Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to commend the recent announcement by the New South Wales government that my electorate of Barton will benefit from the $150 million plan to build ambulance station hubs across Sydney, with a new superstation to be built in Kogarah. The New South Wales budget has demonstrated how a coalition government's commitment to building vital infrastructure will have a positive contribution towards not only the economy but also the quality of life of residents in electorates such as Barton.

For years community groups and individual constituents have been raising concerns about the ability of the ambulance service to meet the demand of the city's growing and ageing population. Over the past decade, ambulance crews, on average, are taking 10 minutes longer to get patients to hospital, with only 65 per cent of ambulance crews handing over patients within 30 minutes of arriving—well below NSW Health's target of 90 per cent. Having a superstation in the heart of the electorate will make a real difference to the way that first responders can react to emergency call-outs and ensure that on-call teams can be dispatched to emergencies quickly, reducing delays in treating the injured and the elderly.

A major new ambulance station has not been built in 16 years in Sydney, and this announcement reflects a shared commitment by coalition governments at state and federal level to optimising infrastructure and utilising resources in an efficient way to improve service delivery for residents in electorates such as Barton.

I commend the minister and the state government for considering the needs of the residents of my electorate by ensuring that they receive state-of-the-art emergency ambulance services, and I welcome this positive contribution to Barton residents' quality of life. (Time expired)