Community Recognition Notice - Maddie Bott

12 November 2021

Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland)—Maddie Bott's bravery in being a strong public advocate at a time of her most personal grief is inspiring and courageous. Maddie Bott's fiancé, Ethan Hunter, and Mark Fenton tragically lost their lives at a level railway crossing accident near Bribbaree on 23rd February this year. After the accident, Maddie started a campaign which has gathered a lot of momentum across Australia and her 20,000 signature petition was debated in the NSW Parliament yesterday. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, visitors were unable to fill the gallery at Parliament House, but Maddie arranged for the debate to be live streamed for family and supporters at the Grenfell Bowling Club. Achieving 20,000 signatures on this petition is an incredible achievement. I thank Maddie and everyone involved for their continued advocacy, commitment and determination to ensure level crossings in NSW are made safe and kept maintained. I am committed to working with impacted families and the relevant stakeholders to improve the safety at level crossings. As Maddie says: "It doesn't matter how long this takes, we will tackle this one track at a time, for Ethan and Mark." I refer those interested to #WhichCrossingNext.