A humorous spare tyre cover in Wallendbeen over the weekend.
Griffith City Council has chimed in to the Wallendbeen Bridge debate with the end of the line for the Burley Griffin Way city, happy to see work recommence on the ‘temporary’ bridge on Tuesday January 28, after a truck caused damage last year resulting in the ‘temporary’ bridge’s closure.
Griffith Council has claimed that the works on the ‘temporary’ bridge will be completed in 6 days, however, those who have watched the snail pace speed at which works have commenced and continued on the bridge over the main southern railway line, since day dot, won’t be holding their breath.

The unfinished new bridge which will not be finished in time frames previously spoken of.
They and it means most of western NSW, know that what happens west of the Great Dividing Range is often a slow afterthought. With the original subsidence of the 1916 circa bridge occurring on March 2021, we are now just over a month away from where a 4th birthday celebration can be held to highlight the NSW Government’s lack of interest in looking after people in the country. Transport for NSW (TFNSW) have now abandoned mid 2025 for the new bridge to reopen, probably the smartest thing they have done since construction commenced and the most realistic. Somewhere in 2026 looks more likely, but who really knows. TFNSW go unchecked, do not report to the residents where the bridge is up to, what it has cost, or the fact they will likely ruin nearby farmland and the business of a local family to achieve it.

Farmland which will be compulsorily acquired by the NSW Government and will forever change how a nearby farm will operate.
The state seat of Cootamundra is held by the Nationals and the bridge fell down under the previous government’s watch, however, it certainly hasn’t been made a priority by Labor.
TFNSW would not survive in the public sector, they don’t operate on real time, and it’s clear that the bridge may not open until 5 years since it partially collapsed, but who is to blame? Premier Chris Minns? Yes. Minns has been Premier since March 2023, nearly two years ago, half the time it has taken this bridge not to be completed. Is he aware of the plight of the people living in the area or the farmers using the bridge during successive harvests? A part of the country west of the Great Dividing Range.
Minns is a city boy and we won’t hold that against him, but if an MLC such as Mick Veitch hadn’t been tossed out of the upper house at the Labor state conference for doing nothing more than representing the bush, maybe we would have had a more timely outcome for the bush. Veitch grew up in the Tumut and Gundagai areas and has strong connections to Young and other towns in the region. He would have made sure that this bridge was front and centre for Labor. He is a former shearer and understands the bush.
When you go to google and type in Chris Minns the major media outlets brought up the following news stories on January 24.
“Police close in on second vandalism arrest” “Religious groups split on changes to hate speech laws” “Chris Minns showing ‘more leadership’ than the PM on antisemitism” and Fizzer: Minns steps in, stops ban on popular mixed drinks”
Other headlines included, “NSW and QLD unmoved by Star’s renewed plea for tax relief” “NSW Premier turns down terrorism label for antisemitic firebombing of daycare centre” “Budget warning as psychiatrists plan walkout”
You can tell that these issues aren’t very bush centric. The psychiatrist one is. We have disgraceful mental health services with patients waiting months to see a Doctor at times.
If you go down to further pages it’s more of the same, but there’s no understanding about Walter Burley Griffin, the architect of the nation’s capital Canberra and the centre of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, Griffith, which was also designed by the yank and some 276 kilometres down the road bearing his name.

Signage leading to the one lane ‘temporary’ bridge which is currently not able to be used after it itself sustained damage while the new bridge was being constructed and continues to be constructed.
There’s no mention of the 40 minute detour around Wallendbeen to Coota and back across to Stockinbingal or Temora and how that inconveniences thousands a day.
Will Minns do what needs to be done and get out of the city and investigate what is going on in the bush? The cost of living in the country is becoming as bad as living in the city where he is.
Will there be some sort of promise from a government heavyweight such as him, the man who sits on the throne as to when the new bridge will be completed and when the ‘temporary’ bridge will be taken down. The ‘temporary bridge which is still out of action resulting in the huge detour, because TFNSW have been inept, slow and cumbersome.
Labor fought hard while not in power backing the reversal of forced amalgamations in the area. They include Hilltops, (Harden, Young and Boorowa.) CGRC which includes (Cootamundra and Gundagai) and Snowy Valley which includes (Tumut and Tumbarumba.) Then went missing entirely, leaving elected Councillors to deal with Minister Hoenig, to use a bush term, who could be sillier than a pet fox.
All have become abominations. Financial black holes which have lost skilled and experienced staff and millions upon millions of dollars each year that they have operated. A stroke of the pen would reverse these unholy mergers and a stroke of a pen could hasten the finalisation of the Wallendbeen Bridge which carries the Burley Griffin Way over the main southern rail line from Sydney to Canberra.
Does Minns know? Unlikely. If he did or does, would he care? Apparently not.