Peter Jenkins
East-West Metro link urged Western Sydney leaders have called on Premier Chris Minns to dust off plans floated by his predecessor Dominic Perrottet to build a transport link connecting Westmead Metro station to the new international airport at Badgerys Creek. Independent federal MP Dai Le led the charge on Monday, saying Labor governments continue to treat Sydney’s southwest as “second-class citizens”, and a new Metro line would dramatically improve living standards in the region while also acting as a catalyst for high-density development.
“The need for the East-West Metro has never been more urgent, especially for southwest Sydney, where rapid population growth is outpacing infrastructure,” Ms Le, who holds the seat of Fowler, told The Daily Telegraph. “The Prime Minister (Anthony Albanese) promised no one would be left behind. But southwest Sydney has been left behind again and again. We’re treated like second-class citizens while governments pour billions into the inner city. “Our communities are choking on congestion, bleeding money on tolls and locked out of opportunity all because of a total failure to invest in the infrastructure we need.”
Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone dug in his heels, saying the state government’s preoccupation with residential precincts closer to the CBD made no sense, adding: “That won’t resolve the housing crisis.” He also claimed any move by the government to install Glebe Island as a plan B after the Rosehill racecourse sale fell apart and cost Sydney a 25,000-home mini-city would be “ridiculous”. “That will only provide more housing options for the really wealthy who can afford to buy harbourfront properties,” he said. “What we need is housing for those that can’t afford it.”
Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said the East-West Metro proposed by Mr Perrottet before the 2023 election was one of several lines the western suburbs needed to provide better connectivity across the city. “We do think southwest Sydney has been particularly disadvantaged in terms of its transport access,” he said. “We need to play catch-up.”
Mr Minns opposed the EastWest plan before Labor came to power over budget concerns. Former Liberal MP David Elliott, then transport minister in the Perrottet government, told The Daily Telegraph the East-West link could be built “if you’ve got enough money”, but a Metro line from Westmead to the new international airport had not been costed before it was announced.
But Mr Carbone said the government owned “a lot of land along this corridor that would help pay for an EastWest Metro, provide cheaper housing and connect the city”. “It has to be built sooner or later and it will change Western Sydney forever,” he said. “We can see the difference the North-West Metro has made. If we build it sooner, it will be cheaper and we would be able to get a greater uplift in housing across the entire corridor.”
Source: Just like second class citizens: East-West Metro link urged | The Daily Telegraph