Public Transport Infrastructure Accessibility

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-101964

Hansard session: Fifty-Sixth Parliament, First Session (56-1)

Public Transport Infrastructure Accessibility

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (15:18:01):

My question is addressed to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Will the Minister provide updated details to the House on public transport accessibility and infrastructure investment across New South Wales, and are there in any risks in this program?

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE (BegaMinister for Transport and Infrastructure) (15:18:38):

— Like the Minister for Family and Community Services, I thank the good member for remembering to ask the question and I compliment him on all the work he does in his electorate on transport access. Like many members of the Government, he has been working hard and constructively with the transport department to deliver great outcomes. I see a couple of hands. I look at the member for Seven Hills and say that every train station in his electorate is now fitted with access as a result of this Government's program. It is a tremendous program.

Listen to the Opposition members. They are like a bunch of seagulls around a packet of chips. This Government has invested $1 billion to deliver lifts at stations and ferry wharfs. You name it, this Government is delivering it. Members should be conscious of the fact that the last government did not do much in this space and this Government has. Since 2011, $1 billion has been invested in wheelchair accessibility upgrades at approximately 50 stations, knocking down that barrier for people with disabilities accessing public transport. That must continue, and I know there is bipartisanship on this issue.

As well as the 20 upgrades that are currently underway, the Government has upgraded 15 commuter wharfs across the harbour, with six upgrades on the way to completion. That $1 billion did not come about by accident. It has come about through good financial management which has enabled this Government to get on with the job of delivering across the State. It is not only Government electorates that have benefited from the program. I take issue with the marginal member for Strathfield who said that the Government is putting politics ahead of people with disabilities, the ageing and parents with prams, implying that this Government is not delivering in seats held by the Opposition. That is simply untrue. Unfortunately, the member for Maitland is not in the Chamber. I will table her plaque. We have delivered for the member for Maitland. The member for Maitland did not turn up to the opening and I soon worked out why.

Ms Jodi McKay:

Point of order—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The Minister said that he would table the document.

Ms Jodi McKay:

It is a plaque and the Minister is using it as a prop.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Do you want it?

Ms Jodi McKay:

No. Why would I want anything from him? It is a prop.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The Minister has placed it on the table. There is no provision for the Minister to table it.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

I have tabled the plaque for the member for Maitland who is not here so that she can see it. It is now formally part of the record of Parliament. The project was pushed by someone who is not a parliamentarian—the Liberal candidate for the seat of Maitland in 2015. I congratulate Steve Thompson on the work he did to secure that project. It is interesting that the marginal member for Strathfield, who I understand is hunting for a safer Labor seat—there is a big smile on her face; something is going on. I have a post.

Mr David Mehan:

Point of order: My point of order relates to Standing Order 129. The Minister is not answering the question. He is talking about a Labor preselection. I ask that he be directed to return to the question.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! There is no point of order. The Minister has the call.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:Extension of time

I would respond to the point of order but I do not know who that bloke is. I want to get to the post. []

Mr Jihad Dib:

Point of order: That is the same line that four people used when he rang them up to ask for his leadership support.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! The member will resume his seat. I did not give him the call.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

I have got this post about the Transport Access Program.

Mr Guy Zangari:

Point of order: I refer to Speaker Murray's ruling on 23 September 1988 that the use of props is disorderly.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

It was 1999, because I was in the Chamber.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

I would not be worried about the rules of the Parliament if I were the member for Fairfield; I would be worried about the rules of preselection. A post on the member for Strathfield's Facebook page says that the Transport Access Process is a cause for celebration. There is a photo of the member with a red party hat on and a party popper in her mouth. It says, "Now open." The interesting thing about it is that she has a clenched fist.

Ms Kate Washington:

Point of order: He is using a prop and it is disorderly. I ask the Deputy Speaker to ask the Minister to refrain from using props in the House.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

He was reading from the document.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

The Labor Party says that we put politics ahead of people with disabilities, even though we are delivering in the electorates that they represent. It is interesting that the Leader of the Opposition, who has been somewhat silent for the past few weeks—I do not know what is going on—has decided to walk away from accessibility upgrades in five stations between Sydenham and Bankstown by cancelling the southwest metro. If Labor members want to accuse the Government of putting politics ahead of people with disabilities, they should look first at their own stupid policy to cancel the southwest metro, because they are not going to upgrade the lifts.