But people in Unanderra aren’t laughing – for them the comments of Fair Trading Minister Matt Kean explain why their station has been overlooked for an upgrade for seven years.

Earlier this week, a video surfaced showing Mr Kean bragging how “skullduggery and manoeuvring” saw a station in his electorate “bumped up” the list by 150 places.

Mr Kean told campaigners at the tiny Hawkesbury River station that it was moved up the list by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet – who he said thought the station was in his electorate.

Read more: Lift at Unanderra Station at least two years away

Mr Kean dismissed the comments as “nothing more than a light-hearted joke”.

But it’s no laughing matter for Bec Lachlan from the Unanderra Access Group.

“I don’t believe that's a joke at all,” Ms Lachlan said.

“I think it was something he said to try and make himself look good to some of his constituents.”

Ms Lachlan called for an investigation into the Transport Access Program “to find out why rankings don’t matter”.

Wollongong MP Paul Scully said Mr Kean’s comments showed that government “rorting” was the reason Unanderra station kept missing out.

“Unanderra station has missed out on funding time and time again over the last seven years under this government because Ministers are rorting and fiddling with the priority list,” Mr Scully said.

“The Minister’s admission is an embarrassing disgrace and once the people of Unanderra and surrounding suburbs know more about the rorting that has taken place, they will rightly be up in arms.”