MacArthur Matters with Dr Mike Freelander: Oran Park Fire Station
Infrastructure - I often speak on a our region's dire need for infrastructure in the face of massive population growth.
Local residents would be well versed on my longstanding campaign to establish a rail line from the new Western Sydney Airport to Leppington and Macarthur, however our region's needs don't stop there.
Residents of suburbs such as Gregory Hills and Gledswood Hills know all to well that Governments have failed to adequately planned for necessary infrastructure and services; they have been waiting years for a new public school to be built and the Premier still cannot provide any answers as to why she is delaying this critical project.
Everywhere you look across the rapidly growing Macarthur region, there are similar stories in similar suburbs, of residents being sorely let down by the Commonwealth and State's failure to provide for our community's basic needs.
Oran Park is a suburb that knows these pains too well.
Their promised fire station is now years overdue.
This project, by the Berejiklian Government's own timeline, was due to get underway in 2015.
Disgracefully it is now 2021 and the proposed site of Oran Park's fire station remains empty.
I share concerns held by the Fire Brigade Employees' Union relating to these abhorrent delays, and want to commend them for standing up for the residents of Oran Park and fighting for this critical piece of infrastructure.
The NSW and Federal Government continuously treat residents of South-West Sydney as second-class citizens.
I have remarked previously that this standard would not be acceptable in Mosman, and it should not be acceptable in the South-West.
Governments reap mass revenue from households and businesses in the South West, yet we consistently see the Coalition pork-barrel money into their own electorates instead of funding the bare necessities in our communities.