[Greens-Media] Greens MP Welcomes Supreme Court Injunction Stopping Newcastle Rail Cut; Government Grossly Irresponsible

[Matt Hilton]

24.12.14

Greens MP Welcomes Supreme Court Injunction Stopping Newcastle Rail Cut;
Government Grossly Irresponsible

Greens NSW MP and Transport Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, has
welcomed a Supreme Court injunction stopping the NSW Government from
cutting the Newcastle rail line without an Act of parliament. The NSW
government has been grossly irresponsible by preparing for the cut without
a legal basis.

Dr Faruqi said:

"The strong community campaign to save the Newcastle rail line is paying
dividends. I welcome the court"s decision today.

"The revelations of the extent to which the Government is going to in order
to avoid the community and now the legislative requirements around cutting
the rail is quite extraordinary.

"It is grossly irresponsible for the Government to have signed contracts to
truncate the line when they knew there was a flimsy legal basis for their
actions.

"The Baird government has tried to sidestep the community and the court has
now ultimately said, they cannot sidestep parliament.

"The Greens have been working with the community and campaigning against
cutting the line since it was first mooted by the previous Labor Government
and now the Liberal/National Government.

"The campaign to save the Newcastle rail line will continue. I look forward
to working with the community to ensure that any laws to rip up the
Newcastle rail line are defeated in the Legislative Council.

"I call on Premier Baird and the Transport Minister to respect the Supreme
Court and commit to continuing running services connecting the hearts of
Sydney and Newcastle past Boxing Day" Dr Faruqi concluded.