THERE was a lot more to Hunter public transport than the state government’s fixation on inner Newcastle, Maitland state Labor MP Jenny Aitchison said after a public transport round table on Thursday.
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Ms Aitchison was one of seven Labor MPs to take part in the forum at Crowne Plaza Newcastle, which was also attended by local government representatives and public transport experts.
Before the forum started, Labor Hunter MPs, the party’s deputy leader, Michael Daley, and transport spokesperson Jodi McKay, spoke to gathered media about the transport task.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said the Baird government’s plans for the Hunter put the profits of probably foreign transport operators ahead of the needs of the community.
He said Labor was determined to have a Hunter-run transport authority that made meaningful decisions locally.
He said Thursday’s forum was the start of a “ground-up” policy making process. He said the Adamstown gates and the Glendale interchange were two projects that needed more attention from the government.
Ms McKay, who took the inner-western Sydney seat of Strathfield in 2015 after a term as the Member for Newcastle from 2007 to 2011, said the experience of Sydney residents with the construction of its light rail showed that Newcastle could expect a similar level of disruption.
She said part of her Strathfield electorate was changing dramatically with plans for 50,000 to 60,000 new units – in 12 storey blocks – along Parramatta Road.
Mr Daley said the Coalition was boasting it had raised more than $25 billion from privatisations but very little of the money was being spent in the Hunter Region. He said the government made its announcements and then “pretended to consult”.
Ms Aitchison said the cutting of the Newcastle rail line was still a big issue for Maitland constituents who had lost their direct means of public transport to the city centre. She said the existing public transport system was not working as well as it should. Regional bus services needed improving to ensure the routes and times were designed to help residents, rather than “what time a train leaves Central Station”.