“I believe it will be a major influence on how these people vote,” Mr Lee toldThe Sydney MorningHerald andThe Age on Tuesday,after appearing at a press conference with Fiona Martin,the Liberal member for themarginal federal seat of Reid.
“I think they need to listen to the people. This is the last real missing piece.”
Wentworth Point and other suburbs near the banks of Parramatta River lie within Reid,which the Coalition holds with a slim 3.2 per cent margin. They are home to tens of thousands of people who were promised the extension of the light rail line from Camellia to Olympic Park by the state government.
While Lee said the state did not have the money to go it alone on the $3 billion second stage,federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said any request from states for Commonwealth funding had to go through “a well-established process”.
“We have not,at this stage,received a request from the NSW state government in relation to Parramatta light rail stage two,” Fletcher said,adding that states needed to put forward proposals based on business cases if they wanted funding from the Commonwealth for projects.
However,Lee described as “ridiculous” the proposition that a fully-fledged business case and a letter from the NSW government was needed before the Commonwealth could consider funding.