Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue Airport City Summit 2024

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Thank you very much.

It’s great to be back here in Western Sydney. 

I was here just last week alongside the PM, opening the Moorebank Interstate Terminal – a transformative project for Western Sydney.

As always, I begin by acknowledging the original inhabitants of the Liverpool area, the Darug and Tharawal Aboriginal people.

I pay my respect to their Elders past and present.

I extend that respect to any First Nations people here today.

Local indigenous communities have been caring for these lands for time immemorial. 

We owe them a debt of gratitude and their example of caring for and respecting country is one we should always cherish.

Introduction 

Thank you for the introduction, Christopher Brown 

I would like to acknowledge Hon. Paul Scully MP  and Clr. Ned Mannoun 

The success and growth of Western Sydney is critical to our future national prosperity.

That regional success is based on events like this one today.

If only every region was as successful at pulling together such collaborators and providing the opportunity for opinion leaders, industry, government, academia and the community to come together.

As a Minister, I know that events like this one – which facilitate interaction between key opinion leaders, industry, government, academia and the community – are key to achieving the best outcomes. 

That is why I am happy to be here today to share in the progress made as we mark the milestone of 1,000 days to Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport—or WSI—beginning its operations. 

I can report that as at 29 February 2024, WSI is 73 per cent complete and on track to commence on schedule in 2026—initially capable of catering for up to 10 million annual passengers.

No doubt, this audience understands what a transformational infrastructure project this is for the region. 

A boost for tourism, the airport’s integrated domestic and international terminal will be capable of receiving the world’s largest passenger aircraft, alongside a dedicated cargo precinct—a world-class airport designed to meet Sydney’s growing aviation needs.

The airport means greater access to air travel for locals, removing the more than forty-minute drive or almost two-hour public transport commute to Kingsford Smith Airport. 

And it will enable better accessibility to destinations across Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

The population of Western Sydney is 2.6 million and growing. Western Sydney deserves and needs its own international gateway – and that is exactly what we are delivering, along with the city-shaping transport links needed to connect the airport and the broader region with other parts of Sydney.

Business and economic growth 

As you drive around Western Sydney today, you can already see that WSI is attracting investment into businesses in this region with its promise of quicker and more convenient access to interstate and overseas markets. 

I am sure that this audience already understands the economic activity, job growth, and employment opportunities that WSI offers. 

By 2063, WSI is expected to increase value-add in the Australian economy by $5.8 billion per year.

Delivery of WSI has injected over $500 million in the region through contracts to Western Sydney businesses, including small and medium enterprises, as well as family and First Nations businesses.

Already 250 Western Sydney-based businesses have been engaged by contractors.

The construction of the airport has so far supported over 7,255 jobs, unlocking jobs for local employees, learning workers and First Nations people.

And, importantly, local businesses will have an exceptional new facility at the Western Sydney Airport Business Park – where I had the honour of turning the first sod just this morning. 

This 191-hectare master planned business precinct will grow to be the size of Parramatta CBD, with its own metro rail station.

It will be home to a cross section of employers that will benefit from being on the doorstep of Australia’s newest and most technologically-advanced airport. 

Stage one of this project alone is expected to generate 400 jobs through construction, with another 2,000 permanent jobs once the precinct is fully occupied and operational.

And, of course, the Western Parkland City Authority has prepared a draft master plan for the Aerotropolis – an additional growth area precinct at Bradfield. It will contribute towards 200,000 new jobs and become a high-skill jobs hub in a range of industries.

While the Commonwealth’s focus quite rightly is on the land we own at the airport and business precinct I broke ground at today, we also know how important the Aerotropolis will be – and I firmly believe in its success.

These benefits are why the Australian Government has committed up to $5.3 billion in equity in WSA Co to develop the airport – and why we are so committed to keeping this project on track and on time.

The Commonwealth’s broader investments across the region

But, while WSI may be our most significant investment in the region, it is not our only investment across the region. 

In partnership with the NSW Government – and assisted by the recommendations of the Western Sydney Transport Infrastructure Panel – we are also investing in transport connections to and from the airport, optimising economic activity and community benefits. 

This includes the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport, in which we are investing $5.19 billion to link the jobs and travel hubs at the new airport and the Aerotropolis with St Marys via a 23-kilometre new tunnel.

It includes our $1.63 billion investment in the new M12 Motorway between the M7 and The Northern Road at Luddenham, creating a brand-new motorway linking the airport with the city’s motorway network. 

As well, are upgrading Dunheved Road in Penrith, duplicating Richmond Road near Marsden Park, constructing a new commuter car park in Campbelltown and adding additional lanes through stage 1 of the Mulgoa Road upgrade.

We are doing a lot, but we know from the findings of the Western Sydney Transport Infrastructure Panel that there is a lot more to do. 

Following one of the recommendations of that panel, we are progressing work on business case for the extension of the new Sydney Metro to Macarthur.

An extended rail line will bring the benefits of the airport and new industrial precincts to even more communities – as well as better linking Macarthur with the rest of the Sydney rail network.

This is an important piece of work that will ensure we get this project right – that it is properly scoped, planned and costed and we are not pulling figures out of thin air.

I thank the panel again for their work and assistance, as well as my colleague Dr Mike Freelander for his tireless advocacy for this project.

In partnership with the NSW Government, we will continue working through the recommendations of the Western Sydney Transport Infrastructure Panel throughout Budget processes.

Our investments are creating a more efficient regional transport network and helping to support better connectivity between communities and supporting future housing development and economic precincts.

Historically, transport networks in Western Sydney have been built around getting locals west to east and out of this region. We know that more needs to be done to connect communities in this part of Sydney to each other, and to create more jobs for you right here at home. 

Moorebank

You could see a prime example of the diversity of our job-creating investments just last week, when I was with the Prime Minister at the opening of the Interstate Terminal at the Moorebank Intermodal Precinct.

This terminal will be able to manage 500,000 twenty-foot containers annually, with each train that comes through the terminal able to move 1,500 tonnes of freight.

Importantly, each of the 1,800 metre trains the Interstate Terminal can accommodate has the potential to remove 100 ‘B Double’ trucks from Australia’s roads – this adds up to us taking more than 3,000 heavy trucks off Sydney roads daily.

When complete, the fully integrated industrial precinct at Moorebank will house over 850,000 square meters of modern industrial warehouses and will support more than 6,800 jobs. 

I am also proud to say that Moorebank is home to Australia’s largest rooftop solar installation with the capacity to generate over 100 megawatts of renewable energy.

The net-zero elements of the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport  

Taken all together, these investments in the airport, in the business precincts, in the Aerotropolis, in Moorebank and in transport infrastructure are reshaping this city and this state.

Throughout its long history, Sydney has looked to the east for jobs, for growth and for opportunity.

It was in the east where the investment went, it was to the east that locals drove for work, and it was to the east where state and commonwealth governments focused all their attention.

I am proud to stand here today and say that that focus has changed.

Western Sydney is the new land of opportunity. 

You can see it as you drive the streets – the new businesses, the new jobs, the new homes and the masses of construction work at every turn.

And, as someone not from this region or this state, I can tell you that that is known right the way across the country.

That seismic shift would not have happened without the dedicated work of those in this room.

Thank you for having me here today and thank you for all the effort you put in to drive Western Sydney forward.