Get Involved - Parliament

North Shore Electorate Services

Published on: March 2026

Record: HANSARD-1323879322-162986

North Shore Electorate Services

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore) (18:06:21):

For too many residents in my local community the simple act of catching a bus has become an exercise in frustration. Bus services are either unpredictable or unreliable, and at times are simply non-existent, with a number of phantom buses. One route perfectly illustrates that growing frustration, and that is the 243. Constituents are regularly reporting cancelled services with little to no notice. Buses that are scheduled and that appear on the app simply do not arrive. The 243 is a critical service for residents in Mosman and Cremorne, particularly in the morning peak when they rely on the service to get to work, school or appointments.

One constituent has shared with me how her two young daughters were left stranded with no way to get to school, and that her elderly father was left stranded on the same route on the same morning when multiple services were either cancelled at the last minute or did not turn up. I am also being told about the huge volume of buses that are travelling from the northern beaches into the city and are already at capacity by the time they reach Spit Junction in Mosman. They are not able to pick up passengers in Mosman, Cremorne or Neutral Bay. I have witnessed that. It is my community and my home, and I see all of the people queuing up for buses that are passing them by. That means a lot of people are late for work, students are missing classes and parents are scrambling to make alternative arrangements.

Before coming into the Chamber to deliver this speech, I received another email from a resident regarding the 230 and 154X bus routes where passengers are waiting longer than thirty minutes to try to squeeze onto an overcrowded bus. For my community, which relies heavily on public transport, and particularly buses, that is simply not good enough. Our communities all deserve accurate information on what services are arriving and when, and a government that takes these failures seriously.

Unfortunately, it is not only buses that are causing concern. Residents in Cremorne and Cremorne Point remain frustrated that after years of delays there is still no roof on the wharf at Cremorne Point. Those who travel to work or into the city on the ferry love doing that; there is no better way to experience our beautiful Sydney Harbour than by ferry. Ferries are an important piece of public transport infrastructure that reduce congestion on our roads. The roof repairs at Cremorne Point Wharf have been delayed again and again and again. Each delay erodes what little confidence remains and leaves commuters and visitors exposed to the elements—rain, wind and sun—while they wait for services. Quite frankly, that is unacceptable. My local community deserves better than indefinite timelines and repeated setbacks. They deserve clear answers, firm deadlines and a new roof on the wharf. It has affected local businesses, particularly Bernie at Cremorne Point Wharf Kiosk, who has had to navigate repeated closures of the wharf and limited business traffic each time.

I turn now to a project that is having a positive transformative effect on my local community in Waverton, and that is the revitalisation of Berrys Bay. For too long, Berrys Bay sat languishing. It was underutilised and disconnected from the people who should have been able to enjoy it. In a major revitalisation milestone for Berrys Bay, the final design has been released for the reimagined Woodley's Shed, just as the tunnelling excavation for the Western Harbour Tunnel approaches its final destination under Waverton. The new vision for Woodley's Shed as a community pavilion will incorporate heritage aspects from the former shed, including the iconic lettering, which has been meticulously removed, and will ensure a vibrant, accessible, and community‑focused space as part of the broader Berrys Bay project—preserving the site's maritime heritage while opening it up for public use.

The parklands will now have the addition of public amenities, such as toilets blocks that will be accessible not just for the pavilion but also for community members. This project represents a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity for us to restore Berrys Bay and to open it up to the community to create an amazing harbourside parkland—in an area that was once locked off and prevented public access—while also preserving its rich history, with the parklands due to be completed in early 2027. I have been immensely proud to work alongside the community. I fought and advocated for this before I became a member of Parliament. Throughout government, I worked to get this project committed, funded, and underway.

Every single day in this place, I will continue to advocate on behalf of my community on the issues that matter to them—the issues that affect their everyday lives and my everyday life. I will continue to advocate for better bus services and to push Transport for NSW and the Government for timely installation of the roof at Cremorne Point Wharf. I will also continue alongside my community to champion projects like Berrys Bay that deliver real benefits to our community.

Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (18:11:17):

I wish to respond to some of the comments made by the member for North Shore in her private member's statement. I remind the House of the previous Government's privatisation agenda and its obsession with privatisation, particularly when it came to buses and public transport. It was because of that agenda that the previous Government did not invest in a single new bendy bus for 12 years. The Minns Labor Government ordered the first bendy buses in decades and has examined many ways in which to address not just the network problems associated with privatisation but also the flow‑on impact of privatisation on the availability of drivers, and servicing the networks across Sydney as well as the regions and rural areas. It is because of the mess that members opposite left the Minns Labor Government that it has taken a while to get back to where we were.