Community campaigners have been trying to get Redfern station, one of the 10 busiest in Sydney, upgraded for more than a decade.
There is no disabled access at Redfern, despite the station
being the main gateway to Sydney University, and last year campaigners
gathered more than 11,500 signatures to get the station’s lack of access
debated in State Parliament, where Ms Tebbutt, among others, called for
the O’Farrell government to get cracking on an upgrade.
But what Ms Tebbutt did not say was that just months before
she spoke in Parliament her husband personally cancelled federal funding
to pay for a plan to improve the station and its links with Redfern and
nearby Waterloo. The funding was to have come from a federal program
called ”Liveable Cities” which doled out $20 million in grant funding
for urban improvements.
Transport for NSW and the Sydney Metropolitan Development
Authority submitted a request in 2011 for the federal government to use
the program to spend $500,000 to improve the ”function and
accessibility of Redfern station”. That funding was to have been
matched by the state government.
The application won the support of Mr Albanese’s department,
and on April 2 last year he approved the funding, according to an
Australian National Audit Office report into the Liveable Cities program
released on Thursday.
But on April 19 Mr Albanese withdrew the approval and instead
set the $500,000 aside for cost overruns in other programs. The audit
office tried to find out why Mr Albanese cancelled the funding.
The only explanation it could come up with was a departmental
note saying Mr Albanese’s office ”identified an issue with the
Redfern Station Precinct Feasibility Strategy project in relation to its
physical location following the redistribution of NSW electoral
boundaries. The effect of the redistribution is that the project falls
within the state electorate of Marrickville.”
In fact, Redfern station marks the border of the seats of Marrickville and Heffron. Marrickville is held by Ms Tebbutt.
On Thursday Mr Albanese said: “It was for a study rather than
for any actual infrastructure. Under guidelines I couldn’t approve it
because it was in Carmel’s electorate and I have always been careful to
avoid conflicts of interest issues.”
Ms Tebbutt said: ”I haven’t got any comment to make on that.”
Responses to this Story
Still no access at Redfern
Station
NSW Greens Transport Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, has
reacted strongly to the news that Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony
Albanese has cancelled Federal support for a function and accessibility study of Redfern
station.
“The NSW Coalition Government has said the station is not a
priority; the Labor Federal government has withdrawn funding for a study.
‘After more than twenty years of inaction from the old
parties, nothing has changed for the 50,000 people who use Redfern Station each
day.
Every day that Redfern goes without a lift, is another day of
cutting vulnerable Australians from an education, from jobs and from their
rights”
“It is unacceptable
that a key station on our rail network is shut off to some members of our
community
‘Many community groups are working together to achieve a
positive outcome for people with disabilities, older people, parents with young
children, people with short-term mobility issues, and people with luggage or
shopping who have great difficulty in accessing or cannot access the station at
all.
‘I am appalled that neither of the old parties is taking this
issue seriously.
“It is unacceptable
for a modern 21st century city like Sydney to not have accessibility at such a
major train station” said Dr Faruqi.
Statement by Carmel Tebbutt
Dear Lift Redfern
I write to correct the impression that has been created by the
article “It’s give then take over Redfern station funding” in the Sydney
Morning Herald, 9 August by Jacob Saulwick.
Firstly, the article claims I had failed to inform the NSW
Parliament of the status of an application for funding of the Redfern
Station Precinct Feasibility Study, when I spoke in a debate about the
need to upgrade Redfern Station. The facts are that I had no knowledge of the
decision Anthony Albanese, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport had made
in regards to this application. It would clearly be inappropriate for
Anthony to discuss with me the status of an application by a State Government
agency.
Secondly, the application was for funds for a study rather
than for actual infrastructure. $500 000 doesn’t begin to touch the sides of
the funding that is needed to upgrade Redfern Station.
I am disappointed that my commitment to the campaign to upgrade
Redfern Station has been called into question in this article and I wish to
reassure Lift Redfern that I will continue to work with you to advocate
for the long overdue upgrade of Redfern Station which the community needs and
deserves.
Yours sincerely
Carmel Tebbutt
Member for Marrickville