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Stepahnie Dale Stepahnie Dale

West the key to election result

TEN key federal seats lie along the spine of Western Sydney. These are the seats that will decide the next federal government of Australia.

At the moment, according to independent polls, even safe Labor seats will fall to the Coalition with the benchmark seat of Greenaway (Blacktown) tipped to be the first called on election night.

During the lead up to the end of year election, November is the latest it can be held, we should be seeing and hearing from the leaders of both major parties as well as every candidate on exactly what they have in mind for Western Sydney.

Western Sydney is not a knee-jerk voting region; we listen and we know what is good for us. We also judge candidates by the willingness of their political leaders to come to the West.

We must not though, lazily waste the opportunity that election years bring by harping on a wish list.
All of us in Parramatta have visions for a city we can be proud of and which provides for us; commercially as well as recreationally and everyday living.

We want a pleasing streetscape with a modern, efficient transport system, adequate, affordable parking, inner-city living and a retail complex that meets all our needs. If we put our hands up, or out, and ask for these things then a wish list only they will remain.

Governments, like all investors, like to back winners. Parramatta then has to be seen to be a winner. Identity is the key and that identity must be created from within; we need our own label, not one slapped on to us by others.

That is pretty much where we are at the moment; characterised by others and treated as such. An elected Lord Mayor with a high profile that such an election would give and a vision would certainly assist in crating that identity.

Developing Parramatta and its brand is up to all of us. We need a local focus on our own existing problems and visions for the future.

We need a highly developed and focused sense of community, with figurehead organisations and individuals.

The profiles of these organisations and people will raise the profile of Parramatta and articulate Parramatta for governments and investors; and for new residents. More people more demand; more demand more investment; more investment more progress.

Parramatta, typical of Western Sydney, can generate its own community energy, its own innovations and our own reasons for visiting and/or doing business here; in fact we must. It is just a little too easy to criticise governments for not recognising our needs or responding to our requests.

We cannot simply say, “we need” or that we are “open for business”, these are choruses for deaf ears. Governments respond to winners and there is no more popular conveyance than a band wagon.

So we are compelled to get on with the job ourselves. Parramatta has the business community infrastructure in place; now we need to take the next steps together to identify and generate projects that will benefit our region and attract the resources to make them happen.

For example The Parramatta Chamber auspiced Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence (WSABE) are now firmly established as a major business event in Western Sydney, attracting support, sponsorship and recognition from outside our area.

For future projects, The Parramatta Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the call for freight hubs in Western Sydney and we can see no need to delay such developments beyond responsible planning – they need to be fast tracked to bolster the crucial economy that is Western Sydney.

This Chamber has been calling for some time for employment to be close to where people live; it cuts down on public transport demands and brings sustainable employment.

These issues will remain very much on the agenda for the coming year.

Stephanie Dale is President of Parramatta Chamber of Commerce. Visit www.parramattachamber.com.au

 



editor

Publisher
Michael Walls
michael@accessnews.com.au
0407 783 413

Access News is a print and digital media publisher established over 15 years and based in Western Sydney, Australia. Our newspaper titles include the flagship publication, Western Sydney Express, which is a trusted source of information and for hundreds of thousands of decision makers, businesspeople and residents looking for insights into the people, projects, opportunities and networks that shape Australia's fastest growing region - Greater Western Sydney.