Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people of Kingsford Smith and the surrounding community are absolutely fed up with the New South Wales Liberal government. They're fed up with the state government's poor planning of key infrastructure projects that continue to negatively impact upon our community and beyond. In particular, WestConnex is one of those disasters. I understand the local community's outrage at a number of trees to be felled or pruned as a result of the Alexandria to Moore Park connectivity upgrade. It's part of WestConnex, a mostly underground motorway being built across Sydney, and it's already taking its toll. The New South Wales government are responsible for all aspects of planning approvals, and they're destroying our community's natural heritage. Concept designs confirm that big fig trees on the eastern side of South Dowling Street next to Dacey Avenue will be 'affected' by road widening and also states that 'some impact' is expected upon Dacey Avenue. A shared cycle footpath would weave across and around trees 'where possible'. These trees are part of the character of the historic suburb of Randwick, and they're being taken without any notification to our wider community.

There's simply no transparency about what the New South Wales government is doing in respect of this. The New South Wales Liberal government are out of touch, just like their federal colleagues. What really riles our community about their approach is that they simply won't explain what their plans are in terms of the bus services that are going to be affected by the light rail line that's being built to our community, how many trees are going to be taken in respect of the Moore Park connectivity upgrade and where they're going to be taken from, not to mention the changes to local traffic and local road networks that will be part of the upgrade and the effect that that will have on surrounding communities.

They can't even respond to the community's requests for basic information. I wrote to the New South Wales transport minister requesting that information in March this year, and I still haven't got a response. For those who've had enough of WestConnex, it's time to translate that anger into action. I and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek, will be hosting a WestConnex forum at Alexandria Town Hall at 6 pm on 12 July. You can find out more details about the forum on my Facebook page. I urge residents of Kingsford Smith and Sydney to join us on the 12th and express your outrage at what the New South Wales government is doing with WestConnex, the light rail project and our community. Come and have your say and let the New South Wales Liberals know that enough is enough when it comes to WestConnex.