CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Mr HUSIC (Chifley) (10:01): It's a truism that a cornerstone of opportunity is a roof over your head. You can do so much more with your life, knowing you've got the security of accommodation. It means that you've got a platform for employment, better health and education.
It is why in my part of Western Sydney I am pushing so hard for more social and affordable housing. We estimate that we need at least 5,000 homes like that. There also needs to be an emphasis on creating more crisis and transitional accommodation to help people fleeing domestic violence.
There's never been a better time to build more social and affordable homes, given the amount of resources that have been dedicated by the Albanese government, which is teaming up with state governments, particularly in New South Wales, to be able to build these homes. This was the reason why I held, for example, the Chifley Housing Forum just the other week that was kicked off by New South Wales Housing Minister Rose Jackson, bringing members of the community together to start charting the types of things that we can do to build more homes in our area.
I've also had terrific conversations with federal Housing Minister Clare O'Neil, who will be visiting Chifley, where we'll be convening roundtables again to plan and chart the course for how to build more social and affordable housing in our area. It is really important that we get on top of that. Infrastructure is another important thing in our area.
Last year we announced that the Albanese and Minns governments would dedicate over $520 million to help build Richmond Road, to expand it, and also to address bottlenecks in that part of north-west Sydney. We are now, though, not just seeing the availability of money but seeing a proliferation of consultation. Transport for NSW seems to be focused more on consulting and putting flyers in people's letterboxes than on building and starting the process of widening that road.
They don't need to do more consultation. Here's what residents want: they want the additional lanes built, they want the flyovers built, they want the congestion to end. There—I've given them free advice that doesn't require any consultancy fees.
They just need to get on with the job. I know every MP in our area wants to see that as part of a $1 billion roads plan for that part of Western Sydney. The other thing that needs to happen is the extension of the Sydney Metro.
The metro stops, bizarrely, at Tallawong and should be extended to St Marys. It is the missing link. It is the missing link that sits at the foot of some of the fastest growing areas of Western Sydney, where housing estates are sprawling.
The federal government and the New South Wales government need to work to fix the missing link and improve public transport in our part of Western Sydney.