Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a collective heaviness in the hearts of people right across Western Sydney, and in particular in my electorate of Lindsay, when the news filtered through that a young man had been killed in a car accident on the corner of The Northern Road and Andromeda Drive in Cranebrook. His name was Kieren Birks. The community of Cranebrook knew Kieren as an all-round good kid. Kieren, tragically, was only 17. While the cause of the accident is still being determined, there has been an outpouring from the community to ensure that this does not happen again. Despite the accident occurring at around 3.30 in the afternoon, this young man has lost his life.

I rise today to pass on some simple yet significant and compelling words from Kieren's sister, Kirsty. She has signed a petition calling on the New South Wales government to urgently upgrade the intersection. More than ever, the Birks family, in their grief, are going to the support of other people. In Kirsty's words, 'I don’t want another family to go through this pain.' My office contacted Kirsty, who simply wanted to say, 'We are very glad that the intersection will be fixed to save other families.'

I will make sure that this government does whatever it can to ensure that the intersection is fixed and fixed quickly. We will continue to put pressure on the state government to ensure that this happens. I know the area very well. I grew up in Cranebrook, on the north side of the electorate, and for a number of years I have been pushing for the entire Northern Road to be upgraded, from either Richmond Road all the way through to Narellan or at least from the crossroads through to Narellan. We have been successful in pushing the upgrades to the Great Western Highway, which is really great news.

I pay tribute to the family but also place on the record what a tragedy and a sadness it is that a young man has lost his life on our streets. I say to people, 'Please be safe on our streets,' and to the state government: 'We cannot wait any longer. We need this done.'