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

I rise to speak on the need for investment in essential infrastructure projects to kickstart our economy in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. This is by far the greatest health crisis that I've witnessed in my medical generation, and the many medical generations before me. We often hear that unemployment will be around the 10 per cent mark. When we factor in the JobKeeper payment, the number of Australians who are out of work is really far, far higher. I fear that when this level of government support is wound back, as many on the other side want to do, and if it's done too soon, businesses will collapse and the number of individuals on jobseeker will rise exponentially. Unemployment in Macarthur was already higher than the national average and underemployment is rife. Macarthur, like many areas, has been hit hard, and I fear recovery will be slow.

The New South Wales and Commonwealth governments need to bring forward spending on a number of worthy infrastructure projects in order to get people back into work and to inject money into our struggling communities. The government should finally commit to providing a rail link from the new Western Sydney Airport to Macarthur. The Leppington line is ideal: it's a corridor already preserved, and it should proceed forthwith. They've been dragging their feet on this front inexplicably. We need jobs and economic stimulation in my electorate of Macarthur and through the country. The Leppington rail line is essential.

Our local hospitals are also at breaking point, and it's time that our outpatient services were dramatically improved. Thank you.