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

For years commuters at Macquarie Fields railway station have been calling on the New South Wales Liberal government to construct a lift at the station. It beggars belief that a station on the airport line remains without a lift to carry people and luggage. Commuters, including the elderly and the disabled, are forced to use a towering stairway.

Local state member Anoulack Chanthivong asked the New South Wales Liberal government why it still hasn't built a lift for the community. Their response is, 'Transport NSW acknowledges it will not achieve compliance targets as set out by disability standards for public transport.' That's an open admission that the New South Wales Liberal government will not meet its own disability access standards, failing people with disabilities and those less mobile.

I asked my community for their thoughts recently. I've received hundreds of responses and, unsurprisingly, none of them reflect positively on the New South Wales government. Among the respondents are mothers with prams, the elderly and the wheelchair bound, all who are forced to catch a bus to the neighbouring Glenfield or Ingleburn stations because they simply can't manage the stairs. For years, the community has been lobbying for fair and equal access to public transport, and for years the New South Wales Liberal government has ignored them. They have now openly admitted they won't meet their own access standards. Put simply, this is a disgrace.