The Government has denied it is too focused on Sydney, after the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that Perth will be reclassified as part of Greater Western Sydney for the 2026 Census.
Citing the urban sprawl that has already encroached upon the once-separated regions of Penrith, the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains, the Department noted a chronic underinvestment in outer areas that now function as part of Sydney in practice, but suffer lower funding allocations due to data exclusion. As predictive modelling and survey data predict the housing development pipeline to continue to expand the metropolitan footprint westwards, formally incorporating Perth – located approximately 3,800 km west of Sydney CBD – into the city’s population was a fiscal necessity.
This reclassification was enabled by a revised GST distribution agreement negotiated between the federal and NSW governments and the newly formed Far Western Sydney Regional Council. This jurisdiction, formerly known as Western Australia, will have its share increased from its present minimum of 70 cents per dollar to full parity, contingent upon alignment with the NSW Department’s infrastructure objectives. “It just made fiscal sense,” said Far Western Sydney Mayor Roger Cook.
The Minister for Western Sydney, Prue Car, announced in a press release that this reassignment has allowed provisional studies for Stage 3 of the Parramatta Light Rail project to proceed, extending the network across the Nullarbor corridor to improve connectivity between the key Western Sydney growth corridors of including Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie. Ms. Car said that services would run every five minutes during peak hours “so commuters can just turn up and go” but declined to provide expected journey times or cost estimates, citing preliminary works.
Responding to criticism that a disproportionate investment was being made to the western suburbs of metropolitan Sydney, NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully stated that the tenders for a proposed Chatswood Light Rail, linking Sydney’s northern hub with upper North Shore suburbs including Cairns and Townsville, “were actively being prepared”.
Mr Scully also noted that the government was looking to expand the city’s ferry network to service the outer eastern suburbs, such as Auckland and Wellington.
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By Tristan White
