It's a road of less national significance, next time you're on the Hume take a look up at the contrails - it really is now a much cheaper way to travel for 1 or 2 people. Even if it was nationally significant, shouldn't that mean federal funds, not nsw funds? I think the albury bypass should take out most of the current delay.
The existing road actually makes a bit of a break from the freeway boredom where you can take the cruise off and drive normally for a while. Anybody ever tried driving at 110 km/h on cruise? It makes the trip soooooo easy and much less tiring than 115-120 (fiddle off/up/down passing etc). Sit back and let everybody else do the hard work (and catch up at the next roadworks!).
Our national driving standards are a complete disgrace. We should take a leaf from the UK (ok, they do 90mph on the motorway but at least they indicate properly at roundabouts).