Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Tuesday I attended a public meeting called by the state member for Swansea, Yasmin Catley, at the Belmont 16Ft Sailing Club. The meeting was called because the New South Wales government bloody-mindedly decided to close the motor registry office in Belmont. Belmont and the eastern side of Lake Macquarie is an area that has got a very old population. It is a motor registry office where people are waiting an hour to be served because of the demand for services through that office, yet the New South Wales government have decided they will close this office. There is no logic to it. People will be asked to go to the office at Warners Bay, which is already operating at capacity. There are six car spaces and no bus service to get there.

The New South Wales government has totally disregarded the people of the Swansea state electorate and the Shortland federal electorate. People need to be able to access this service. There are a number of elderly people who have restricted licences who will no longer be able to travel to the motor registry office to renew their licences. This is a bad decision—it is bad policy, it is bad politics and it is bad for the people I represent in this parliament.