Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak today about the planned M12 motorway, a joint project between the federal government and the New South Wales state government. While I welcome the government's intention of providing more links to Western Sydney Airport, I do take exception to a number of details laid out in the environmental impact statement.

First is the government's assertion that the M12 will be toll free. For westbound commuters, the only planned entrance for the M12 is through the existing M7, a tolled motorway. This is in fact tolling by stealth. It is also another betrayal by the New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, who now has a long list of saying one thing before an election and another after.

Second is the RMS's questionable traffic modelling. The modelling is based on the assumption that, by 2036, the M7 will have three lanes between Camden Valley Way and Old Wallgrove Road and four lanes between Old Wallgrove Road and the M4 interchange. This is despite no commitment to construct these additional lanes, meaning this project is based on false and flawed assumptions, which will no doubt ensure there is gridlock at the M7 and M12 interchange.

Lastly, and of most concern, is the proposed location of the southbound off-ramp on the M7. The proposed location would take the road above and across the ridge line at Cecil Hills, exposing an entire suburb to light and noise pollution. This will have a devastating effect on the amenity of residents, not to mention being a huge blow to their property prices. Sadly, I strongly suspect the RMS may well be aware of this. The four supposed community consultation sessions were held well away from the suburb of Cecil Hills, the most densely populated area affected by this project and in the electorate of Werriwa. Furthermore, all of the glossy brochures and promotional videos obscure from view that part of the project that encroaches on the suburb of Cecil Hills.

As with most things that come from these state- and federal-level Liberal governments, this is a short-sighted proposal that only concerns itself with the next electoral cycle. The Western Sydney Airport is a once-in-a-century project that has the potential to transform the region through employment, education and economic opportunity. The airport and its associated projects—the M12 Motorway, the M9, North South Rail Line, South West Rail Link Extension, a rail extension to Macarthur and the Fifteenth Avenue rapid-transit corridor—are vital and much-needed pieces of infrastructure. They are critical to the success of the airport and of the aerotropolis and, most of all, to south-west Sydney. These projects must not be hamstrung by short-termism and penny-pinching to the detriment of current and future generations. There is no point in committing millions of taxpayer dollars to a motorway that will cause further gridlock and ruin the amenity of the entire suburb.