Pip Hinman, Sydney
"Labor has broken its first election promise, with [NSW] transport minister John Watkins admitting on September 20 that no train stations in the Marrickville electorate would be upgraded to include disability access", said Greens NSW MP Sylvia Hale.
"During the Marrickville by-election, Labor's Carmel Tebbutt claimed to have spoken with Watkins who had agreed to conduct a review of disability access to railway stations in the electorate", said Hale.
Premier Morris Iemma had also told the Glebe that access problems to the railway stations in the area would be addressed.
However in the budget estimates, Watkins admitted that there were no plans to fit railway stations in the electorate with ramps or lifts, and nothing was mentioned about a review of access.
The Marrickville electorate hosts a number of station hubs, and improving public transport was a significant part of Tebbutt's campaign for the lower house seat. Hale said that access to stations for people in wheelchairs, parents with prams and elderly people who cannot cope with massive flights of stairs looked like remaining a problem.
"The Labor Party has proved that they will say anything to get elected, but it's only a matter of days before their promises are revealed as lies", said Hale.
A week after the three NSW by-elections, the September 24 Sydney Morning Herald reported that Iemma's government will support the Howard government's moves to strengthen "anti-terror" laws, which require states and territories to cooperate with extreme provisions including detaining "terror suspects" without charge for up to two weeks.
[Pip Hinman was the Socialist Alliance candidate in the September 17 Marrickville by-election.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 28, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.