Mr ALISTER HENSKENS (Ku-ring-gai) [4.44 p.m.]: The Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales is one of the most beautiful parts of our State, and I say that with all the prejudice of somebody whose grandfather was a medical practitioner at the lake and whose mother grew up in Teralba and Speers Point. I have many fond childhood memories of the lake. If my grandfather were alive today he would be proud of the Warners Bay Service Centre and support the closure of the Belmont Motor Registry. When I first got my licence at the Newcastle Motor Registry—and I am sure it was no different at Belmont—I had to take a picnic lunch to sustain me for the many hours of waiting that lay ahead. Gone are those bad old days.

The Government created Service NSW to streamline government services and reduce the time spent obtaining them. It is a one-stop shop for more than 800 New South Wales government services. Waiting times have been reduced from hours to minutes at Service NSW offices, so it is not necessary to have as many centres to provide those services. The former Belmont Motor Registry was only open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Monday to Friday and did not open on Saturdays. For the convenience of the public the Warners Bay Service Centre has extended hours—namely, it is open from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. weekdays and from 8.00 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturdays. Google Maps confirms that it is only a 13 minute drive from Belmont Local Court, near the heart of Belmont, to the Warners Bay Service Centre. Any extra time that is spent getting from Belmont to Warners Bay will be more than made up by the efficiency of the service offered at the centre.

The Warners Bay Service Centre offers the community of Belmont and the wider area an improved service model. Since opening in June last year the centre has serviced around 94,000 customers. Service NSW has listened to the feedback and come up with some customer-focused options on top of the service offered at Warners Bay. Temporary mobile services are operating at Belmont and Swansea to allow customers to access limited motor registry transactions and to assist with the change to the delivery of New South Wales government services in the region. The Warners Bay Service Centre has 21 team members. The Belmont Motor Registry had only six staff members. So the service and the number of staff have increased. This is an enhancement to the government services operated at the lake and the centre should be supported by those opposite.