M5 East Motorway Bill

Bill introduced and read a first time.

Mr SOURIS (Upper Hunter - Deputy Leader of the National Party) [10.01 a.m.]: I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Honourable members have just witnessed an extraordinary sequence of events outside Parliament House involving a group of people from Bardwell Park, Arncliffe, Bexley and associated suburbs who have come to Parliament House to exercise their democratic right to sit peacefully in the gallery and listen to a member of Parliament deliver a second reading speech on a bill that will directly affect their urban amenity and welfare, and indeed their emotions, family, investment and everything they stand for. The Carr Labor Government has declared these people to be part of a demonstration in order to prevent them from being present in the gallery to hear this speech.

I cannot believe what I saw outside Parliament House. Members of the group were placed in the embarrassing position of having to ask members of Parliament to come downstairs immediately and bring four people at a time into Parliament House as their guests. Opposition members had to go through that performance in the foyer so that the group could sit in the gallery to listen to a speech. I have not known that procedure to occur often in this place. The people in question were not violent: they had not spread out into the street, blocking the traffic. There was no reason for the police to be called. All that was needed was for the Minister for Roads to acknowledge their presence. If he does not want to do that, that is not a problem, but he could at least sit in this House and listen to the second reading speech. After all, this bill concerns one of the Government’s most significant road projects for the State of New South Wales.

Where is the Minister for Roads? He is not present in the Chamber. Was it necessary for him to send a message saying, "We have to deal with the mad lot out there in the street, these people who are a threat to democracy. I know, we will declare them black. We will put a ban on them and we will give the Opposition 15 or 20 minutes and see if they can get them in, one at a time." Well, Opposition members got them in one at a time, and the Opposition is pleased and honoured that they are present in the gallery of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales listening to this speech, which is their democratic right. They do not appear to be posing a threat to democracy.

Mr Price: On a point of order. The practice that has been referred to is not novel. It was introduced by the former Government and has nothing to do with the Carr Government.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! No point of order is involved.

Mr SOURIS: The Australian Labor Party is absolutely desperate. It looks as though there will be a series of interjections and that points of order will be taken in an attempt to put me off my stride. I do not care how long it takes me to complete my speech. The people who have come to listen to it today will hear it. The honourable member may just as well sit there - solitary representative of the Labor Party that he is - and listen to some commonsense.

Mr E. T. Page: Your numeracy is not very good.

Mr SOURIS: Oh, the Minister for Local Government is in the Chamber. I will give members opposite another five minutes to see if they can raise a crowd. This is important because you will lose the seat of Rockdale at the very least and Labor had better take notice.

Mr E. T. Page: I am the member for Coogee. Your geography is not much good, either.

Mr SOURIS: There is no point in the Opposition showing how much it feels the pain of what Labor is doing to these people. It is fairly obvious.

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Mr E. T. Page: Why don’t you stick to the facts.

Mr SOURIS: Keep quiet! The purpose of the M5 East Motorway Bill is to restore the proposed route for the M5 East motorway to its original route, the road reservation that has been the preferred option for the past 46 years. This would ensure that residential areas on and surrounding the Carr Labor Government’s preferred route, announced by the previous Minister for Roads, The Hon. Michael Knight, were not subjected to the adverse effects of the M5 East motorway. The Government has refused to listen to the concerns of residents, many of whom feel so strongly about the issue that they are present in the public gallery today. They are welcome. Of real concern to the residents of Arncliffe, Bardwell Park, Bexley, Canterbury, Earlwood, Hurstville, Kingsgrove, Rockdale and Turrella is the Carr Labor Government’s refusal to stick to the original route proposed in the 1994 environmental impact statement that ensured that the M5 East motorway would be built in the Wolli Creek Valley on dedicated Crown land known as the Motor Transportation Reserve.

The Government’s decision in November 1996 to build the motorway through residential areas has caused undue anxiety and anger amongst local communities and has made it imperative for the future of the affected communities that the coalition’s bill is passed by this House. Many residents in the area of the motorway bought their homes secure in the knowledge that the road reservation that has existed for the past 46 years would be used for the M5 East motorway. The problems caused by the Labor Government’s proposed route for the M5 East motorway and the need to reroute the motorway to the road reservation is best summed up in a media release issued by the M5 East Community Co-ordination Group. It states:

The purpose of this "truth-in-planning" Bill is to prevent the kind of unjust disruption now being faced by these residents, who bought homes on the express basis that they would be well away from the Road Reservation but now find that the freeway is to be built right through their suburbs, and - in many cases - under their homes. These residents now face:

•having their quiet residential streets turned into a construction zone for 3 years, with dust, noise, dirt and vibration 16 hours per day

•likely cracking and moisture problems to homes caused by construction of the tunnel and consequent altering of the water table; a phenomenon which the RTA acknowledges was not considered in its EIS

•a series of "hot pipes" built under their suburbs, carrying unfiltered exhaust fumes from the tunnel to the exhaust chimney at Turrella

•loss of value of homes

•loss of peace of mind, knowing that a freeway runs under their homes.

The M5 East Community Co-ordination Group and the bill have the support of the honourable member for Rockdale, if he is true to his word and was not lying when he was reported in the Daily Telegraph of 12 February.

Mr Moss: You do not have my support.

Mr SOURIS: The honourable member for Canterbury is feeling the pain as well. I am pleased to see him in the Chamber. The article states:

Mr Thompson said that he wanted the route to go under the Wolli Creek where land has been reserved since the 1950's. "My personal stance is to support to the fullest extent their -

that is his constituents -

position to the authorities that are making the decision," Mr Thompson said.

The need for a new environmental impact statement is now urgent if the July 2000 completion date set by the current Minister for Roads is to become a reality and the very real concerns of the local communities are to be addressed. The dramatic deviations from the supplementary EIS announced by the present roads Minister and released in late 1996 have not had the desired effect of silencing opposition to the proposed route of the M5 East, and the concerns of residents need to be addressed in an open and accountable way. As to the urgent need for a new EIS, the honourable member for Canterbury has echoed my calls for a new EIS. In his recent contribution to the Address-in-Reply debate in this House he said:

An issue of great concern is the proposed chimney stack at Henderson Street, Turrella. Some argue -

the Premier and the Minister for Roads -

that an additional environmental impact statement about the chimney stack is not needed because the 1994 EIS dealt with it. The problem is that the 1994 EIS also dealt with the location of a chimney stack in Earlwood. The current proposal allows for only one stack to be located at Henderson Street, Turrella. To my way of thinking one chimney stack will have twice the amount of emissions of two chimney stacks. For that reason, I cannot understand how it can be argued that another EIS is not necessary because the Henderson Street proposal has already been dealt with. It has indeed been dealt with, but in a completely different context. I hope that a further EIS will be prepared in relation to the proposed chimney stack at Turrella, but my main concern is that the stack should be relocated.

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I hope that the honourable member for Canterbury, who has just heard his own words, will, in a very short time, vote in the appropriate fashion in support of his constituents. This matter is of such significance that the Leader of the Opposition has been involved since it became a community concern. The Leader of the Opposition has been to local residents’ places and parks and has addressed their rallies. This morning he spoke to the peaceful gathering of residents outside Parliament House and addressed many of their concerns. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition does not know that after his peaceful discussions with the people the Labor Party pulled a stunt of declaring those people black, declaring their rally a demonstration, to impede their right to participate in the normal democratic process by sitting in the gallery to listen to my speech. It is unbelievable! The Leader of the Opposition is in the Chamber during debate on this important bill. Coalition members of Parliament were asked one at a time to sign in four of these dreadful demonstrators so that they could enter the gallery.

Mr Collins: The Labor Party is running scared.

Mr SOURIS: The Labor Party is running absolutely scared. Whilst the honourable member for Canterbury and the honourable member for Rockdale have made the right noises, I guarantee that they will not vote with the coalition and that their statements on the need to change the Government’s proposal for the M5 East motorway will be nothing but hollow rhetoric. One at a time they will deny what they have said publicly on many occasions and their comments will count for nothing. They will vote with the Government, loyal and faithful to their ALP masters forever. The decision to reduce the number of stacks from three to one massive stack has failed to alleviate community concern that a 25-metre high by 15-metre wide stack located in a residential area, spewing raw exhaust emissions containing carbon monoxide, benzine and lead into the valley will be detrimental to the local environment and to the health of residents exposed to the raw exhaust fumes. The Labor Government consistently refuses to release technical and scientific advice that it says proves once and for all that the concentrated raw exhaust emissions from four kilometres of tunnel carrying an extra 57,000 cars a day will not have an adverse effect on the health of residents living near the stack, first and foremost, and will result in the local environment becoming a no-go zone.

The exhaust stack will pump out raw exhaust emissions. Why the Government has refused to seriously investigate technology that would scrub the major pollutants from the exhaust fumes is an anomaly that must be rectified. There can be no excuses for a supposedly environmentally conscious Carr Government to pollute the environment with the concentrated exhaust emissions of more than 57,000 cars a day. The Minister for Local Government should have a little more concern for the local government areas that will be so adversely affected. He is the Minister for Local Government in name only. Watch him vote the bill down; watch him vote against the residents later. One after the other he and the members who represent the electorates where this dreadful roadway will be placed will betray their constituents and vote loyal to the core with their ALP masters.

Ms Ficarra: They think it is a safe Labor seat. Not any more.

Mr SOURIS: They do indeed think that it is a safe Labor seat. But the Opposition will remind them during the course of construction over the next two years exactly how safe it is and why they should never have taken the people of the area for granted. The hot shafts that will carry the exhaust fumes from the tunnel have the potential to leak raw exhaust emissions into the surrounding environment. But more importantly, people will be put at risk from the exhaust emissions that will leak insidiously into their homes over the life of the motorway. That is totally unacceptable to the coalition, but the Labor Government refuses to address the issue.

Mr Moss: What is your solution?

Mr SOURIS: Well might the honourable member for Canterbury ask what is the Opposition’s solution. He asked the question and he will get the answer. Go back to the 46-year road reservation promised to these people for a long time. If the honourable member does the right thing by his constituents the problem will be solved.

Mr Moss: Exhaust fumes right through Wolli Creek; an open road right through the Wolli Creek. What a wonderful alternative!

Mr SOURIS: Keep fighting the residents and they will get your measure. The location of the hot shafts containing poisonous gas remains a mystery. Where will the shafts leading from the roadway tunnel to the huge chimney be located? Under whose homes, under which roads? They will probably be about three metres square - not little tubes - and over the life of the roadway will leak poison into the surrounding soil.

Mr Rumble: Since when has the National Party been interested in the environment?

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Mr SOURIS: Since when have I been interested in the environment? I am only too pleased to respond to these interjections to ensure that such comments from the Carr Labor Government are put firmly on the record for all to see. Keep making those interjections, lads; they will all appear in Hansard and, one after the other, will come back to haunt you.

Mr Rumble: It is just like Luna Park.

Mr SOURIS: The honourable member for Illawarra is a very slow learner. Another serious implication of the Carr Government’s preferred route has been brought to my attention by lawyers acting on behalf of affected residents. A letter received from Papanicolaou and Antoniou, a law firm, puts the Government on notice that natural springs may exist in the sandstone along the Government’s preferred route and as a result 178 homes may be structurally damaged by the tunnel. The letter states:

We have been informed that should the borer cut through natural springs there is a real danger that a significant number of substantial homes which have been constructed on clay will suffer structural damage. The natural springs feed the clay soil which causes it to expand. Should the borer cut through the natural spring stopping the flow of water it will impact upon the clay causing it to dry and as a consequence shrink. This will significantly undermine the foundations.

A further problem that will arise is that if the springs are diverted or the veins damaged the water pressure will result in new veins being created and the water escaping via other routes. This of course will lead to homes suffering moisture problems which presently they do not have.

This type of damage is not limited to residences above the tunnel alignment. Residences which are a considerable distance from tunnel alignment will also be affected . . .

On present information available to us the majority of homes situated in Bardwell Road, Churchill Street, Barnsbury Grove, Stotts Avenue and Bernard Avenue have been constructed on clay.

The writer telephoned the Project Manager, Mr Mal Cross at the Roads and Traffic Authority on 16th September, 1997 and was advised that the Authority only became aware of this problem when advised by Mr Bateman.

When questioned by the St George Messenger, the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning - another vital ingredient to this horrible mess - said that legal reasons prevented him from commenting. If this project was so sound and secure I should have thought that the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, the watchdog of planning in this State, would be happy to endorse it and could have expressed a measure of confidence that the Carr Labor Government was doing the right thing, but he declined to do so. After all, the Carr Labor Government is intending to ram through the project before the Olympics. Construction seems imminent. This new development makes the Government’s preferred route for the M5 East even more unpalatable for local residents. It also highlights the need for a new environmental impact statement to address this issue.

Highlighting the depths to which the Carr Labor Government has sunk to keep residents in the dark about the proposed route for the M5 East and the adverse effect it will have on the lives of residents is the case of the Asproukas family, the first residents to be offered compensation by the Carr Government as a direct result of its misleading campaign. Mrs Asproukas has publicly revealed that when she and her husband were considering purchasing a home in Churchill Street in October 1996, at the height of the speculation over the M5 East, they sought advice from the Roads and Traffic Authority on the road plan. After the RTA told them that the property would not be affected, they bought the property for $280,000. Just five days later the then Minister for Roads, Michael Knight, announced his plans for an alternative M5 route.

With final papers yet to be exchanged, Mr and Mrs Asproukas again sought RTA advice, and on 11 November 1996 were reassured in writing that the authority had no proposals that required any part of the property. The Government was still telling these people that they had nothing to worry about even after this grand announcement. The Asproukas family completed the purchase on 16 November. On 22 November 1996 they inspected maps at the RTA office and found that their home was in the path of the tunnel.

The Labor Government’s decision to reroute the road through residential areas wrought havoc on the lives of hundreds of residents who, until November 1996, believed that the motorway was to be built on the road reservation and never thought that their elected New South Wales Labor Party representatives would sell them down the river to placate the green vote. It is no wonder that, on behalf of affected residents, the Leader of the Opposition has taken such a prominent role in this significant issue. It should be of significance to the Government that the Leader of the Opposition is leading on this debate wherever possible. The Opposition has elevated this issue to a number one priority. I sincerely hope that the Labor Government will take note of those facts.

[Interruption]

I do not think that it will take notice. I am just pointing it out. The Leader of the National Party has
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entered the Chamber, which signifies the importance of this debate. The Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the National Party are present in the Chamber to lend support to the residents living in the affected electorate. Now will they take some notice of us? Now will they hear the message? I doubt it.

Mr Collins: They will on 27 March 1999.

Mr SOURIS: On 27 March 1999 the Leader of the Opposition will extend the hand of congratulations to a genuine representative of the people who will represent the residents properly in this House.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! People in the public gallery will refrain from clapping.

Mr E. T. Page: On a point of order. The Deputy Leader of the National Party refuses to address his remarks to the Chair. People in the gallery responded as they did because the Deputy Leader of the National Party was addressing the gallery and not, as the forms of the House require, addressing the Chair. I ask you to remind him and the Leader of the Opposition of the forms of the House and to direct him to address his remarks to the Chair.

Mr Armstrong: On the point of order. The interest that the Deputy Leader of the National Party has shown in this subject has drawn one of the fullest galleries for this time of the morning for a long while. The Minister would do well to remember that the public is entitled to hear the full debate and that the Deputy Leader of the National Party is endeavouring to expand the debate in light of the fact that the Government wants to contain it, constrain it and deny the public its rights.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order.

Mr SOURIS: I draw to the attention of honourable members an advertisement that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30 January. The advertisement is an open letter from the Mayor of Rockdale, Peter Bryant, to the Minister for Roads:

Dear Minister,

Our community (and the State) needs the M5 East but not at any price. The Council, and the citizens of Rockdale WILL NOT ACCEPT the proposal by the RTA to locate the M5 East in a tunnel under our homes and with health endangering pollution stacks near our children’s bedrooms.

We want to know the truth about the quality of the air from the ventilation stacks and only internationally respected standards will be accepted by our residents. Your commitment to air quality will be judged by the emissions from the Sydney Harbour Tunnel . . .

On Wednesday, 22 January 1997 the Councillors of Rockdale City Council unanimously demanded:

* That the M5 East tunnel follow the original route set aside more than 40 years ago. Why should the residents have the value of their homes plunge because the RTA now chooses to build the tunnel under their homes?

* That the health of children and the frail aged not be put at risk so the RTA can save a full dollars.

This letter is from Rockdale council, and I just hope that the honourable member for Rockdale is in his room listening to the audio broadcast. No doubt he is skulking away at this moment instead of attending the Chamber when so many of his constituents are present. The letter continued:

That any exhaust stack MUST be located in non-residential areas and exhaust gases MUST be scrubbed and filtered.

That the lives of the Citizens of Rockdale are worth more than the few lousy dollars that will be saved by this unhealthy RTA bureaucratic 3% cost saving proposal.

Minister the council and the citizens of Rockdale will not accept the current proposal. Only you can save us from this intolerable situation.

A very interesting point is made by Rockdale council about costs. We can all remember the present Minister for Roads saying, when the project was estimated to cost $520 million, that an extra $20 million, or whatever the figure was, would be required to put the tunnel completely under the Wolli Creek road reservation. He said that money did not grow on trees and asked which other road projects the Opposition was offering to cancel. The figure has now grown to $620 million according to this year’s Budget Papers, with potentially up to $80 million for compensation to acquire the homes above the road tunnel. So the total cost of the project is now around $700 million - and we really have not started construction yet.

The project has not encountered any problems, and pressure to meet the 2000 Olympic deadline has not seriously affected the construction schedule. We have not got anywhere near the final figure yet. So if it was a bit rich to spend $20 million so that the people of the area would not have to suffer all the adverse environmental impacts, I would have thought that the prospect of the cost of the project reaching $700 million and climbing would of itself be enough for the Government to reconsider the project and go back to the original budget to save local residents the unbelievable agony that they are going through.

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Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted.

Mr SOURIS: I seek leave to move a motion to suspend standing orders to allow me to complete the remaining three pages of my speech.

Leave not granted.