Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

Mr MICHAEL DALEY: My question is directed to the Minister for Transport. Given the budget appears to confirm that the North West Rail Link will be nothing more than a privatised shuttle service, has the Minister received any advice that the tunnels for the North West Rail Link could be bored to a width that would accommodate double-deck trains at no additional cost to the project?

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: Members of the New South Wales Labor Party should hang their heads in shame in relation to the North West Rail Link.

Mr Richard Amery: We'll have to, to get through the tunnel.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mount Druitt will come to order.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: Not only should they hang their heads in shame but I call on the Leader of the Opposition to state his position on the rail link because previously he yelled across the Chamber, "I support the project." That is what he said. I call on him and the shadow Minister for middle management to state today whether the Labor Party supports the North West Rail Link, because the people of the north-west do. If the Leader of the Opposition bothered to doorknock his own constituents in Blacktown he would know that they support the project too.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Canterbury will come to order.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: One thing that we can all be proud of, no matter which -

Mr Michael Daley: Point of order: This is the same speech over and over again, and there is still no detail. I refer to Standing Order 129. The question is very simple: Has the Minister received advice that the tunnels could be bored to allow for double-deck trains? Forget about the Leader of the Opposition. Has the Minister received advice?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister is being relevant to the question. There is no point of order.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: If the member will let me answer, I will tell him. I am calling on the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party to state their position today. Do they support the north-west rail line? All the constituents of the Leader of the Opposition do. I also place on record how proud I am that the North West Rail Link will be the start of a rapid transit network in New South Wales. When the North West Rail Link is completed, customers will be able to go to any one of the eight brand-new railway stations and in peak times they will be able to catch a train every five minutes.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is too much noise in the Chamber.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: That is unprecedented in the history of New South Wales. It is a project of which we can all be very proud. But it still distresses me that the Leader of the Opposition and his members have not visited the north-west lately. They keep telling people that we have not started the project. That is very sad because thousands of people have gone to the community information centre. We have had construction zones -

Mr Michael Daley: Point of order: I refer to Standing Order 129. Surely the Minister is not going to use a prop when she cannot even answer the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister is being relevant to the question asked.

Mr Michael Daley: She is not.

The SPEAKER: Order! She is.

Mr Michael Daley: The question was about whether she received advice.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The member for Maroubra will resume his seat.

Mr Michael Daley: It is a very simple question. What is the Minister hiding?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister is being relevant to the question. The member for Maroubra knows the rules and will resume his seat.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: Regrettably, the Labor Party wants us to be behind world's best practice. Those opposite want to subject Sydney in the future to the same backward transport system they left us when we came to government. That is not on. We will make sure we have the best available technology -

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Fairfield will come to order.

Ms Linda Burney: Point of order -

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will come to order. I warn members that I have ruled three times that the Minister is being relevant to the question she was asked.

Ms Linda Burney: I think she has not been relevant.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do.

Ms Linda Burney: The question was about the tunnels. Has the Minister received advice?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Canterbury will resume her seat.

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: Clearly no-one on the other side of the House has read our 20-year Sydney's Rail Future document otherwise the member would not have asked that silly question. It pains me to note that when those opposite talk to their constituents they stress the importance of building the North West Rail Link at every opportunity yet in this House they continue to criticise it. It disappoints me that the shadow Minister for middle management keeps telling people on radio - as do all of his colleagues - that the North West Rail Link does not have a start date. Yet if we look at the Hills News not from this year but the edition from October last year we will see the headline, "It's happening". We on side of the House - not those opposite - are finally building that rail link. We can go back even to August last year, when the very reputable Rouse Hill-Stanhope Gardens News said, "It's started". Those opposite should hang their heads in shame. The North West Rail Link will be an icon; it will be a beacon for what public transport infrastructure should be about. Frankly, those opposite should be ashamed of themselves.

Mr Michael Daley: That is the worst answer I have ever heard.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Maroubra to order.