific Highway upgrade is only half completed thanks to State Labor’s incompetence.”

In a further humiliation, the local councilor in question refused to use Borger’s draft press release and told him Labor councillors are sick of being “bashed over the head” about the “failures and policy backflips” of the State Labor Government.

“With hundreds of motorists dying on the State’s highways every year, David Borger needs figure out where his priorities lie,” Mr Stoner said.

“Last year saw a dramatic rise in the number of deaths on our roads, but it’s clear State Labor MPs are too busy writing press releases to work on fixing it.

“This is typical incompetence from State Labor, preferring to focus on media releases than fixing the State’s problems.

“The people of NSW are sick of Labor’s incompetence, but only a change in Government will deliver the change they deserve,” Mr Stoner said.