Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is unthinkable that Western Sydney Airport might open unsupported by an integrated and fully functioning rail network. The Sydney Morning Herald published an article this morning that confirmed what we all knew to be true: the government has no plans to open Badgerys Creek airport with a rail line. What the government does not seem to understand is that without a rail line the airport will fail. You just have to look at Avalon Airport in Melbourne to see what happens when you build an airport with no infrastructure to go with it. Experts and bodies such as Infrastructure Australia see a rail link is a no-brainer. Retrofitting rail services would be hugely expensive, as well as technically challenging. If the government thinks the airport can rely on roads, they clearly have not sat in Western Sydney traffic. South-west Sydney is infamous for traffic congestion and long commutes. Piling more cars onto local roads and ignoring the consequences would constitute a planning failure of massive proportions.

This issue is of vital importance to the people of Macarthur and Western Sydney. They are entitled to be treated as more than just an afterthought. We have one opportunity to build an airport in Western Sydney, and if we are not going to do it properly we will just end up with a failed airport. This is our one chance to build this major infrastructure properly. If the government is going to do a half-arsed project, do not bloody do it at all.

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