Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The reason we're in parliament is to advocate for more opportunities and investments for our communities. Every day, I'm here to represent the people of Lindsay and Western Sydney and to ensure my electorate gets the projects and infrastructure my community needs. I need to fight for that. I need to represent my people in this place. That's what we all need to do to get the best for our communities, whether it's roads, infrastructure, education opportunities or job opportunities. Western Sydney has the opportunity to drive our economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. We are delivering job opportunities to create initiatives and unlock this potential. We know that Western Sydney is one of Australia's fastest-growing regions. To harness the opportunities for families and businesses, we are investing in local infrastructure. We're delivering better, safer and more accessible roads, to make sure that, as we continue to create more local jobs, people spend less time stuck in traffic, less time on that daily commute, and more time building their businesses and being at home with their families.

As the member for Werriwa said in her speech, Western Sydney airport is going to bring so many opportunities for our whole community of Western Sydney. Our $5.3 billion investment in Western Sydney airport and $2.9 billion infrastructure investment will improve connectivity in surrounding road networks. Our Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan includes the new M12 motorway, which will be the main access road to the airport. We're also delivering the Werrington Arterial Road upgrade and upgrades to Bringelly Road, which are already underway, and the Northern Road. In addition to this, we're providing a $200 million package for local road upgrades.

In my electorate of Lindsay—and I fight for the people there every day, to get what I need for my community—we're delivering 23 kilometres of railway through St Marys, Orchard Hills and Luddenham and two stations at the airport. The rail link, which will connect from St Marys to Western Sydney airport and Badgerys Creek aerotropolis, will be built in time for the airport's opening in 2026. The ability to connect our community will mean that business owners, students, researchers and so many more people in our community will have access to reliable transport, which will unlock even more opportunities for people right across Western Sydney and deliver real long-term benefits to people in Western Sydney, our economy and our community.

With an expected benefit-to-cost ratio of over 1.8, this is over $1.80 to the economy from every single dollar invested. By 2063, the Western Sydney airport is expected to generate $1.5 billion annually. That is delivering opportunities for the people of Western Sydney. This investment and the important infrastructure and road upgrades our community needs will increase access for small businesses in Western Sydney so they can expand, showcasing their products around the state and around our nation. With Western Sydney international airport, it will open new doors and unlock new opportunities and new markets globally.

By backing our small businesses, our manufacturers and our community with record investment to support and create more jobs, we are putting Western Sydney at the forefront of our economic recovery. I've seen this firsthand in my community when visiting a local Australian Made manufacturer who has links right across Western Sydney. Their suppliers are in south-western Sydney, and they're working together to boost our local economy and create more local jobs. Tracy and the team at Plustec make uPVC windows and doors, which are highly energy-efficient as well as resistant to the toughest weather conditions. They've now got the Australian Made accreditation. And when we say 'Australian Made', we know that this means high quality and local jobs. She told me how hard they'd worked to get that accreditation. She also told me that they've been using the Morrison government's instant asset write-off. With the extended write-off they're trying to purchase a new upstroke cut saw, but they've also already purchased four pieces of equipment, including a laminator, a crane and a glazing table, and this is all using the Morrison government's instant asset write-off scheme. This is creating opportunities for local business in Western Sydney and creating more local jobs. We've extended this instant asset write-off, and now 99 per cent of Australian businesses will be able to write off the full value of eligible assets, helping more businesses in Western Sydney to achieve.

These are just a few examples of how we're helping people in our community get ahead in opportunities in Western Sydney. (Time expired)

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