I express the outrage of my constituents in the Blacktown electorate at the failure of the Liberal-Nationals Government to deliver lifts at Doonside station in the budget that was announced yesterday. The scheme is commonly referred to by the Government as the Easy Access Program. The evaluation process is objectively based on data and subject matter, expertise and knowledge. The scores are tallied and locations can be prioritised. When the Premier was transport Minister, this independent assessment was undertaken across the State and Doonside station was identified as twelfth in the State on a needs‑based analysis.
The residents of the suburbs of Doonside, Woodcroft, Bungarribee and Huntington Heights, collectively under the one postcode of 2767, all access Doonside station as the closest station. This means the catchment area has approximately 25,000 residents. That is not a small area. In the final year of the Labor Government in 2011, the then transport Minister, John Robertson, asked the department to undertake the design of the easy access upgrade with the intention of starting the works in the 2011-12 budget. With the change of government in 2011, the O'Farrell Government introduced the new assessment criteria and the then Minister for Transport and now Premier of New South Wales ranked Doonside as twelfth on the list.
Locally we were disappointed, as many of us had been campaigning for a decade to have the lifts installed. Yet previously we at least were maintaining a relatively high priority and we could wait a couple of years for our turn. Martha Lynch, President of the Doonside Senior Citizens Club, originally called for the lifts and understands the impact that the lack of lifts has on the elderly. The closure of the rail crossing gates in 1983 effectively divided a suburb into two. The south side has many residential homes and a public school. The northern side has a village shopping centre, medical practices, real estate, a community centre, a senior citizens centre, a preschool and a youth centre. The divided suburb meant that many residents—the elderly, parents with prams and people with disabilities—struggled to use the ramp to get to the other side or to navigate the steep staircase to go onto the train platform.
After World War II, to assist returned soldiers, many war service homes were built next to the station on the south side. Even today this area has many elderly residents who are isolated from accessing the important social support services to which I have referred. The budget brought down yesterday once again overlooked Doonside. I want to compare Doonside with some of the stations that have received an upgrade. In a sample week it was found that 22,000 people used the Opal card at Doonside station. But unfortunately Doonside station was bumped by Hawkesbury River station which, in the same sample week, was used by 555 people and by approximately 16,000 people in Wahroonga.
The local community is devastated that an independent assessment that ranked it as the twelfth community most in need has been overlooked in a program that upgraded 47 stations. A further $133 million has been announced for an additional 11 stations to be upgraded, but still not Doonside. This is an atrocious abuse of political power that constantly overlooks a community that is in desperate need—a fact supported by independent analysis. It has been overlooked due to political powers to support marginal Liberal-Nationals electorates. The Leader of the Opposition made it clear that a Labor government would build the lifts and not leave the elderly, parents with prams and people with disabilities stranded.
Residents in the local area cannot understand how the Liberal-Nationals Government can proudly announce a $10 billion surplus over five years and yet no money is available to assist the elderly, people with disabilities and parents with prams by having lifts at Doonside station. The Treasurer said in his Budget Speech, "This budget delivers more today for those who need it most." We need those lifts and we are not getting them. The Treasurer also said, "This budget shows a conservative heart." He is right because the people who use Doonside station have been discriminated against. I condemn the Treasurer for his failure to provide funds for the Doonside station lift upgrade. I condemn the transport Minister for his failure to adhere to the independent assessment of priorities for station upgrades. He put politics before people. I condemn the Premier and former transport Minister as she has allowed politics to get in the way of community need. This Government says that the budget delivers. The only thing it delivers is misery for my community.
