Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

One of the most urgent matters for residents and businesses in the northern end of Greenway is the issue of the Riverstone rail line overpass. It is one of the few remaining level crossings left in metropolitan Sydney. It consists, amongst other things, of a boom gate and an unworkable set of traffic lights—a configuration that results in endless queues and a hopeless traffic situation, with heavy vehicles queued up down the main street and across the station.

On Sunday, 9 February, hundreds of local residents attended a public forum organised by Blacktown City Council, where the RMS represented its options. This public forum was for members of the public to have their say. Council said that it needs certainty for its own development of certain assets that it owns in the Riverstone CBD. Someone was notable as missing in action: the Liberal state member for Riverstone. What a disgrace. It was the most important issue for Riverstone residents and he was missing in action.

His excuse, as reported by Lawrence Machado in News Local on 30 January, was:

"I believe this public meeting will undermine the process run by the RMS," he said. "We want to give everyone the opportunity to have their say and also have a one-on-one meeting with RMS officials."

What a ridiculous proposition. How many thousands of residents live in Riverstone and its surrounds, and who should say all of them would be able to get a one-on-one meeting? It is an absolute disgrace.

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