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

I congratulate you on your new role, Deputy Speaker O'Brien. Over the past weekend, significant flooding has hit parts of south-west Sydney, including the electorate of Werriwa. Three hundred millimetres of rain lashed the region, with the Georges River peaking at just over five metres, making it the largest flood since the 1980s. Properties have been inundated, residents evacuated and schools and roads closed. I take this opportunity to commend the great work of the emergency services and local councils over the last few days. However, I condemn the government for its lack of action on local infrastructure. Once again, Cambridge Avenue at Glenfield had to be closed. Despite numerous representations to government and speeches in this House by many members for Werriwa, the road still remains a causeway. A major artery linking the growing cities of Liverpool and Campbelltown, the roads sits mere metres off the water line of the Georges River, and it is regularly blocked when it rains. The upgrade is listed as a priority initiative by Infrastructure Australia, who, unlike the government, recognises that with the development of the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal more congestion will be added to this already inadequate thoroughfare. As with so many other important infrastructure projects in south-western Sydney, I call on the government to get on with the job and fix Cambridge Avenue.