Media Release: Turnbull Government gets on with City Deals while Labor talks about it

In less than three years the Turnbull Government has concluded three city deals - Townsville, Launceston and Western Sydney - and there are active negotiations under way concerning four more: Darwin, Geelong, Hobart and Perth.

So when Labor’s Anthony Albanese says the Turnbull Government is not doing enough and Labor has a better plan, that raises some pretty obvious questions - with some equally obvious answers.

How many city deals did the Rudd Gillard Rudd Government deliver when Mr Albanese was the responsible Minister?  Zero.

What practical difference will be made by Labor’s bold new policy announcement of changing the title from ‘city deal’ to ‘city partnership’?  None.

When Mr Albanese criticises the Western Sydney City Deal, does he do so based on a track record of federal Labor delivering for Western Sydney? Absolutely not.

The previous Labor Government for six years failed to take a decision to proceed with Western Sydney Airport; it took a Coalition Government to take the decision in 2014.

The previous federal Labor government tried and failed to deliver a new rail line to Parramatta; it has taken federal and NSW Coalition Governments to commit to rail to Western Sydney Airport, a decision announced by the Prime Minister and Premier in March this year.

And the previous Labor Government never delivered a City Deal for Western Sydney. It took Commonwealth and NSW Coalition Governments to deliver the Western Sydney City Deal. 

It brings together eight Western Sydney councils, the NSW Government and the Australian Government - in a detailed, twenty year plan designed to deliver greater prosperity and liveability to Western Sydney, leveraging off the Turnbull Government’s $5.3 billion investment in Western Sydney Airport.

There are 38 initiatives under the Western Sydney City Deal - ranging from a $150 million liveability program to a planning partnership involving the councils and state government, a new Western Sydney Development Authority and a centrepiece commitment to a new rail line from St Mary’s to Western Sydney Airport and the Aerotropolis at North Bringelly.

Even the briefest examination of Labor’s track record in six years of government shows that it has zero credibility when it claims to have a better plan for delivering cities policy than the Turnbull Government.