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

My electorate of Macarthur is one of the most rapidly growing electorates in Australia. However, we are being starved of the necessary support that would allow Macarthur to flourish by the economic gerrymander of the state and federal Liberal-National Party governments. There are the sports rorts, the arts rorts and the lack of decent public facilities. In particular, there's a lack of public transport infrastructure, which means that Macarthur residents travel far too long to find work, have less opportunity to spend quality time with their family and, when they do have time, they lack the local resources to enjoy their time. Time and again, I've written to the government requesting funding for local infrastructure only to be ignored. Western Sydney airport is to the north of Macarthur and we are being denied a rail link, while Liberal electorates to the north of the airport are being given money by the state and federal governments for a very expensive rail line. State and federal governments continue with their pork-barrelling and fail to support Macarthur. At the same time, they're pushing housing developments by huge development companies without providing local infrastructure.

The government would do well to finally provide the funding I've been asking for to enable the Shepherd Centre to open a new centre of excellence in Macarthur for children with severe hearing impairment. The government ought to provide funding for some of our local sporting fields for essential upgrades. Instead, they are leaving sporting clubs, such as the Minto Stingers and the Eagle Vale St Andrews Junior Rugby League Football Club, in the dark. The government could have got their act together long ago and ensured the promised funding for Appin Road came through. However, they haven't and Appin Road remains a very dangerous road. The government could provide funding to our beloved arts centre. They missed out on a grant from the arts council this year and are already struggling because of the pandemic. The government could provide a rail link for Macarthur to the new airport. Infrastructure Australia believe it's necessary, as do all of the experts. Instead, the government downright refuse to commit to this vital project and only focus on the northern link to St Marys and doing half a job.

I've raised these concerns many times and will continue to do so. My community is growing exponentially. The state and federal Liberal-National governments are aware of this and are allowing almost uncapped development to take place without infrastructure. Macarthur faces overdevelopment with the coalition government downright refusing to invest in essential services and projects in infrastructure for its residents. Investment in Macarthur is desperately required if South-West Sydney is to recover economically from COVID-19. Far too many homes, local businesses and families are at risk of going under. One only has to look at mortgage stress statistics to see that Macarthur has the highest mortgage stress statistics in New South Wales. It's time the Prime Minister came to the table and began governing in the interests of all Australians, not just some Australians. Stop hoarding all the money for Liberal electorates. There are taxpayers in Macarthur too.

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