WARD CALLS ON BUTLER TO APOLOGISE TO REGIONAL SENIORS

Member for Kiama Gareth Ward has condemned the Members for South Coast for siding with her party and ditching regional seniors in her electorate during a debate in Parliament on Labor’s broken promise to cut the Regional Seniors Travel Card.

Mr Ward said Ms Butler should apologise to regional seniors for her claims that the Regional Seniors Travel Card was, “plain unfair and a rort”.  

“The Member for South Coast and NSW Labor broke their promise to regional seniors to retain the Regional Seniors Travel Card. Labor said prior to the election that it would keep the card but in government they have broken yet another promise to the regions,” Mr Ward said. 

“I was stunned by the performance of the Member for South Coast in Parliament who accused regional seniors of a ‘rort’. I wonder how older people in her electorate feel about being called rorters by their local Member of Parliament? Regional seniors are not rorters. 

“This issue is not going away. I still have petitions flowing into my office and I’ll continue to table them, and I’ll continue to take the fight up to the NSW Labor Government who have broken their promise to regional seniors. 

“In the House yesterday, I told the stories of locals who use the card to get to charitable activities, medical appointments, and caring responsibilities. Regional seniors on fixed incomes are really feeling cost-of-living pressures cuts to this card is really going to hurt. 

“Whilst most of Labor’s metropolitan electorates are serviced by a plethora of public transport options, this isn’t the case in regional areas where moving around comes at a greater cost. 

“I call on the Member for South Coast to apologise to regional seniors for her comments and to join me in calling for the reintroduction of the Regional Seniors Travel Card,” Mr Ward concluded.