As the Canterbury electorate goes to the polls this Saturday, the Greens candidate Kristian Bodell together with the Greens NSW Transport Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC has said the electorate deserves better than the Bankstown train line being shut down for at least six months, only for the only for the line to be handed over to private operators
Dr Faruqi said: “We know the public has very little to do with the way the Baird Government builds transport infrastructure in NSW. Their ‘privatise and sell off’ philosophy drives the agenda, not the need of the people and where they want to go. Unfortunately, it is the people in Canterbury who will pay the price for the shutting down and privatisation of the Bankstown line.”
“I think the Government has really underestimated the impact of what shutting down an entire train line for half a year will do. They haven’t even explained how they intend on moving 25,000 people during the morning peak through already congested roads.
“Rather than wasting billions to hand over our existing public transport network to private operators, perhaps they could actually invest in improving Sydney Trains whilst keeping it in public hands.”
Mr Bodell supports these sentiments and said: “The Baird Government is content with treating the people of Canterbury as second rate citizens, delivering them a substandard rail service. Under the proposal commuters will have to change trains at Sydenham until 2024 to access the City Circle line. Thereafter they will need to change at Central to do so.”
“The Government is proposing to rip up a functioning train line and replace it with a service that will limit access to the city, be incompatible with the current train network, and have limited seating that disproportionately impacts on people with disability or who are ageing, all at a cost of $10 billion to the taxpayer. It’s simply madness.”
“The Greens will continue to fight against the privatisation of public assets and to keep public transport affordable for all” Mr Bodell said.
With regard to health services in the electorate, Mr Bodell said “Western Sydney is slated for the next round of hospital privatisations by the Liberal Party. The Labor Party has a track record of supporting public/private partnerships and cannot be relied upon to oppose public/private partnerships in the provision of public services.”
“The Greens believe in needs-based, affordable & universal access to health services. We are absolutely oppose privatisation of public hospital services.”
Greens candidate for the Canterbury By-election Kristian Bodell also addressed the issue of housing affordability, saying housing in Canterbury has reached the point of being “unaffordable for average Australians”. “The median house price in Canterbury is nearing $1.3 million for a three bedroom home and $700,000 for a two bedroom unit.” Said Mr Bodell. “At these prices a typical homeowner would be expect to pay in the vicinity of $1,400.00 and $800 per week respectively in mortgage repayments alone.” “A minimum wage worker will bring home just $600 a week after tax so owning a home in our suburbs will be an impossible feat. Housing remains an impossibility for a single wage earning family with the average Australian currently bringing home just a $1200 a week after tax. Well below the $1400 weekly mortgage payment for an average family home in Canterbury. These figures don’t even contemplate the added costs of utilities, rates, maintenance and other day to day expenses. Housing is reaching the point of unaffordability.” “Canterbury LGA was identified as a high need area for affordable housing by the Centre For Affordable Housing following an examination of 2011 census data. It is of concern to me as a Greens’ representative that in the suburbs of Canterbury and Earlwood, for example, less than 1% of homes are public housing.”
“The ongoing overdevelopment in Canterbury is justified under the guise of housing. The fact is that generous tax breaks, available only to investors, disadvantage families that simply want to put a roof over their heads” “High density housing with inadequate infrastructure is simply going to increase the disparity between those consigned to the rental market and the wealthy few.” “The fact that the government is content with knocking down freestanding homes that are favoured by families and replacing them with high density housing favoured by investors shows that they are content to fuel developer greed at the expense of local residents.”
Appalled by high-rise greed backed by the Labor-dominated former Canterbury Council and supported by the Liberal Government, Mr Bodell said “As a Green I support sustainable well-planned development. It is essential we have adequate infrastructure, funding for schools, hospitals and transport to support development.”
“A vote for The Greens this Saturday is a vote against privatisation of public assets, a vote for sustainable, well planned development and for policies that do not advantage wealthy developers at the expense of the community.”
Contact:
Kristian Bodell
Greens candidate for Canterbury
E: kristian@canterbury.nsw.greens.org.au
M: 0403 991 000
Janet Castle
Campaign Coordinator (Canterbury By-election), Canterbury Greens
E: janet.castle@nsw.greens.org.au
M: 0402 614 586
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