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

Yes, in Sydney, in the next 20 years. It shows that the Camden LGA will grow more than three times faster than any other electorate, any other area, in Sydney in the next 20 years—a growth of around 130 per cent; yet there is no public transport infrastructure, particularly rail, planned for that area.

The western corridor has the strongest housing growth in Sydney, and the Sydney Metro West project has the highest potential to provide value-adding to all those areas. Federal funding is needed urgently to ensure construction can begin in a fast-tracked time frame and close any funding gaps. It's obvious to all involved that the project simply cannot wait. It is also obvious to me that the heavy rail line from Leppington to Western Sydney Airport can't wait either. This is urgently needed transport infrastructure that has a high value-added component. It will improve the lives of many people living in Western Sydney and South Western Sydney and provide much support for the families that are rapidly moving into the area.

The electorate of Macarthur and the electorates to the north—Lindsay, Parramatta, Chifley et cetera—urgently need this transport infrastructure to be put in place. They are sick of being told, 'It will come, it will come,' when nothing is being done. We are being delivered platitudes. To give credit where it is due the North West Metro project—and my eldest son was one of the project managers on the project—is providing an excellent service. But the people of Western Sydney and South Western Sydney should not have to put up with congested roads and no public transport while they wait for this vacillating government to finally decide whether they will or won't fund the project and get things moving. It is affecting their lives, it is affecting their families—as the member for Mackellar has pointed out—and it is affecting their quality time with their kids. I think it is far too long to have to wait for more and more bureaucratic decision-making to occur. We know that the project is urgent. We know that it needs to be funded. It must happen.

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