08 July 2021

Macquarie Fields MP Anoulack Chanthivong MP says the new mass vaccination centre coming to Macquarie Fields has once again highlighted the Liberal Government’s abysmal failure to fund lifts for Macquarie Fields Station to make it accessible for all.

The lack of a lift and wheelchair access at Macquarie Fields Station is the reason the NSW Government is set to provide a shuttle bus service from Glenfield Station to the new mass vaccination centre in Macquarie Fields, set to open from Monday 26 July 2021. The vaccination centre is approximately five minutes from Macquarie Fields Station.

“This band-aid measure blatantly (and rather embarrassingly) highlights the Government’s continued and abysmal failure to provide a lift at Macquarie Fields Station and make it accessible for all,” Mr Chanthivong said.

“Why aren’t shuttle buses running from Macquarie Fields Station to the new mass vaccination centre, only a short distance up the road? The answer is because the Liberal Government has failed to provide a lift for Macquarie Fields Station, and it has failed the people of my electorate and south-west Sydney.

“Our community is repeatedly overlooked when it comes to fair access to railway stations. There was zero dollars in the 2021-22 NSW Budget for an accessibility upgrade for Macquarie Fields Station. How much longer must my community wait?

“It is unacceptable and grossly unfair that people with disability, the frail and elderly and people with prams are unable to use Macquarie Fields Station due to this Government’s neglect. It is shameful that in 2021 a major suburban train station on the Airport line has no lift and no wheelchair access – just a towering stairway with more than 70 steps.”

Mr Chanthivong has been fighting alongside his community for a lift at Macquarie Fields Station since first elected to NSW Parliament in 2015.

He continues to call out the blatant politicisation of station upgrades. Hawkesbury River Station (in a Liberal-held seat), for instance, received an accessibility upgrade despite data showing a greater need for a lift and higher patronage at Macquarie Fields Station.

“The new mass vaccination centre in Macquarie Fields has once again highlighted my community’s ongoing fight for an urgent accessibility upgrade for Macquarie Fields Station,” Mr Chanthivong said.

“Their message to the Liberal Government is loud and clear: Stop the spin and fund our lifts!”