The Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance, has – once again – knocked back a request to meet with a delegation of representatives of the Unanderra Action Group and Illawarra disability advocates to discuss the upgrade of Unanderra Station, including the installation of its lifts.
The Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary wrote to Wollongong MP, Paul Scully, indicating the Minister “…has a very busy schedule and is unable to meet…at this time.”
The request for a meeting following an email from the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian MP, on 17 August 2018 in which she suggested, “I invite you to extend an invitation to [the Minister’s] office.”
Following on from earlier requests, Mr Scully subsequently wrote to the Minister on 21 August 2018 asking him to “meet with a delegation from the Unanderra Action Group and Illawarra disability providers to discuss the timeframe for the upgrade of the Unanderra Station and the installation of its lifts.”
Mr Scully has requested the Minister meet with the delegation on numerous occasions.
Each time the Minister has refused the request.
Mr Scully has secured $25 million to build the Unanderra Station lifts if NSW Labor is elected to form government after the March 2019 election.
Comments attributable to Paul Scully MP:
“I am disappointed that the Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance, has yet again snubbed the Unanderra Action Group and disability providers by refusing to meet with their representatives.
“This Minister has yet to sit down face-to-face with anyone from the Illawarra to discuss public transport issues.
“He has refused to meet people about Unanderra Station lifts; refused to meet over the Gong Shuttle; and refused to meet on overcrowded trains on the South Coast Line.
“The Premier is no better – she cancelled the Unanderra Station lifts when she was the Transport Minister – and also refuses to meet with Illawarra residents.
“And this attitude persists after the Berejiklian Government was whacked by the people of Wagga Wagga with a huge swing away from the Liberal Party at the most recent by-election.
“The Premier and her Ministers are just plain scared to meet with people who want them to understand that they are missing out on essential public transport services and access to them.
“I just can’t understand why the Premier and Minister Constance stubbornly persist in their refusal to meet with people from the Illawarra to discuss their concerns that the Government just won’t address.
“I can only assume it is because they are so embarrassed and unable to justify their own pathetic track record on the Unanderra Station upgrade.”
