WA to become tourism hot spot; Labor reinstates plans if elected

Western Sydney is geared to become one of the most-visited regions in New South Wales, with a permanent outdoor music venue, a holiday park and two new major events. The Sydney Business Chamber is pushing to make WA a tourism hot spot as it launches a report detailing 10 ideas to improve the tourism scene in Western Sydney.

Western Sydney Minister Stuart Ayres disclosed though AAP that light rail, a train and road links are planned to be included in a $73 billion infrastructure funding project. The minister said their focus is to serve the needs of WA. The region is currently visited by over 9.6 million people every year.

There are no final locations for the holiday park and outdoor music venue yet, but potential sites are already being considered. Western Sydney Parklands, for instance, is a possible location for the holiday park. Ayres also revealed that the government is "absolutely committed" to transferring the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta.

At a conference at Sydney Olympic Park, advertising guru Russel Howcroft pitched Parramatta as capital of New South Wales. He described calling it a “second city” as a “disaster,” and insisted that he would claim it as the capital of NSW. “Western Sydney isn’t a brand and it never will be,” the Daily Telegraph quotes him.

But Ben Artup, Deloitte western Sydney associate director, said western Sydney had seen incredible growth in visitation over the past ten years. Developing a range of visitor precincts in western Sydney is one of the ideas to grow its visitor economy.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announced on Thursday that Labor will start building a Western Sydney rail line if elected. Shadow Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Werriwa MP Anne Stanley, Macarthur MP Mike Freelander and fellow Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese were present during the announcement.

If Labor secured its position, it will begin the first stage of building a rail link between Leppington via Bringelly to Western Sydney Airport. Shorten says Labor also plans to begin the work to build a railway line from Macarthur in the south to St Marys in the north and explained that the reason behind all these planned projects is to bring more jobs and better public transport.

Stanley and Freelander seconded that the rail link is going to help improve public transport. “Instead of all rail being concentric in the city this means we get transport out here to where it should be,” fairfieldchampion.com.au quotes Stanley.

Channel One News/YouTube

Read more: Expert says Trump’s tax reform plan may cause US-Australia revenue disputes

Sex workers reportedly enter Australia as 'massage therapists' under 457 visa