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Time to deliver for essential workers in Greater Western Sydney

The lack of affordable housing for essential workers in Greater Western Sydney is a growing problem – and is only expected to worsen. 

The Dialogue recently made a submission to the Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Essential Worker Housing that will report on ways to identify and increase the housing supply for essential workers.  

In our submission, we highlighted that there were no Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Western Sydney with housing that an early career registered nurse could afford, and only two LGAs with apartments that an early career Police Constable could afford.   

The Dialogue consulted key stakeholders to help draft the submission that lists guidelines to identify, protect and grow affordable housing in Sydney’s booming West, and suggestions to create clear criteria for a range of key workers who should qualify for all-important housing close to jobs, services and transport. 

You can read the Dialogue’s submission on our website 

The Dialogue is also calling for public transport services that will connect workers to  employment hubs, noting that the current proposal for bus connections to the soon to open Western Sydney International Airport, and surrounding Aerotropolis, are sadly neither rapid, nor frequent.  

You can read our full New Bus Services in Western Sydney submission on our website. 

High Speed to Boomtown!

Boomtown! 2024 is just under two months away and we are excited to confirm High Speed Rail is back on the agenda for the Summit, as well as major federal and state housing leaders who will examine Western Sydney’s role in addressing the national housing crisis.  

Book your spot now for the Summit on Friday, 29 November at Accor Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park to see major property, infrastructure, transport, development and government representatives address urban transformation and cities policy in GWS.  

Premier Chris Minns will also headline our Boomtown! Dinner on Thursday, 28 November, where he will present the Boomtown! Project of the Year Awards. 

There is still time to book your spot and submit your project for the top prize.  

Boomtown Dinner – Confirmed VIPs

Hon. Chris Minns MP | Premier of NSW 

Jim Betts | Secretary, Federal Department of Infrastructure

Kiersten Fishburn | NSW Secretary of Planning, Housing & Infrastructure 

Boomtown! Summit – Confirmed VIPs

Jennifer Westacott AO | Chancellor, Western Sydney University

Josh Murray | Secretary, Transport for NSW 

Tim Parker | Chief Executive Officer, High Speed Rail Authority

Peter Regan | Chief Executive, Sydney Metro 

Alex Wendler | Chief Executive, Landcom

*more speakers to be announced

Ring the Bell: Parramatta Light Rail progress

While we wait for the opening of Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 before the end of the year, the NSW Government has powered ahead with the second stage of the transformative project.  

Construction firm John Holland has secured a $322 million to construct the first 1.3km of the new light rail alignment, including a 320m bridge over the Parramatta River, which will connect communities on the north and south of the river. It’s innovative design will minimise disruption to boats and other waterway users and protecting the sensitive marine environment.  

Upon completion, the second stage of Parramatta Light Rail will form a connection, that links Westmead to Sydney Olympic Park and helping stimulate urban activation and improve transport access for new communities along the Olympic Peninsula.   

The Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 Enabling Works project is the latest in a long line of critical infrastructure delivered by John Holland in the region, with other current projects including the M7-M12 Integration Project and the Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Centre. 

Media Week out West

More than 100 stakeholders came together at The William Ingliss at Warwick Farm earlier this month to hear what makes the Western Sydney yarn unique, and how best to forge all-important productive and positive relationships with the media.    

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Editor, Bevan Shields, ABCs Deputy News Editor, Julia Feder, 7 NEWS Sydney News Director, Sean Power, and SBS News and Current Affairs Director, Mandi Wicks, were grilled by the Dialogue’s CEO, Adam Leto, on how generations are consuming their news, and why Western Sydney matters to our influential newsmakers. 

We learnt that both snackable news and longform content resonate with today’s younger audiences, that newsrooms are seeking out stories that reflect the West’s rich cultural identity and that the unique Western Sydney narrative has the potential to appeal to a global audience. 

The Dialogue’s Director of Communications, Belinda Wallis, discussed the role of AI in the modern newsroom with Daily Telegraph and Sky News commentator, Joe Hildebrand, and the ABCs News Standards Editor & former Middle East Correspondent, Matt Brown, who shared the safeguards in place to ensure truth in reporting in a complex 24-hour news cycle. 

Attendees enjoyed an insightful conversation between Dialogue Chairman, Christopher Brown AM, and ABC News lead anchor, Jeremy Fernandez, who will soon make history as the first person to anchor the ABC’s flagship evening news bulletin from the new Parramatta studio.  

Panel members, SMH Sydney Editor, Michael Koziol, Endeavour Energy (NSW) Head of Corporate Communications, Vida Cheeseman, and PwC Australia Director, Strategy, Risk and Reputation, Sean Berry, drew on their years as corporate strategy leaders, government communication gatekeepers and headline makers to discuss risk, reputation and the Western Sydney narrative with Sydney Water’s General Manager, Customer and Stakeholder Engagement, Stuart Wallace. 

Our thanks to the SMH reporters Anthony Segaert, Mary Ward and Kayla Olaya, for attending to network with our members and guests, and a huge thanks to our sponsors Endeavour Energy, University of Sydney and The William Inglis for helping us deliver such a fantastic event. 

Collaborative Leadership Program 2024

From Mount Druitt to Badgerys Creek, the Dialogue’s third CLP was a raging success thanks to StratWest’s Faith Halliday, Waterline Leadership’s Will Martin, and the support of Western Sydney University and the NSW Government.  

We continued our mission to take the existing and emerging leaders of GWS on one of the biggest region-specific professional development courses.  

Congratulations to all our participants, we look forward to celebrating with them, and the CLP Alumni, later this year with Western Sydney Minister and Deputy Premier, Hon. Prue Car MP, at NSW Parliament House.