Mr Adams said more youth activities and cadet programs with police would be part of the solution to crime in the area.

Highlighting footpaths as vital to the area, Mr Adams said mothers could not take prams out in winter on the grass while elderly people struggled to get around, leading to residents being confined to their homes.

He also said more investment was needed in emergency housing for victims of crime and Australia's 100,000 homeless.

Dai Le, Liberal Party

Ms Le lived in Cabramatta from 1986 to 1992 after her family fled Vietnam, spending time in refugee camps along the way.

Ms Le moved to Marrickville when she got married, has contributed to the Cabramatta community as a journalist at the Fairfield Champion and the ABC where she created documentaries about the area.

She also regularly visits family who live here.

``So while my residential address is, at the moment, not here, my heart and soul are still very much in the Cabramatta community and I want to give a voice to the marginalised and neglected people here,'' Ms Le said.

Ms Le said overall better urban planning was required to tackle the problem of ``grotty, neglected'' car-parking and to boost tourism.

She highlighted children's play areas as needing attention, together with more public lighting for security and beautification of the tree-lined town centre streets.

Ms Le would oppose any fare increases or paid parking for commuters, and would lobby for the Southern Sydney Freight Line to be built beneath Cabramatta rather than ``creating another Berlin Wall''.

Ms Le said Cabramatta needed a boost in police and there needed to be a joint community approach.

She advocated higher spending across the city's youth centres rather than large projects like the Visy Youth Centre.

Nick Lalich, Labor

Mr Lalich said he shared the experience of many residents, fleeing with his family and living in refugee camps until arriving in Australia and living in Bonnyrigg since 1952.

``That's one of the great things about Australia, and Cabramatta, is we all know each other's suffering and we all came looking for peaceful coexistence,'' he said.

Mr Lalich was elected to council 21 years ago and has been twice popularly elected as mayor, during which time he said he has seen crime rates drop due to police, State Government and council co-operation.

He said car parking was a major issue the council could not tackle alone, and when Premier Nathan Rees visited Cabramatta at the weekend he saw it first hand.

A long-time opponent of the Southern Sydney Freight Line, Mr Lalich acknowledged the infrastructure was needed but said he would continue to fight for more funding to lessen its impacts.

He highlighted the freight line, car parking and monitoring the development of Bonnyrigg Partnerships as key infrastructure issues in his vision for the electorate.

Mr Lalich said he would also be encouraging a mix of housing to be developed in higher densities around transport hubs to ease the housing shortage.

He said that while he was in council or elected to State Government, no youth facility would be demolished without being replaced by an equal if not bigger one.

Alasdair McDonald, Independent/Communist League

Mr McDonald, 27, drew on his experiences in communist Cuba to propose solutions to Cabramatta's problems at the candidate debate.

He called on residents to unite against capitalist forces in the face of rising costs of food, fuel and housing.

Mr McDonald said a range of problems, including the lack of car parking, housing and infrastructure, could be addressed through a mass public works programs that would also tackle rising unemployment for locals.

Crime could be tackled if the working class felt empowered to contribute back to society, Mr McDonald said, and give a greater meaning to their struggles.

Doug Morrison, Christian Democratic Party

Guildford resident Doug Morrison ran against Labor's Tanya Gadiel for Parramatta in 2007 and said he was campaigning on many of the same issues this time around.

``I'm generally running on the Christian Democrat Party's policies,'' he said.

``I'd love to say I'll try to tackle the drugs problem, both the addicts and the pushers, but one elected person can't do it all.

``I've been in Cabramatta a lot for business but, if elected, I would move into the area to get to know it better.''

Mr Morrison was unable to attend Monday's debate because of church commitments but said, if elected, he would ``always have the door open''.

``I want everyone to feel like they can walk in and tell me their problems,'' he said.

``I will be a puppet for the people, not for the parliament.''