As Liberal, Labor and the Greens prepare for battle in NSW this Saturday, a western Sydney advocacy group has released its report on public transport policies
March 24, 2011
Western Sydney public transport advocates – The Hills Transport Working Group – has released its report on public transport policies of the three major parties contesting this weekend’s election in NSW.
After the release of the Hills Transport Scorecard last month, the group surveyed Labor, Liberal and Greens transport policy positions.
Hills Transport Chairperson James Fiander says over the past 20 years many promises have been made on public transport initiatives for The Hills region, which stretches to Sydney’s west and north from Parramatta.
“It is a great outcome for the Hills that there is a universal commitment to the North West Rail Link and the expansion of the Metrobus initiative,” Fiander says.
“Despite the different delivery timetables, all three parties are committed to invest in transport infrastructure for the area at the same time.”
Fiander believes major infrastructure spending will take years to deliver.
“The working group will be looking to constructively engage with the new government to ensure they keep their promises and look to initiatives in the meantime to ease the strain on our congested transport network.”
He thanked Transport Minister John Robertson and Greens Transport spokesperson Cate Faehrmann for responding to the group’s survey.
“Despite many attempts to engage with the shadow transport spokesperson Gladys Berejiklian over the past three months, the Liberal party did not respond to Hills residents’ questions,” Fiander says.
“We have collated Liberal Party responses though a combination of press releases and attending events where Ms Berejiklian attended to quiz her on Hills transport issues.”
Fiander says that his group is a collective of unbiased independent Hills district residents.
“We are not going to tell people how to vote, we want to get the information into the public domain so that voters can make an informed decision on March 26.”
The Hills Transport Working Group report is available at www.myhillstransport.com.