The closest railway station to the new mass vaccination centre at Macquarie Fields is Macquarie Fields – a five minute walk away.
But when the vaccination centre opens on July 26, a shuttle bus service will be provided – but not from Macquarie Fields station.
The NSW Government is set to provide the bus service from Glenfield station, which has ramps and lifts, and not Macquarie Fields station, which is much closer to the vaccination hub but is not accessible by people with disabilities or the elderly.
If you ask local MP Anoulack Chanthivong, he will tell you that the bus shuttle plan highlights – once again – the NSW Government’s “abysmal failure’’ to fund lifts and ramps for Macquarie Fields Station to make it accessible for all.
“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 western 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.
And he says he will continue 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,’’ he says.
“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.”
