Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was delighted to join the Prime Minister and Premier Mike Baird last night at the final event for the Daily Telegraph and NewsLocal's Fair Go for the West campaign. I would like to congratulate Paul Whittaker and Brett Cleg from the Daily Telegraph and Catherine Zule and her team from my NewsLocal, the Inner West Courier. Together with my other Western Sydney colleagues it was wonderful to attend an event that showcased some of the best of the west.

The event held at Rooty Hill RSL club last night was a great occasion that provided an opportunity for us to celebrate everything that is great about Western Sydney, a part of the world that I have had the honour to call home my entire life. At the dinner the Prime Minister indicated that within this parliament we have several champions of the west—and I am honoured to count myself amongst them.

The event was also a chance to recognise 13 hard-working Western Sydney champions, who were rewarded for their efforts in the region, with each receiving a $10,000 prize to allow their work to continue in the community. The winners came from across the spectrum, including from the areas of sport, business, tourism, education and community support services. This was appropriately reflective of the diverse, modern and rapidly-growing economy that is Western Sydney today. Australian cricket captain and Fair Go For The West ambassador Michael Clarke, was spot on when he praised the night's award winners and declared the region a hotbed of talent.

But, of course, the onus is on us as elected representatives to put in place the right policies and deliver the investment in Western Sydney that will support its growth and people in the long term. We must deliver a fair go for the west. I am therefore thrilled to be part of a government that is doing just that. Our commitment to a second Sydney airport—or, as the Prime Minister said so aptly last night, 'a first airport for Western Sydney'—is just one of several major infrastructure projects this government has announced.

The WestConnex road-building project within my electorate of Reid is one of Australia's largest transport infrastructure projects and will generate more than $20 billion worth of benefits to the Australian economy, while creating almost 10,000 jobs during the construction phase alone. We have committed more than $1.5 billion towards the WestConnex at stage 1, plus an additional concessional loan of up to $2 billion to accelerate construction of stage 2 by more than 18 months.

When this road is complete it will not only enable people within my electorate to travel east to west more efficiently; it will substantially improve traffic flows across the great divide in my electorate that is Parramatta Road. I championed both these projects in my maiden speech and I am delighted that both these projects are proceeding in the first term of this government.

Western Sydney is an incredible part of the world, with incredible people, and I am absolutely determined that in my time here I will always work to ensure that we are given a fair go.