It began with an urgent call for action. Last October, University of Western Sydney deputy vice chancellor Rhonda Hawkins and the university’s marketing and communications director Scott Christensen arrived at the Daily Telegraph to discuss the significant shortfall in resources that exists in Sydney’s west.
During that 40-minute meeting the idea for a powerful and passionate campaign was born. As meetings continued, with UWS Chancellor Peter Shergold and new UWS vice-chancellor Barney Glover, that idea developed into the Daily Telegraph’s mission to bring economic justice to Western Sydney.
We called it Fair Go for the West, and it means exactly as it says.
By any measure, the west is short-changed when it comes to funding, infrastructure spending and transport. Our two million Western Sydney residents have far fewer doctors and hospital beds relative to residents in other Sydney regions.
The wages on offer in Western Sydney are lower than elsewhere.
Even arts spending is dramatically out of kilter with the rest of the state. Only $3 million of this year’s $311 million being spent on arts is earmarked for Western Sydney.
This simply isn’t good enough.
It isn’t good enough for Western Sydney, it isn’t good enough for NSW and it isn’t good enough for Australia.
Our Fair Go for the West campaign will highlight all of these issues and present compelling solutions from men and women with the west’s interests at heart.
Already, there have been a range of positive developments for Western Sydney, including the O’Farrell government’s shift of 3000 bureaucrats to the west, a $30 million boost to arts funding from James Packer’s Crown Resorts and an $11.5 billion commitment to build the WestConnex motorway.
Together with our partners NAB, NRMA Road Services, the University of Western Sydney, Harvey Norman and Crown Resorts, and with the media support of Channel 7 and Nova, The Daily Telegraph and NewsLocal will carry the momentum for Western Sydney forward.
A Fair Go for the West began with a brief meeting. It’s now a machine, and it will deliver a bolder and brighter future for an area that is crucial for both our state and our nation. We invite all of our readers to join The Daily Telegraph’s campaign, and to share in the excitement of building a west that is the best.
Source: Daily Telegraph. Original article.
