The Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys is a transformational project, Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss has told a forum.
Mr Truss, speaking at the Crawford Australian Leadership Forum in Canberra on Monday, said the proposed airport at Badgerys Creek was “new greenfields infrastructure which will cater for population growth and would be a catalyst for economic growth’’.
“For more than 50 years governments have talked about a second airport for Sydney,’’ Mr Truss said.
“We are working to make it a reality.
“Western Sydney is already Australia’s third largest economy and, in its own right, would be our fourth largest city.
“Its population is projected to grow from two to three million over the next 20 years—or over half of Sydney’s population growth,’’ Mr Truss told his audience.
His speech covered a number of infrastructure issues, including developing northern Australia, population growth and productivity.
But a substantial part of the speech dealt with the proposed Western Sydney Airport.
“Expectations are that demand for passenger air travel to and from the Sydney region will double over the next 20 years, and double again by 2060,’’ Mr Truss said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“An airport for Western Sydney will provide the required additional aviation capacity and opportunities for thousands of jobs during construction and many thousands more over the long term.[/social_quote]
“It also has the potential to generate $24.6 billion in direct expenditure by 2060, and contribute $23.9 billion in GDP to the national economy.
“We expect the airport to be operational by the mid-2020s.’’
