Western Sydney International Airport will take region to the world: Jennifer Westacott

Derided for decades as a pipedream, the new airport will be a game changer for Western Sydney and the whole of the country. The next project should be high speed rail, writes Jennifer Westacott.

For too many years, people kept saying to me that Australia’s newest and premiere airport, the 24/7 Western Sydney International Airport was simply never going to happen.

And yet today, the runways have been laid, the terminals are taking shape, and everything is on track for the opening next year. Global airlines have signed up and the cargo facilities are under construction.

Derided for decades as a pipedream, this nationally significant project is poised to be a game changer for Western Sydney, NSW and indeed the whole of the country.

It is more than an airport, it is a catalyst for jobs, innovation and advanced manufacturing. Even before it opens, it is rapidly transforming the economic dynamic in Western Sydney, creating good, well-paying jobs for people closer to where they live.

The arrivals terminal at Western Sydney Interntional airport which will open late 2026. Picture: Thomas Lisson

The airport will take Western Sydney, one of our most dynamic and exciting regions, to the world and the world to Western Sydney.

Today, people tell me the high speed rail will never be built. But again, I reject their scepticism. Just like the airport, this can be nation changing.

It is more than infrastructure or a transport project, we need to change our thinking. We need to see the high-speed rail as a visionary endeavour. We need see it – combined with the Western Sydney International Airport – as part of an Unlocking Australia plan that will unleash the economic potential of Western Sydney, NSW and Australia.

Imagine a fast train connecting the port city of Newcastle to Parramatta, which is fast becoming the geographic centre of Sydney. Then to the new Western Sydney airport, down to Campbelltown, through Goulburn and into Canberra.

Sydney’s new airport will link the west to the world and a high speed rail would unlock the economic potential of NSW. Picture: Thomas Lisson

Imagine how that would meet the needs of travellers and provide extra customers to strengthen the role of the airport.

Imagine how people from Newcastle, South Western Sydney, Campbelltown and Goulburn could quickly and easily reach an airport in Western Sydney operating around the clock for business or leisure.

Imagine how quickly the airport would expand and grow. Imagine the investment in new jobs and new industries that would follow.

Future Western Sydney will be streamed on April 4.

Imagine how we could connect the south east of NSW and deliver an economic bonanza, lifting living standards for everyone in the state.

So, just like the airport, the high speed rail is a game changer that just has to happen. It’s not a question of if, it needs to be a question of when. Let’s get it off the drawing board and start planning and reserving the corridors now.

All we need is the type of imagination and determination that the great people of NSW channelled behind John Bradfield to deliver the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The same imagination and determination that is creating new opportunities for Western Sydney through the airport and the first new city in 100 years, Bradfield City.

With that same spirit, we can connect NSW like never before and truly unlock the economic potential of our state.

Jennifer Westacott AO is the Chancellor of Western Sydney University, which is a supporting partner of Future Western Sydney