Dominic Perrottet’s Bradfield oration on NSW’s post-Covid future

The NSW Premier will use this year’s Bradfield Oration to declare the people of NSW will emerge from Covid stronger and more successful than before.

Premier Dominic Perrottet will use The Daily Telegraph’s Bradfield oration to declare to the people of NSW that we have the opportunity to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis stronger and more successful than before.

Mr Perrottet will follow in the footsteps of orators including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former premiers Mike Baird and Gladys Berejiklian, and visionary businessman Sir David Higgins when he gives the keynote address at The Opera House on December 2.

Dominic Perrottet will use the Bradfield Oration to outline how NSW can emerge from the pandemic even stronger than before. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“For great cities, a crisis is always an opportunity to ­re-emerge stronger and more successful — that should be our ambition for Sydney as we emerge from the pandemic,” he told The Daily Telegraph ahead of the ­oration.

“We have to shine brighter than ever, including on the global stage, and match the beauty of our iconic harbour with a beautiful and vibrant built ­environment too.”

Mr Perrottet said Sydney had changed, and the need to think big for its future was as critical today as when John Bradfield began designing the Harbour Bridge a century ago.

Previous speakers have used the oration to lay out their big visions for Sydney, including the new Western Sydney International Airport, which will have the modern city being built on its doorstep named Bradfield in honour of the engineer who helped shape the city with the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Lucy Turnbull at the 2016 Bradfield Oration. Picture: Adam Taylor

“Since I first entered parliament, Sydney has undergone a once-in-a-generation transformation,” Mr Perrottet said.

“Even the idea of Sydney itself has changed. We’re not just the eastern Harbour City any more — the central city of Parramatta is an emerging powerhouse, and the western city of Bradfield is taking shape before our eyes.”

Those three areas were first identified in a “tale of three cities” by former ­Greater Sydney Commissioner Lucy Turnbull, when she delivered the Bradfield Oration in 2016.

She said that creating three centres for Sydney — a Harbour City, a river city and a western city — “gives a clear picture of how people can ­realistically achieve the goal of being able to live within 30 minutes of where they work, study and play.”

Mr Perrottet said connecting those three cities, first with new road and rail links, remained an ongoing commitment for his government.

“Continuing to build major infrastructure is non-negotiable, even in the face of ­challenges and opposition, because without major infrastructure, our city languishes and people get left behind,” he said.

“But we don’t build just for the sake of it. Cities must be built for people, not the other way around.”

The Premier said the government over the past decade had made the idea of delivering major infrastructure projects the “new normal”.

“Now it is time to take the next step, focusing not just on the train lines that get you home faster, but on the quality of life you can enjoy when you hop off,” he said.

“My vision for Sydney is a great global city and a great local city too, and I am looking forward to sharing that ­vision at this year’s Bradfield Oration.”

Watch the NSW Premier’s 2021 Bradfield oration live on Sky News Extra on Thursday December 2, 2pm – 3pm.