Premier’s Bradfield Oration to announce a new Minister for Cities

Premier Dominic Perrottet will unveil his ‘liveable, workable and beautiful’ vision for four NSW cities when he delivers The Daily Telegraph’s Bradfield Oration on Thursday.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet will announce a new Minister for Cities with authority to rev the engines of ­Wollongong, Newcastle and the Central Coast as well as Greater Sydney.

The new minister will be appointed when the Premier reshuffles his cabinet before the end of the year and will work with an overhauled Greater Sydney Commission, which will become known as the Greater Cities Commission with the expanded remit.

A new minister will try and deliver a vision for Wollongong.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Mr Perrottet will spell out his vision to make Greater Sydney, as well as Wollongong, Newcastle and the Central Coast, all major modern metropolitan centres when he delivers The Daily Telegraph’s Bradfield Oration at the ­Sydney Opera House today.

“My vision for Sydney can be summed up in three words: liveable, workable, beautiful,” he will tell political and business leaders at the eighth Bradfield Oration.

In delivering the oration, Mr Perrottet follows in the footsteps of prime ministers Scott Morrison and Tony ­Abbott, former premiers, ­planners and Greater Sydney Commission chief Lucy Turnbull.

“Five years ago, at this very forum, Lucy Turnbull launched our vision for a metropolis of three cities. The Eastern Harbour CBD, Parramatta’s Central River City, and the Western Parkland City,” Mr Perrottet will say.

“In just five years, our three-cities vision has become strikingly real.

“Now is the time to start thinking bigger again.

“At present our vision spans east to west. But there is Newcastle and the Central Coast to our north, and Wollongong to our south,” he will say. “These are cities already undergoing rapid change and revitalisation.

Newcastle City Hall looking down Civic Park. Picture: Peter Lorimer

“They have been the industrial workhorses of the past. And now they can be future-focused precincts of the future.”

In order to make that happen, Mr Perrottet will announce “that our three cities strategy will grow to a six-cities vision”.

“This will mean a bigger and bolder vision for our state.

“And in my new cabinet, I will appoint a dedicated Minister for Cities – to maintain the momentum we have built, and deliver on the next evolution of our vision,” he will say. The original three cities plan ­envisaged a Sydney where no one needed to work more than 30 minutes from home and could live in a suburb packed with amenities and outdoor space.

However, the Covid pandemic has changed the way people work and live, which gives those planning our jobs and environment the opportunity to think bigger and bolder.

Mr Perrottet, who was in hi-vis and hard hat for the topping out ceremony for Western Sydney’s tallest building yesterday, will expand on that with his thoughts on how to make Sydney a liveable, workable, beautiful city.

“Our starting point is that we want everyone to be able to enjoy the world’s best quality of life, no matter what your postcode,” he will say.

“In the long months of ­lockdown, we have all become acquainted with the good and the bad, the charming and the not-so-charming of our local communities.

“At the local level, Covid has made clear the power of amenable neighbourhoods.

“And no matter where you are, from the east to the west from Wollongong in the south to Newcastle in the north, we want you to have the best.

“Sydney must also be workable. By that, I don’t just mean easy to get around.

“I mean Sydney has to be a place where no matter where you live or what your circumstances, you can have access to a great job.

“Sydney has many well-established sectors. But I want to build on what is already there, and increase our capacity to sustain great jobs. That means nurturing the industries of the future. And that includes manufacturing,” he will say.

However, none of that will be done at the cost of Sydney’s natural beauty or built environment.

Pelican feeding time at The Entrance on the Central Coast.

“Sydney’s natural beauty deserves an elegant city,” Mr Perrottet will say, while admitting there have been bad decisions and bad buildings along the way.

“There is much beauty in many of Sydney’s buildings – buildings that sing in harmony with nature. But the mistakes are real too. These buildings become barnacles, impossible to scrape from the Harbour City’s majestic bow.”

The Bradfield Oration was inspired by the vision of the great engineer John Bradfield, who had the foresight to ­design and build a bridge across Sydney Harbour with eight lanes that would futureproof the city.

Not only is the bridge functional, it is also a magnificent icon, recognisable around the world and that too has inspired the Premier.

“As we plan. As we build. As we renew and revitalise – our goal should be to make every corner of our city beautiful,” he will say.

“The great cities of the world – Paris, London, Rome – inspire us with beauty that stands the test of time. That should be our aspiration for Sydney too.”

NSW executive director of the Property Council of Australia Luke Achterstraat said: “Our CBDs across NSW are some of the best places in the world to live, work and play – we look forward to working with new minister to ensure that our state and our cities can fire on all cylinders”.

“Property Council’s office occupancy survey this monthrevealed a tripling of CBD office occupancy from 8 per cent to 23 per cent utilisation, and on the start of this summer season, the government’s announcement could not be better timed to help underwrite the economic recovery,” Mr Achterstraat said.