Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has described his part in the aftermath of a car crash, reassuring one driver she was a good mum because her young son was properly buckled in.
Mr Shorten said this event reminded him again that so many of our fellow Australians live life on a very thin margin.
"And it doesn't take much to put them on the wrong side of it," he said.
Mr Shorten and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull both spoke at the Champions of the West Awards ceremony at the Bankstown Sports Club.
Twenty-three organisations and individuals were recognised for their special contributions to western Sydney.
Mr Shorten was campaigning in the Hunter Valley earlier on Thursday when his group of vehicles pulled to the side of the road.
"A white sedan carrying a mother and her child overtook the police car at the rear of us... and collided head-on with a car travelling in the opposite direction," he said.
Mr Shorten said police, firemen and ambos were on the scene in minutes and worked with calm, skill and compassionate professionalism.
He said he spoke to one driver, a single mum, telling her the first thing that came into his mind.
"I said 'accidents happen. But your boy was buckled safely in his child seat in the back. You are a good mum'," he said.
Mr Turnbull, whose day campaigning passed without incident, said western Sydney was looking bravely to the future and would thrive and grow.
"We are celebrating many individual stories of success and we know that this success comes from western Sydney's success as a community," he said.
The prime minister said the coalition was investing over $6.5 billion in western Sydney growth infrastructure, including $2.9 billion on critical road upgrades.
"More than 11,000 jobs are expected to be generated during construction and 60,000 direct jobs by the 2060s," he said.
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