Today’s announcement from Premier Baird regarding the government’s compulsory acquisitions process is well short of offering landowners and residents a fair process, according to Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP.
“Community pressure on the Baird Government has forced it to respond to a multitude of serious and legitimate concerns and I congratulate those who’ve worked so hard to get action on this issue.
“While I welcome the Premier’s and Minister Perrottet’s long overdue statements on reforming the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act, we need to be clear that what has been announced today does not address the major concern of hundreds of people undergoing compulsory acquisitions right now.
“There are record numbers of property acquisitions where landowners have been or are being robbed of the market value of their homes by an average of $200,000 to $300,000. The offer of a potential extra $50,000 of compensation does not go near addressing this major problem.
“The reforms which have been announced show that the Premier is well aware of the deficiencies of the compulsory acquisition process. We know this government sat on the Russell Review report since 2014 and finally today we see them offering a few fixes and a mea culpa.
“Successive NSW governments have failed people when it comes to home acquisitions - let's not forget that this is labor government legislation under review that has short changed people and found them treated so badly.
“Bandaids won’t make this project work for the people of NSW. The whole WestConnex project is deeply flawed and I’m calling again for an urgent inquiry. We need to rethink the whole thing right now.
