Countrylink Rail Evictions
Page: 9668
Mr THOMAS GEORGE (Lismore) [11.45 a.m.]: One of my constituents, Mrs Shirley Murphy, has approached me about a problem that I believe exists in all country towns that have CountryLink or XTP train services. The letter from Mrs Murphy stated:
This morning I was awoken by a banging on the front door!
When I opened the door there was a young man, in his mid-to late twenties, who asked me to ring the 000 number as he was concerned about being assaulted by 3 youths. I did and handed the phone to him.
At 4.09am. I made the third call to 000 to inform them, that I had taken this person to the railway station to wait for the next southbound train, and Yes, I no longer required officers to attend.
Apparently four youths who were allegedly intoxicated had been travelling on a train from Sydney to Brisbane. They had played up on the train and were subsequently ejected at the next station, which was Casino. The four youths were fighting among each other on the train. The police were called and they removed the youths from the train and left them in Casino. What happened then? The fight did not stop. These four youths were left in a community they did not know. One of the youths needed support, so at 2.00 a.m. he approached the residence of a lady living on her own and knocked on her door. As outlined in the letter, the police were called but did not arrive because no-one was available. Sadly, Casino does not have 24-hour policing.
The issue is that the staff on the train had no alternative but to eject the youths from the train. There is a major problem when people are ejected from a train in a country community and the next train is not scheduled until the next day. Those people are not the responsibility of State Rail, and they are not the responsibility of the police until they cause further trouble. One of the youths did not even have enough money to buy another ticket to go all the way to Brisbane, where he intended to get some money when he got home. I tried to ring both the Ministers concerned to inform them that I was highlighting this concern. Situations such as this create a problem for country communities. If people are unloaded into a community in the middle of the night they become the responsibility of the community, because they do not have homes or families there. That should be taken into consideration before they are evicted, willy-nilly. What happens to people who are 14 or 15 years old and are too young to have their own transport, but are evicted?
I highlight this matter because it was a problem for Mrs Shirley Murphy. She said, and I agree, that ordinary people should not be involved in these types of events. She was happy to report that she and her family did not become involved to the point of being injured; they did not suffer anything other than being woken in the night and having a number of people arguing in her yard. Violence and crime on trains throughout the State are escalating. I want State Rail to be aware that when these people are evicted from trains they become the responsibility of the community, and it concerns me that the community is left with a problem it did not cause in the first place.
Mr GRAHAM WEST (Campbelltown—Parliamentary Secretary) [11.50 a.m.]: I appreciate the honourable member's concern regarding this serious issue. I undertake to refer the matter to the Minister for Transport Services and the Minister for Police for their further consideration.