Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have spoken in this place before about the importance of pedestrian road safety. As the ambassador of Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation, an organisation that promotes child pedestrian safety awareness to the community, as a member who represents many families and as a mother of four little children, I am particularly passionate about this issue.

Data from the Institute of Health and Welfare states that the most common cause of death of children aged one to 14 is road trauma. While road safety education plays an important role, we cannot deny that improved infrastructure such as traffic calming strategies and pedestrian crossings are critical to keeping our youngest and most vulnerable pedestrians safe. I would like to commend the Morrison government on its ongoing commitment to the Black Spot Program, which allows councils to seek federal funding for high-traffic areas that pose a risk to both motorists and pedestrians. The Black Spot program targets sites that are prone to traffic accidents or accidents waiting to happen.

One such dangerous site in my electorate of Reid is Gale Street in Mortlake. This street sees a high volume of traffic, including vehicles like large freight trucks, with no points for safe pedestrian access. Gale Street is a particular concern because St Patrick's Catholic parish and primary school in Mortlake is located on this dangerous stretch of road. I have met with the principal of St Patrick's, Amanda Westgate, and Father Tom Stevens, who oversees the parish. They have gone to great lengths to keep pedestrians, young and old, safe.

However, without a pedestrian crossing or speed calming devices there is no safe way to access the church or school grounds. Two proactive parents in my electorate, Melanie Carli and Nerida Shipley, have started a petition to see better pedestrian access installed. It has now received almost a thousand signatures and counting. The community clearly backs improvement to this traffic black spot, and I have been assured by the City of Canada Bay Council, the mayor, that this is going to be investigated and that traffic calming measures for the street surrounding the school and church will be investigated. Now that term 4 has commenced, traffic and pedestrian movement counts are taking place. It is important that all levels of government work together to ensure the safety of our communities. I look forward to seeing improvements to road safety for pedestrians, not only in Gale Street Mortlake but across Reid.