Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion regarding Western Sydney, and I'll particularly be turning my attention to south-western Sydney. I acknowledge the member for Werriwa, who has brought this motion. The member and I have adjoining seats and regularly see each other at events in south-western Sydney. I was very pleased to be in the chamber to hear the passion from my good friend the member for Lindsay and the shadow minister from Western Sydney, who has similarly been a very strong advocate for her area and for Western Sydney in general.

Greater Western Sydney is home to around one in 10 Australians. It's one of the fastest-growing areas in Australia and has been for many years. And it has not had the adequate planning. Every part of Western Sydney, from the Hawkesbury in the north to Wollondilly in the south to the Blue Mountains in the west to Parramatta and Liverpool in the east, needs additional infrastructure to support a rapidly growing population. My electorate of Hughes includes significant parts of south-western Sydney and parts of the Liverpool local government area. These areas are the gateway from the south of Sydney, from the Sutherland shire and from the Illawarra into Western Sydney.

Western Sydney is a major location for new immigrants, thanks to our vibrant and flourishing multicultural communities that live out there. I regularly attend citizenship ceremonies at Liverpool City Council, and it's always a privilege and a pleasure to meet and congratulate these newest Australians who are making the Liverpool local government area and the electorate of Hughes their permanent home. But our communities and our newest Australians should not have to move to an area that is facing immense pressure on our local schools, hospitals, public transport and roads.

This brings me to Heathcote Road. Heathcote Road is a 24-kilometre road, largely single-lane each way, that links southern Sydney, the Illawarra, to Western Sydney. It stretches right across my electorate, from the eastern end in Heathcote through to the western end in Moorebank. It was built in 1941 to support Holsworthy Barracks, and quite a bit has changed in southern Sydney and south-western Sydney since 1941. As I said, the road is still largely single-lane each way. It supports 36,000 car trips each and every day. There have been numerous deaths on this road, of people and also significant koala kill, over the past few years. This road needs to be duplicated. It needs to be duplicated for safety, congestion and productivity. This process was started under the previous federal and state coalition governments. At the western end, duplication has occurred, and it's currently occurring from Voyager Point right through to Moorebank.

As part of the 2022 election campaign, I pledged $17 million for a business case study for the duplication for the remainder of this road. I note that this motion concerns infrastructure, particularly road infrastructure, and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government's role in that. The infrastructure minister has cancelled this project. Therefore, when I hear about the minister's dedication to infrastructure in Western Sydney and south-western Sydney, I say that her actions do not back up her words.

That brings me to another project that has been mentioned as part of this motion and that is in my electorate, which is the Moorebank Intermodal. It opened recently. I was present at the opening with the member for Werriwa and the Prime Minister. This was a project that began construction under the federal Liberal-National government. It is an amazing project. It is a very important, if not the most important, inland port in Australia. It offers unparalleled supply chain benefits and warehousing opportunities.

I now turn to the Western Sydney airport. This has been under planning for many, many years. It is due to open next year, but it will open without an aerotropolis to support it. I wrote an op ed back in January about the federal government's need to invest in this project. It hasn't invested in this project. It is still not significantly investing in south-western Sydney.

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