Mr ALISTER HENSKENS (Wahroonga) (18:30): On the previous parliamentary sitting day, I spoke about the continued privatisation of public land within the Wahroonga electorate by the Minns Labor Government, specifically involving sites in Wahroonga and Turramurra. I speak again today because the concerns I outlined then have only been reinforced by further information that has since come to light. The site I speak of tonight is the Hillview Community Health Centre at Turramurra, located on the Pacific Highway. That is publicly owned land that has long been understood by the local community to serve an essential public purpose. For decades it has been valued not only for its heritage significance, but also for its consistent role in health service delivery since the 1970s, as well as its strategic location within a critical transport corridor.

Despite all that, the Minns Labor Government now intends to sell the site to private developers, ignoring its election commitment against privatisation and the importance of the site and the strong opposition from the local community. In response to those concerns, the Government has sought to justify the proposed sale by claiming that the land could supply housing. However, it has not been up‑front with the public. Its own housing delivery agencies, Landcom and Homes NSW, were offered the site and rejected it for affordable housing. They did so because under current conditions it is not feasible to build housing there.

That confirms what I have consistently argued in this place: The Minns Labor Government's housing policies are failing to deliver appropriate or affordable housing for the next generation. If the Government's own agencies, with their expertise and mandate, cannot make housing work on that site, it is fanciful to suggest that private developers will deliver outcomes that serve the public good, particularly in terms of genuinely affordable housing. It is therefore no surprise that New South Wales under this Labor Government is delivering significantly fewer completed dwellings than under the former Liberal Government, which saw approximately 75,000 dwellings completed in the year prior to the COVID pandemic. That decline is not accidental. It is the direct result of policy failure and a lack of strategic vision.

What makes the proposed privatisation of Hillview even more concerning is its strategic significance. The site sits at a well‑known pinch point on the Pacific Highway in Turramurra, where congestion is already severe. The daily use of contraflow lanes is a clear sign that the road network has exceeded capacity. Widening the Pacific Highway at that location is not merely a long‑term aspiration; it is an increasingly urgent necessity. In addition, the land is adjacent to the North Shore railway line. Opportunities to preserve land for future transport expansion are rare and valuable. Once land like that is sold and developed, those opportunities are lost permanently. Short‑sighted decisions of that kind impose long‑term costs on future generations.

In a recent meeting with departmental officials, I was advised that the Minns Labor Government has no plans to use the land for widening the Pacific Highway. Equally concerning, it remains unclear whether any parts of the site will be reserved for a potential expansion of the railway line or the Turramurra bridge. That makes it clear that the Government is not planning for the long‑term future of our city. Rather than safeguarding critical infrastructure corridors, it is choosing to dispose of public land for short‑term financial gain while ignoring the mounting infrastructure pressures facing communities like mine.

We have seen that approach before. The Wran Labor Government sold off road corridors that had been preserved under the Cumberland plan. Today Sydney is paying the price. Much of the toll road infrastructure we now rely on exists because those above‑ground corridors were sold, forcing far more expensive underground solutions. Despite frequent complaints from Chris Minns about toll roads in Sydney, it was Labor's earlier decisions that made many of those inevitable. Labor's failure of long‑term planning is not confined to my electorate. Across New South Wales, the Minns Labor Government has not invested in a single new metro project. Every metro line that has opened or is under construction was planned and delivered by the former Liberal Government.

There is no new vision, no commitment and no pipeline of transformative transport infrastructure under this Government. At the local level, the contradiction is stark. On the one hand, the Government seeks to impose increased housing density across established suburbs. On the other hand, it is neglecting the necessity of investing in the roads, transport and essential services that must accompany that growth. I again call on the Minns Government to reverse the decision to sell Hillview.