Labor pledge for Sydney Metro West boosts campaign for federal seat of Reid

NSW Labor’s pledge to spend $8 billion fast-tracking the Sydney Metro West project will bolster the party’s chances of winning the federal seat of Reid while incumbent Craig Laundy is yet to confirm whether he will recontest the seat.

Sam Crosby is the Labor candidate for Reid. Pictured with Rose Jackson, Oscar Jackson-Crosby, 1, Charlotte Jackson-Crosby, 7, and dog Fala.

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NSW Labor’s pledge to spend $8 billion fast-tracking the Sydney Metro West project will bolster the party’s chances of winning the federal seat of Reid while incumbent Craig Laundy is yet to confirm whether he will recontest the seat.

Sam Crosby, Labor’s candidate for Reid, continues to increase his visibility in the marginal electorate where he has become a familiar sight at local train stations and on the doorsteps of Reid constituents, dishing out flyers and laying out federal Labor’s plan of attack.

Meanwhile Mr Laundy’s silence is deafening after rumours he would be the next federal Liberal MP to quit politics started swirling a month ago.

On January 22, Mr Laundy’s spokesman told the Courier: “At this stage Craig is still deciding if he will recontest the seat of Reid at the next federal election.”

Mr Laundy has not elaborated on that or returned calls as the clock continues to tick down to the federal election.

Reid federal Liberal MP Craig Laundy has still not confirmed whether he will recontest the seat. Picture: Adam Yip.

“There’s no doubt (Mr Laundy) has got high personal name recognition so the longer he stays out that’s obviously going to benefit me,” Mr Crosby said.

“But in so many ways it doesn’t change what I do day to day, which is making announcements in the electorate, doorknocking, home calls, going to train stations, it doesn’t really make too much difference who the candidate is against me.”

Mr Crosby is seen as a strong candidate to contest the seat which the Liberals hold on a shaky margin of 4.7 per cent.

It is set to go down to the wire on polling day and be pivotal to the outcome of the federal election.

Mr Crosby is the executive director of Labor think tank the McKell Institute and his wife Rose Jackson is NSW Labor’s assistant general secretary.

The father-of-two told the Courier he had been getting a “pretty good feel” about his chances while on the hustings.

Sam Crosby rowing on the Parramatta River, near Drummoyne Rowing Club. Photo by Anna Kucera

“The seat is certainly on the table, it’s certainly up for grabs,” Mr Crosby said.

“I get a pretty good feeling going out and talking to people, there’s just this quiet sense of: ‘(The Liberals) have had their go, they’ve stuffed it up, they don’t have a plan’.”

He expected the Liberals to take a big hit in seats like Reid, Bennelong and Banks due to the treatment of Malcolm Turnbull.

“People out here really hated the way he was treated when he was prime minister and then the way he was dumped,” Mr Crosby said.

Mr Laundy was a key Turnbull ally and quit the frontbench after the leadership crisis.

The seat of Reid was an ALP stronghold from its creation in 1922 until the Liberals won it for the first time with Mr Laundy in 2013.

But a redistribution of boundaries before the 2010 election reduced Labor’s grip on the seat, which covers Sydney Olympic Park where there has been a spate of drug overdoses recently.

Mr Crosby is reluctant to comment on whether pill testing should be introduced at music festivals, saying it is a “state issue”.

NSW Labor has left the door open to pill testing.

“I completely support the idea backed by (NSW Labor leader) Michael Daley to hold a drug summit, akin to the last very successful drug summit in 1999,” Mr Crosby said.

“If you’re listening to the experts, if you’re listening to the evidence, that means you’re not rushing to automatically rule out options that could potentially save lives.”

Sydney Metro West Geotechnical engineer Stephanie Liew pictured with soil samples at a drilling site in Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: Toby Zerna

Mr Crosby said the “number one issue by a country mile” that comes up in the electorate is congestion and infrastructure not keeping up with overdevelopment.

“You have got people queuing at Rhodes train station five or six people deep, you go to hand out there and you just get knocked off your feet,” he said.

His said his priority is to see Sydney Metro West get built.

Federal Labor has pledged $3 billion and Mr Daley yesterday promised $8 billion to fast track the project, which will see high frequency trains connect greater Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, The Bays Precinct and Sydney CBD.

A Sydney Metro spokesman said work is well underway to determine the best route between — including how many stops it will make in the inner west.

“The NSW Government has already reserved $3 billion for this game-changing project, allowing Sydney Metro to advance the design of new metro railway stations and precincts and begin preparations for the planning approvals process, continuing the comprehensive program of community and industry consultation that has been taking place,” he said.

“The NSW Government is committed to delivering Sydney Metro West services in the second half of the 2020s.”

State transport minister Andrew Constance said: “Today, nine years ago to the month former Labor Finance Minister, Michael Daley, played a key role in the cancellation of the Rozelle Metro, costing NSW taxpayers well over $400 million.

“In fact, Labor promised to deliver Metro West three times since the early 1990s, only to cancel it each time, including handing back $81 million to the Federal Government in 2010.”