Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I reminded the Senate recently that Western Sydney needed to be careful about Labor turning their backs on us and taking our communities for granted again. Predictably, Labor is doing this at state and federal levels—a diabolical combination for our area. We know that federal Labor commissioned an expert panel on Western Sydney infrastructure, kept its report secret—so much for transparency!—and then ignored its recommendations in their budget. From media reports, it seems the report made important recommendations that would address the high growth, high infrastructure needs of Western Sydney communities.

We know that Labor also commissioned a 90-day infrastructure review. It is now over 100 days and counting, with a third of the 100 New South Wales projects facing the axe being Western Sydney projects. The last budget considered neither the projects under the 90-day review nor the projects for which they'd specifically commissioned an expert panel. What confidence can Western Sydney have that this government has their interests at heart? Zero.

What about New South Wales Labor? They commissioned a review into the vital Metro West, which will transform Western Sydney public transport—connectivity, liveability and sustainability—but its findings won't be delivered until October, after the September budget. Is anyone seeing a pattern? The New South Wales budget is a test of Labor's commitment to Western Sydney. Will they deliver on the previously announced WestInvest projects at the Westmead education campus, the community health hubs at Liverpool and Glenfield, the cooling improvements at 84 Western Sydney schools and the key WestInvest road upgrades from the Hawkesbury to the M7? We'll be watching on 19 September.

I'm confident of one thing: Labor in government has always taken Western Sydney for granted. It has built nothing and done nothing. They'll end up treating Western Sydney residents like second-class citizens and expect our communities to settle for second best. Well, we won't do that.