Political Point-Scoring or Community Advocacy? MPs Slam Fairer Hills Campaign in Parliament

Interview by Rajiv Chaudhri – Editor in Chief.

In a fiery debate in the NSW Parliament yesterday afternoon, Labor MPs took aim at The Hills Shire Council’s “Fight for a Fairer Hills Petition.” The petition, launched by Mayor Dr Michelle Byrne and tabled by the Member for Kellyville, Ray Williams, was strongly criticised by Labor for its intent and underlying motivations.

Warren Kirby MP said:

“It is an honour to speak in this petition debate. As the member for Riverstone, of all members in this place, I understand the magnitude of what happens when a government rezones land and puts in tens of thousands of homes without the infrastructure to support them. I acknowledge the Mayor of the Hills Shire Council, the Deputy Mayor of the Hills Shire Council, Councillor Cartwright Hills Shire Council and Councillor Singh from Blacktown City Council, who are in the gallery. I provide some context.”

“The member for Kellyville would have us believe this started before the former Liberal Government was in power. The Liberal Government came to power in 2011. At that time, Box Hill and Nelson had 1,738 residents. By 2018, that number had dropped by 100 residents to 1,647. From 2018 to 2023, the number jumped to 18,378. That is a more than 1,100 per cent increase in the population.”

Kirby argued this explosion in population was the direct result of rezoning and by-law changes under both the former Liberal State Government and the Liberal-dominated Hills Shire Council. He pointed to 2017 comments from Mayor Byrne, recorded on the Council’s own website, in which she welcomed the NSW Government’s rezoning plans:

“This will provide certainty to everyone in The Hills about where density will ultimately be concentrated—it’s always been Council’s vision to locate density around transport and town centres” …

“Council’s role will be to make sure the delivery of the community facilities and public domain for each new area is done” …

Kirby continued:

“That is the same mayor who was outraged in 2015 by the doubling of the number of dwellings in the Hills Showground Station precinct. In 2019 she made specific changes to the local environmental plan around that precinct, including introducing new clauses regarding the maximum number of dwellings and corrections to building heights and floor-space ratios. They were the actions of the former Liberal State Government and the current Liberal-dominated Hills Shire Council.”

He went on to contrast this with Labor’s current record, outlining that under the Minns Government new schools have been delivered across Box Hill, the Gables, and Tallawong, alongside upgrades to multiple existing schools, with more than $500 million invested in education infrastructure.

“If the premise of this petition were genuine, I would be hugely supportive of it, but I cannot help wonder whether the campaign was designed to benefit the Hills community or bolster the chances of Michelle Byrne as the candidate for Kellyville. The factional heavyweight on the other side of the Chamber, the member for Kellyville, is a lightweight community representative and he is handing over the baton.”

Stephen Bali MP also targeted inconsistencies in Byrne’s record:

“When the Liberals were in power, Mayor Michelle Byrne referred to ‘those 12 long years that the Liberals were in power.’ When the Liberal Government changed zonings in the Hills, the mayor said, ‘I’m outraged that the community and the council has been deceived.’ I agree with her. Where was the member for Kellyville when his Government deceived Michelle Byrne in her first term as mayor?”

Bali added that Byrne frequently shifted her stance:

“She said, ‘I’ll be writing to the Minister for him to intervene.’ … At the same time, the mayor expressed her outrage by saying, ‘We appreciate that the New South Wales Government doesn’t have a pot of gold with which to solve all the State’s infrastructure problems.’ So one minute she is outraged and the next minute she is saying, ‘Oh well, there’s not enough money there.’ I want to know who got to her. Maybe it was a Ray Williams preselection challenge—I do not know.”

Paul Scully, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, reminded Parliament of the Coalition’s record:

“Members opposite were in government from 2011 to early 2023. To hear them say during this debate that they had no control and no influence over what happened in the north-west of Sydney, when that is patently wrong, requires a suspension of disbelief. This petition is a testament to the previous Government’s failure over its entire 12 years in office to invest in the infrastructure that communities in the Hills needed.”

Scully noted that during that time Ray Williams was no “ordinary backbencher” but a Cabinet Minister, and that the Hills was left with a severe infrastructure deficit. He contrasted that with Labor’s commitments:

“In the latest budget, handed down in June 2025, the Minns Labor Government committed $24.4 billion to Western Sydney infrastructure alone. I will list some of the infrastructure projects in the Hills local government area: a new hospital at Rouse Hill; an upgrade of Castle Hill Public School; an upgrade of Excelsior Public School; new high school and primary school at Box Hill; a new primary school at Gables; an upgrade of Rouse Hill High School; the Annangrove Road upgrade; the Water Lane upgrade; the Withers Road upgrade; and two new open spaces, at Kellyville and Bella Vista. That is in addition to the delivery of new open space at Beaumont Hills in 2024.”