31st May, 2023.
I speak in favour of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Housing and Productivity Contributions) Bill 2023. I foreshadow an amendment regarding the existing contribution schemes that were approved by former Ministers. I will seek the support of the House for the Minister and the Government to recognise the longstanding work of communities across the State, especially that of my good friend the member for Wakehurst and my own community in the growth area of Wilton. Those areas had existing contribution schemes approved and partially planned. My amendment seeks to have the Minister consider those so as to not duplicate work already completed. For too long governments have let houses come first with the promise of some infrastructure later. As an Independent, I do not control the pen of the Minister; however, I can fight for things in my area. The bill will go a long way to providing the infrastructure that we desperately need.
Splitting the State into the regions identified in the bill will go a way to recognising the regional focus of infrastructure and how it can affect a wide area—take the long‑promised Picton bypass in Wollondilly, for example, which all members will be sick of hearing about. The bypass first came up as an alternative route 35 years ago because coal trucks that rolled through Picton and would cover the schools on the main roads in dust and soot. Since then endless councillors and members have promised to deliver that bypass. I know the studies are taking place at present and I look forward to an update on the plans that are due this coming week from the roads Minister, the Hon. John Graham. All of the case studies for the bypass have highlighted the need for this sort of infrastructure.
Picton is a beautiful town, which unfortunately has been flooded. It has been cut in half and floodwaters inundated all the businesses in town. But they prove their resilience every single day. Wollondilly is also at risk of bushfires every season, and has been affected badly by every major fire in the past three decades. People from this township, as well as those who live in Tahmoor and Thirlmere and who travel further from Buxton, Bargo and Pheasants Nest—even travellers from the northern part of my shire in The Oaks and Oakdale—must travel through Picton to go to Campbelltown or Wollongong, which is the electorate of the Minister. Similarly, people moving into the areas of Wilton, Douglas Park, Appin and Menangle must travel through Picton to go to Penrith or to the south as an alternative to the freeway, if it is ever blocked.
Picton has a small two-lane underpass of the rail line—we call it the hole in the wall—and a single‑lane wooden bridge that has little use, apart from perhaps a candlelit dinner or something, if it was ever closed. Honestly, the wooden ancient thing is always closed. The bypass would solve all those issues. I understand there are a number of options. As a councillor and candidate, previously I have advocated for whichever will be the cheapest and most effective for the State. The bypass would provide not only a safer way for residents to go through Picton but also economic certainty for the businesses in town, allowing us to promote it as a tourist destination. This type of project has a demonstrated regional need.
I look forward to hearing in the Minister's reply how the Picton bypass will be delivered and that it is eligible for exactly this sort of fund. More broadly, as a former mayor and councillor who has had to fight for infrastructure for my area—often at the cost of larger and more influential councils at the regional level—I am looking forward to the depoliticisation of infrastructure expenditure by putting infrastructure where the development is. Over 40,000 homes are due to come into the Wollondilly electorate alone. Take that and the larger development in the surrounding regions, and it is shameful that there has been no guarantee for the infrastructure we need from members who sat here previously.
The base of schools and neighbourhood centres is one thing, but the number of people moving to the Macarthur region—the original second city of New South Wales—is astounding. We need infrastructure rolled out as fast as possible. As someone who is new in this place, I am so excited to unlock that potential for Wollondilly. In listening to the debate so far, I am surprised by members of the Coalition who now claim to be against the infrastructure contributions. The infrastructure contribution in Wilton that they left open for someone else to deal with had sums of over $50,000 per block, but the bill was never sent to home owners. The Coalition delivered homes for my area but absolutely no infrastructure. The bill seeks to have those needs met by sharing the load and reducing the cost of contributions in Wollondilly.
It is a bit rich to come to this place and speak about the homes in my area and the costs that the new owners will pay while claiming it will be affordable for them. I seriously ask members how they can seriously consider the affordability of a home without considering the infrastructure needed? We have new homes but no infrastructure, no jobs and no space for buses to even get down the street. How can anyone afford that type of life? If members oppose the bill they are damning my electorate and those in Western Sydney that carry the brunt of development with no infrastructure.
I recognise the contribution of my friend the member for Campbelltown, which is a wonderful city, but the residents have been treated in a terrible way. Services on the train line in my electorate are poorly delivered. Where is the extra parking for cars at stations that residents were promised? That is just one more promise in a long list that has been paid for in the imaginations of some former members with Monopoly money or even pretend cheques. There have been no plans for the infrastructure that should be rolled out with development: no plans, no funding and no reason. I cannot tell members of the crossbench what to do, but I can tell the House that we need the infrastructure in Wollondilly now.
The Opposition should realise that opposing the bill is not in the best interest of our State. As a former mayor who led the discussion on infrastructure, I have seen us miss out. Moneys have gone elsewhere. The bill references the regions and how the funding will be split, which is much better than the current situation. Wilton is a great new town that was planned and built with theGrowth Management Strategy of the Wollondilly Shire Council. The previous Government might recall it from running it through the shredders. The infrastructure for the place never came. The agreement was supposed to be one block for a home and one job. It split council in 2012. Now we have the new‑new Wilton plan. Do members know what it is being marketed as? Is it better than the old Wilton town, or as bad as the old Wilton plan? It is a disgrace. Members opposite claim it will stop housing in the State—come on!
I care about my community, not developers. Developers are seeking to get off any contribution they can. I am sorry to say that if the developers cannot do it correctly, they should not do it at all. Now we have the Coalition trying to scuttle this funding without even simple research. In question time the member for Oatley promised to campaign in my electorate on this. Good—let us get on and do it. My community in Wilton looks forward to a paid advertisement from the Liberal Party on how I saved them over $30,000 per block and how we finally have an agreement to have the load covered by the region for the regional investment that is needed. I look forward to an email showing how I—thanks to my staff and team—have already achieved more and openly consulted more with both sides of politics, negotiating a good solid amendment recognising the existing needs in our State. Do members know that Wollondilly residents spend more than 17 per cent of their income on travel? How about some funding for public transport? How much have we had over the past few decades? It is nothing. It is time to put money back into the areas where the housing is going.