Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I listened very carefully to the Deputy Prime Minister's presentation. Coming from Western Sydney, it is very important for me to acknowledge how grateful we are for the decision-making of this government, so early in its term of office, by the Deputy Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and by the assistant minister, who is also here with us in the chamber today. There has been 40 years of uncertainty in relation to Badgerys Creek airport, a second airport for Sydney, which is our largest city and biggest economy. This 40 years of speculation and uncertainty has been to the detriment of many communities in Western Sydney. I also acknowledge the former minister for infrastructure, the member for Grayndler, who also has strong support for a second airport in Sydney at Badgerys Creek.

I welcome the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister and the government that the location of the second Sydney airport will be Badgerys Creek. Minister, you have ended 40 years of speculation and taken a very constructive approach in terms of infrastructure prior to the construction of the airport—that is, key road and rail infrastructure will be upgraded prior to the construction of the airport. This means important roads in the south-west corridor, the fastest growing suburbs in Sydney, where thousands and thousands of new families are moving. This puts Western Sydney at the forefront of the infrastructure agenda in Australia, and we thank you for that.

Some people say having a Sydney based infrastructure minister would have been good for Sydney. But actually the opposite has proven to be true—neither the minister nor the assistant minister need to be from Sydney to give us the biggest boost to our roads, with billions of dollars of infrastructure funding coming to our city. We thank you for your understanding of the people of Western Sydney and the needs of these growing communities.

So, Minister, in the light of the government's very strong agenda in relation to Badgerys Creek and the road and rail that will follow and of the government's infrastructure investment agenda, even in the very difficult economic times we are in—we really appreciate the commitment—could you outline for us what this infrastructure spend will mean for my electorate and also the western parts of our biggest, growing city, Sydney?

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