So today Gladys Berejiklian and her government are handing down the 2019-20 NSW Budget.
To avoid disappointment, again, I won’t hope that there will be something in there for us here in South West Sydney.
Certainly nothing for the things we would like to have, such as a nice new stadium like the $300 million one at Parramatta everyone is raving about.
There have been two major upgrades of Campbelltown Sports Stadium – the best sporting facility in South West Sydney – over the past 20 years.
Both times the State Government threw peanuts at us and the ratepayers of Campbelltown had to dig deep for the other half.
The first time this happened, in 1999, we had a Labor Government in power in Macquarie Street.
Not only that, but the powerful Olympics minister was none other than Michael Knight, the then State Member for Campbelltown.
And we got more crumbs from another Labor Government a few years later when there was another major upgrade involving the western stand, including the installation of lifts.
I only mention this to make it clear that when it comes to treating South West Sydney poorly it doesn’t really matter whether team blue or team red is occupying the treasury benches in Macquarie Street.
To be fair, Labor does a little better, but nowhere near enough.
Mind you, much of the fault has to lie with the bureaucrats who assume anything south west of Fairfield and Bankstown is part of Western Sydney.
What we have got to do is make these fat cats get in a car and drive from Camden to Parramatta or from Glenfield to Penrith.
Then and only then will they realise that there’s two distinct regions hugging the Sydney CBD.
But historically only one seems to exist when it comes to allocation of financial resources.
And I am sorry to say that nothing will change today.
PS. I am prepared to say I got it wrong if there’s money for a bridge over the rail line in Broughton Street, Spring Farm Road and of course a couple of lazy hundred million to give us the stadium we deserve.
PSS. I won’t hold my breath.
