Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday I attended the Forum on Western Sydney Airport meeting held in my electorate of Macarthur, in the Campbelltown RSL Club. It was a very well-attended meeting. Every person at that meeting said to me, 'We must have a rail link from Macarthur to the new Western Sydney Airport.' There is an existing line preserved from Leppington towards Western Sydney Airport, yet state and federal governments have refused to fund it. This is a heavy rail line which would take many trucks bringing freight to the new Western Sydney Airport off the road, particularly from the Moorebank intermodal, close to Liverpool. It would take many trucks off the road, would reduce pollution and would make access to the freight hub from Moorebank to Western Sydney Airport easier. Every person at that meeting said that we must have the rail link, yet state and federal governments have refused to fund it.

There is rapid development in my electorate of Macarthur. The Sydney Morning Herald published an article this morning that showed that my electorate has the fastest growing areas in the state and close to the fastest growing areas in the country. Heading to 2030, the local government area of Camden will have a growth rate of 129 per cent. Surrounding areas will have a growth rate of 40 or 50 per cent. It's a disgrace that state and federal governments will not fund the rail link from Leppington—