Western Sydney is a distinct and important region of Australia. No doubt the member for Bankstown, the member for Liverpool and the member for Parramatta, who are sitting in the Chamber, would agree with me on that point. The think pieces will often tell you the headline figures: 6,000‑odd square kilometres, 2½ million people and Australia's third largest economy. Governments have sporadically recognised and addressed its importance in different ways. The establishment of Western Sydney University and the Western Sydney City Deal are two of the most transformative and obvious examples.
We know too that the former State Government was not ignorant of the region's importance and distinct character. In 2018 the Greater Cities Commission—may it rest in peace—published the Greater Sydney Region Plan. It declared the future of Sydney was "A Metropolis of Three Cities", one being the Western Parkland City, with the emerging Bradfield aerotropolis as its focal point, supported by the major centres of Liverpool, Campbelltown and Penrith. While the plan informs the bureaucrats in planning, it appears to have played no discernible role in other policy areas like education, transport, health or the arts. And it is the arts in Western Sydney that I speak on today. A recent report from the Centre for Western Sydney, aptly named State of the Arts in Western Sydney, found that:
Western Sydney represents 10% of Australians today, yet only attracted 3.4% of federal funds between 2015 and 2023. This starkly contrasts with eastern Sydney, which received 23.5% of federal funds.
In relation to the Creative Economy Support Package, the report also found that:
… Despite Western Sydney being hit hardest by COVID-19 lockdowns, Western Sydney businesses only received $3.4 million (1.7%) of the $200 million federal Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Funding allocated to economic recovery following the pandemic. In contrast, organisations in eastern Sydney received $49.7 million (24.8%).
On the State level, sadly it is no better. In the past eight years cultural infrastructure funding in Western Sydney, not including the Powerhouse Parramatta development, accounted for just 3.5 per cent of the total allocated to Sydney. I could go on and on. WestInvest, Destination NSW and Create NSW funding all show a disparity in the creative industries and arts funding in Western Sydney.
The report suggests ways to arrest that gap, and I call out a few: commit to minimum per capita funding for arts and culture in Western Sydney based on population distribution; develop a comprehensive and coordinated approach to high-quality research into all aspects of arts and culture in Western Sydney; and develop cultural precincts and creative industry clusters around the Western Sydney airport and the aerotropolis. I call those recommendations out in particular because they would essentially be neutral to revenue by taking existing funding measures that are already accounted for. But, importantly, they ringfence them for arts and culture in Western Sydney.
In relation to the recommendation on the aerotropolis, the website of Western Parkland City Authority—may it rest in peace—states Bradfield is intended to be a high-quality lifestyle choice with an active and vibrant culture that leverages its diversity and dynamic demographics. One way to achieve that is to ensure that plans for the new city include cultural infrastructure of State and national significance. The population of Bradfield is projected to rival Adelaide's by 2036. Adelaide's CBD has an art gallery, a natural history museum, an Indigenous museum, a festival centre, a science museum, a migration museum and an Australian space discovery centre. So too should Bradfield City. This cultural infrastructure will cater not only for the future residents of Bradfield. Millions of tourists and travellers who come through the arrival gates of the Western Sydney airport will benefit, as will residents of the eight surrounding local government areas.
Of course, those LGAs all have their own incredible cultural institutions that would gain from this investment, including those local to Leppington, such as the amazing Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and the Campbelltown Arts Centre. There is a certain arrogance and snobbery when it comes to the arts. They are more than opera, ballet and symphony orchestras. It is vitally important that all of us, regardless of where we live, be able to tell our stories and express ourselves through creative pursuits we are comfortable with. As one of the most diverse regions, if not the most diverse region, of New South Wales, Western Sydney is best placed to showcase the diversity of the arts, in all of their forms: dance, theatre, music and visual arts. We have the opportunity to make this happen. Let us get on with it.
