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There’s no better place to talk about Building Australia’s Future than Western Sydney.
 
I thank Ben English and The Daily Telegraph for bringing us together today.
 
In my lifetime, this part of NSW has grown and changed almost beyond recognition.
 
But its values have endured – as powerful and vital as ever.
 
Hard work. Ambition. The fair go. And aspiration.
 
The aspiration to build a good life for yourself and your family.
 
To back yourself to turn an idea into a small business.
 
And the most Australian aspiration of them all – creating a better life and greater opportunity for your children.
 
Those values drive our Government’s vision – for Western Sydney, for Australia.
 
No-held back and no-one left behind.
 
For three years, we’ve been working with local councils and state governments from both sides of politics, to build Western Sydney’s future.
 
To build the new infrastructure and invest in the vital services that will ensure this remains a great place to live, work and raise a family.
 
This is why we’re making it easier to get to school, to the shops, to the doctor – and to work.
 
Creating jobs and opportunities, and bringing them within easier reach.
 
Cutting commuting times and giving Western Sydneysiders back their precious hours to spend with their families instead.
 
We’re fixing the NBN because we know how important fast, reliable internet is to small businesses and sole traders and parents – all of whom value the flexibility and efficiency of being able to work from home.
 
We’re making child care cheaper – and building the new centres to serve fast-growing suburbs like this, the fastest-growing part of NSW.
 
We’re making it easier to get medical care.
 
We’re fully and fairly funding schools so every child across Western Sydney can get a great education.
 
And we’re working to boost the economy that makes everything possible.
 
From the small businesses that are its backbone to Western Sydney International Airport, which is already helping accelerate opportunities for Western Sydney’s future.
 
A core part of that future is preparing for the generations to come – by getting childcare right, by getting schooling right, and of course by giving the best options for the beginning of life.
 
That is why today I announce that a re-elected Federal Labor Government will invest $120 million to establish full maternity services at the new hospital at Rouse Hill.
 
Enhancing this vital project by the NSW Government, our investment will enable women in Northwest Sydney to give birth close to home, and help take some pressure off Blacktown Hospital.
 
The hospital will provide safe birthing services including surgical theatres, birthing rooms, maternity beds, and special care nursery beds for babies who need additional support and monitoring as well as additional medical imagery capacity, maternity assessment clinics and outpatient consultation rooms.   
 
It will be an important and timely addition to the region. By 2041, the population of Blacktown LGA is expected to grow by more than half a million, with thousands of babies born each year in and around Rouse Hill.
 
What a wonderful vision that is. All those brand new little Western Sydneysiders – future generations born right here, and growing up here.
 
This is a big win for the community-led campaign championed by Michelle Rowland – a great local member and great minister.
 
Under Labor, Rouse Hill hospital will be what the community has been calling for – a full-service public hospital.
 
But this investment is not just about having the maternity ward or the emergency department the Liberals refused to deliver.
 
It goes to our values and a higher principle.
 
Federal and State Labor working together to ensure the growing North-West has the infrastructure and services it deserves.
 
It’s all part of our ongoing mission to ensure our health system is fair and available to all Australians.
 
We’re investing in Medicare and investing in bulk billing.
 
We’re making medicines cheaper, a policy that has already saved Western Sydneysiders $80 million.
 
And under Labor, we’ll open more free Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.
 
Two new clinics will be delivered in Western Sydney in Green Valley and Rouse Hill, adding to the seven we have already established in Bankstown, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith and Rooty Hill.
 
Fully bulk billed, open longer hours with no appointment needed, our Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are taking pressure off hospitals.
 
And they’re helping more Australians get the care they need, when they need it.
 
There have already been more than 55,000 visits to our clinics in Western Sydney.
 
It is deeply gratifying to keep hearing firsthand just what a huge difference our Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are already making for Australians.
 
And all you need is your Medicare card – one of the greatest examples we have of the great Australian fair go in action.
 
Another priority for my Government is supporting the lifeblood that is small business.
 
I am pleased to say we are backing small business in Western Sydney – and across Australia – by extending the $20,000 Instant Asset Write Off for a further year.
 
It can make a crucial difference. Applying to small businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million, it continues cash flow support and reduces compliance costs.
 
And what it can translate into is tools for tradies. Coffee machines for a cafe. Fridges and stovetops for a restaurant. Deep fryers for a takeaway. It can be computers, tablets, and other office equipment.
 
Importantly, the Instant Asset Write Off does not stand alone. It is one part of Labor’s comprehensive approach to small business and is in addition to:
 

• Tax cuts that benefit 1.5 million sole traders

• Our three rounds of energy rebates for a million small businesses – real relief right off your bill, right when you need it

• Our new $20 million commitment to the Buy Australian Campaign – because Australia makes the best products in the world and we want more people buying them

• Protecting all small businesses from unfair trading practices and strengthening protections for franchisees

• Finishing the NBN and making sure it stays in public hands, so that we keep quality high and prices down for households and businesses

• Investing in small business cyber security

• Training workers with Free TAFE

 
The Liberal Party is a study in contrast. 
 
They opposed Labor’s energy bill relief even though it was clear how much it was going to help small business.
 
Under our Government, there are nearly 130,000 more small businesses.
 
Looking at the broader picture, a record 25,000 businesses have been created every month on average since we came to office.
 
Business investment has grown by an average of 4.6 per cent per year, hitting a record high in the last financial year.
 
And fewer days have been lost to industrial disputes.
 
Helping small business-owners to succeed and achieve their potential is central to a better future for Western Sydney.
 
When it comes to building Australia’s future, Western Sydney Airport is already doing some of the heavy lifting.
 
I am such a long-term advocate of an airport in Western Sydney, I spoke about it in my first speech to Parliament.
 
Its construction has already supported more than 11,000 direct jobs, unlocking life-changing opportunities for locals, including apprentices and trainees.
 
Within five years of the airport opening next year, it will support almost 28,000 jobs.
 
Enhancing Sydney’s status as a global city, the airport will meet Sydney's growing aviation needs and act as a catalyst for further economic growth in Western Sydney.
 
As part of this catalyst, the Western Sydney Aerotropolis will drive innovation and jobs growth in Western Sydney.
 
At its heart, Bradfield City Centre will house an Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility that will support local manufacturing businesses to thrive.
 
Manufacturing is central to my Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda. It better equips Australia to stand on our own two feet in an uncertain world.
 
In recent days, my opponent called Australian manufacturing a joke. Talking Australia down again.
 
His view is that Australia can't compete and we shouldn't try.
 
We couldn’t be further apart on this. My government backs Australian workers, our industries and the fantastic products they make right here.
 
We want to see more of it. Making more things, adding more value, selling our products to the world.
 
Under the former government, more than 80,000 manufacturing jobs went offshore. In three years we’ve brought more than 50,000 back.
 
According to the OECD, since Labor came to power, manufacturing jobs in Australia have grown faster than every G7 nation and the Eurozone.
 
And Western Sydney is playing a big part.
 
What Western Sydney demands of all of us is nothing less than an ambition that measures up to the vastness of its potential – and the scale of its opportunities.
 
When it comes to seizing those opportunities, the suburbs of Western Sydney have been leading the way.
 
Since Labor worked to make solar power more affordable, families here have been choosing solar because they see the opportunity to save on energy bills.
 
There are twice as many solar installations in Chifley than in Warringah.
 
Five times more solar installations in McMahon than Wentworth.
 
And 10 times more in Blacktown than in Bondi.
 
That’s the level of energy and forward thinking we have to measure up to.
 
We do it by ensuring that new employment opportunities are accessible to residents in the fast-growing suburbs of southwest Sydney.
 
Just as I have long stood up for a major airport in Western Sydney, I am a long-term supporter of extending the South West Rail Line past Bradfield.
 
That’s why my Government put additional funding into the South West Sydney Rail Planning Business Case to include extending the line to the Macarthur region.
 
Last month, I announced that a re-elected Albanese Government will build on this work with $1 billion to preserve land corridors to facilitate the building of future rail extensions from Bradfield to Leppington and Macarthur.
 
There is also important work underway on the business case to connect St Marys and Tallawong, bridging two of the largest, growing and unconnected parts of the city – the northwest and the southwest.
 
This comes in addition to our joint commitment with the NSW Government to deliver $1 billion for Fifteenth Avenue to create a critical transit corridor from Liverpool to the new airport.
 
My Government is committed to connecting the airport to the motorway network and to the Metro. Indeed, just this week the first tracks have been laid.
 
Since the last election, my Government has also invested in other Western Sydney projects including:
 

• The Mamre Road Stage 2 upgrade

• The Elizabeth Drive upgrade, and

• The Townson Road and Burdekin Road upgrade.

 
And today I am pleased to announce that we will widen and upgrade Windsor Road between Commercial Road and Mile End Road. Not only will this address a key congestion hotspot in North-West Sydney and reduce travel times it will improve ambulance and emergency access to the new hospital.
 
Our commitment of $200 million – in partnership with the NSW Government – is another example of my Government’s determination to deliver infrastructure where the population is growing, and to overcome the neglect of the former government.
 
Another example I can announce today is our commitment of $20 million to fully fund a planning study investigating options to reduce travel times on Old Windsor Road.
 
We also have our ongoing investment in the Moorebank Intermodal Interstate Rail Terminal, a project that commenced when I was the Infrastructure Minister in 2008.
 
It’s a world’s best practice project – public private partnership, fully powered by renewable energy, creating jobs and saving 3000 truck journeys a day.

None of this happens of course without the workers.

And we’re making sure all tradies and subcontractors on government business enterprises are paid on time and in full, with 20-day payments whether you’re working on Moorebank, the NBN or Western Sydney Airport.
 
All of this adds up to a great Australian story – years in the making, and gathering serious momentum.

This is what is possible when you look to the positive, not the negative.

When you choose to look for common purpose, not division.

When you talk up this great country of ours – an optimism built on our proud record of achievement together as a nation, as a people.

And here in Western Sydney, something seismic is underway.

A reimagining of Sydney – our great city with its gaze no longer fixed on its harbour and Sydney CBD but turned here – to the west, where the opportunities are here to be seized.
 
And importantly, where the opportunities are being seized right now.                 
 
Western Sydney reminds us that now is the time to keep building.
 
Building on our strengths.
 
Building our security and prosperity.
 
Building Australia’s future – together.

ENDS