Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to voice my concern about the current plans by the New South Wales state Labor government to cut staff at railway stations in my local community and the effect this will have on not just commuters but also the disabled in particular. This will affect stations from Marayong through to Richmond—Marayong, Quakers Hill, Schofields, Riverstone, Vineyard and the other stations between Windsor and Richmond. The standard of public transport that the people of the Hawkesbury and north-west sector have to put up with is unacceptable and now we have a state Labor government cutting valuable front-line staff because they cannot manage their state. This is just another example of the state Labor government failing the people of New South Wales and treating the people of Greater Western Sydney like second-class citizens.

The many stations in my electorate that I have listed are going to be affected, including Riverstone and Windsor. I acknowledge the local papers, particularly the Rouse Hill Times and the Hawkesbury Gazette, for highlighting this issue. To give you some idea of what the cuts will mean I will outline the impact on Windsor station. The New South Wales Labor government plan to, firstly, abolish the station manager position, thereby reducing the staff numbers at Windsor to one full time and one part time; secondly, delay the opening of the ticket office until 5.55 am; and, thirdly, design the roster in such a way so there are no staff manning the station on weekends. This will have a huge impact on commuters who use the station. The effect it will have particularly on the disabled is an absolute disgrace.

During this week one of my team was at the station and a person in a wheelchair was about to board the train. Because there is quite a large gap between the station and the train the staff need to put a platform out so that the person in the wheelchair is able to get onto the train. On the weekend there will be no staff. How will a person using either a walking frame or a wheelchair get on or off a train on the weekend when there is no staff member there to assist them with the placement of the temporary ramp? They will not be able to. The gap between the platform and the train is approximately six inches and there is a six-inch step up to the train.

This clearly demonstrates how out of touch the state Labor government are. Labor have ignored the needs of people with a disability and made changes which will isolate commuters with a disability even more. I call on the local residents to contact the state member for Riverstone, and I call on him to make representations to reverse this decision. (Time expired)