Western Sydney residents say reducing migration would ease housing crisis

Four in 10 Western Sydney households are worse off than a year ago, an exclusive survey for The Daily Telegraph’s Future West forum has found. This could be the solution.

Almost three out of four people in Western Sydney want less migration to help free up more housing, an exclusive survey for The Daily Telegraph’s Future West forum has found.

The Lighthouse Consumer Tracker survey found that four in 10 Western Sydney households are worse off than a year ago compared with just a quarter of households across the rest of the city.

Independent Federal MP Dai Le said the findings were not surprising in the face of the cost of living crisis.

“We are a city of migrants and refugees; I myself was a refugee,” she said. “The issue with our high level numbers of refugee settlement in recent years by successive governments have meant that our local community needs have not been taken into consideration such as lack of public infrastructure, lack of housing, lack of investment in health and education to cope with the increase.

“And this is the crux of the problem, especially now that we’re facing a cost of living crisis.”

Western Sydney MP Dai Le. Picture: Richard Dobson

The survey of more than 1250 people in greater Sydney and almost 700 in Western Sydney found there is a clear economic divide with just 17 per cent of Western Sydney residents able to save and make major purchases compared to a quarter of people in the rest of the city.

It found more than half of people in Western Sydney had a pessimistic view on the way Australia was performing compared to 46 per cent of people in the rest of the city. They were also twice as likely to believe their local community was struggling or in crisis.

An aerial view of the Oran Park housing estate. Picture: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said the negativity was being driven by “the very high cost of rent and mortgage repayments” in the west.

“There needs to be a solid injection of funding into infrastructure to support housing supply in Western Sydney,” he said.

“The Housing Productivity Contribution, paid by home buyers in western Sydney greenfield locations, are being directed to support Transport Oriented Development sites in Sydney’s north,” Mr Forrest said.

“We need to see that money spent to support those that are paying the tax and not leave Western Sydney without the much needed upgrades to roads and water infrastructure they need.”

Blacktown Hospital employs thousands of people in Western Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

And the west has less confidence in the job market with more than a third of people in Western Sydney feeling bad about their career compared to 30 per cent in the rest of Sydney.

Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said there needed to be urgent investment in local jobs and the infrastructure to support them.

“The jobs deficit, particularly in north west and south west Sydney, means that many people are forced to seek employment outside their local area, resulting in congestion and hours long commutes,” he said.

Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Mr Borger said the bleaker economic figures for Western Sydney, coupled with higher rates of poor mental health than in the rest of the city, underscored the problems faced by people in the west.

“These figures emphasise the unique economic challenges facing Western Sydney, where cost-of-living pressures, rising interest rates and job market uncertainty are hitting households harder than in other parts of the city,” he said.

“We know many households in Western Sydney are highly leveraged and sweating on interest rates every month. With rising costs for rent, electricity and groceries, their finances are going backwards. Working two or three jobs is too often a necessity.”

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People in the west were also more unhappy with politicians with less than two out of 10 feeling better off since the last election — half the number of people than in the rest of Sydney.

At a state level the survey found almost half of Western Sydney residents were unhappy with the NSW government compared to just over a third of the people in the rest of the city.

Adam Leto, chief executive of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue, said the findings of the survey would come as no surprise to the people who lived in the west.

“A significant chunk of the region’s workforce is employed on the frontline. They’re our carers, teachers, and nurses, and they’re not just servicing Western Sydney, but the entire city. We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living and housing crisis, and for all the effort they’re putting in, they’re not always seeing a lot come back the other way,” he said.

“It’s not hard to understand why a lot of residents feel like they’re doing it tough. They often earn less than the average worker, have to travel more and don’t have the same access to recreational, entertainment and lifestyle options that residents in other parts of Sydney enjoy and probably take for granted.”

This article is part of the Future Western Sydney series, which is proudly supported by Clubs NSW, Powerhouse, Transurban, Walker Corp, Western Sydney International Airport and Western Sydney University

Originally published as Western Sydney residents say reducing migration would ease housing crisis