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  • 29-Aug-2015 10:15 | Anonymous

    WHO WE ARE


    Westmead Medical Research Foundation raises funds for health care and research at Westmead. We believe everyone who is sick deserves access to the best possible treatment and care. To help make this possible we recognise the health problems Australians are facing and search for the best way to help. Generous donations are directed to state of the art medical equipment, life saving research and enhanced services at Westmead Hospital and Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research.


    Supporting these organisations that have such huge reach and impact across Australia means our fundraising efforts can reach so many who are sick. One million patients, their families and countless others impacted by the breakthroughs of medical research all over the world.


    One donor can make local, regional, national and global impact.


    OUR STORY


    ‘My Westmead’ is our Community campaign that aims to capture the pride in the community for the medical excellence of Westmead as well as bringing people together to share the good stories and ultimately, support the great work.

     

    Why Westmead needs your support?


    Westmead is a rare gem, the heart of specialist health care for the 1.9 million of us who call Western Sydney home.  Westmead Hospital is entrusted to care for everyone in our local area, and also those further away who are in the most need; newborn intensive care, trauma and emergency services, brain injury, cancer treatment and care, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery and so much more. 


    HOW YOU CAN HELP

    • Donate or get involved today: www.wmrf.org.au  
    • Become a regular donor through our My Westmead Gem Program
    • Find out more about Workplace Giving
    • Hold your own fundraising event
    • Partner with us through your business or community group
    • Collect donations in lieu presents at a celebration

    To find out more details on how you can get involved contact:

     

    Susie Saba - Partnerships & Community Officer


    P: 9845 8162  M: 0407 780 787  E: Susie.saba@wmrf.org.au


  • 29-Aug-2015 10:02 | Anonymous

    This September, Novotel Sydney Parramatta invites you to try 350 Restaurant and Lounge, their newly revamped food and beverage outlet. This area will be decked out with a new identity from branding to furniture and appearance. With a great atmosphere and friendly staff, 350 Restaurant and Lounge makes the ideal destination for anyone wanting a fantastic dining experience in the heart of ‘Eat Street’ Parramatta.


    Executive Chef Kiki and team have created a wonderful new menu to match this new identity that is sure to delight the most discerning palate. Guests have the choice of either casual dining in the lounge area with a cocktail or two, or private dining in the restaurant with many wonderful options to choose.


    When dining at 350 Restaurant and Lounge, you will be greeted by a friendly new face, Lucas Lees, Food and Beverage Team Leader who joins with a wealth of knowledge in restaurants and bars. Lucas joins Kristiana Terkes & Adam Jones’ team after working in various restaurants and bars in Sydney and around the world including Chef hatted restaurant, The Cook’s Garden, popular Tetsuya, Jordan’s Seafood and well renowned Pattison’s Patisserie.


    Lucas’ bubbly and outgoing personality makes him a perfect fit for the new direction of 350 Restaurant and Lounge. From working in Germany and Canada, Lucas developed a passion for travel and starting in hotels was a natural progression for furthering his hospitality career. Originally from Western Sydney, Lucas sees the future in Parramatta and the direction of hospitality in the region.  


    Further attracted by the global Accor brand and their people-ology philosophy ‘people want the real deal’ represents his genuine and outgoing customer service and how Lucas leads by example for his team. Combining his personal philosophy of wanting to ‘leave a mark’ fits in with the vision seen for 350 Restaurant and Lounge and where Novotel sees it positioned amongst ‘Eat Street’ Parramatta.


    Pop along to 350 Restaurant and Lounge to meet Lucas and try out the new menu or just have a general conversation with him about his other passions, sports and photography. 


    Visit www.novotelparramatta.com.au to keep up to date with all their offers and upcoming events. Accor Plus members dining discounts welcome, call 02 9630 4999 now to secure your booking. 


  • 29-Aug-2015 09:58 | Anonymous

    DCC, KPMG and Telstra will be presenting at 3 seminars across Western Sydney over the coming months.


    The three half day seminars will be held in Blacktown, Parramatta and Penrith and are aimed at assisting SMEs with practical insights on how to protect and grow their business.


    As every business has intellectual property (IP), Damon Henshaw and Will Hird from DCC will talk about exactly what you can and can’t protect, how and when to protect it, and how it can be used strategically as a business asset and gain a competitive advantage in the market. 


    Dr Jim Taggart will facilitate the seminars, and DCC will be joined by KPMG on how to recoup R&D expenditure through tax incentives and government funding that is available, as well as Telstra presenting on how to leverage working on the cloud.


    Tickets are $77 including morning tea and lunch – register at: Protect Grow Prosper


  • 26-Aug-2015 11:44 | Anonymous

    Royal Randwick and Rosehill Gardens have been announced as finalists in the Sydney Metropolitan Catering Awards as “Caterers at a Major Event”. 


    The judging will take place within a few weeks and the Australian Turf Club is very excited to be considered within this category. 


    Watch this space for the announcement!

     

    www.australianturfclub.com.au 






  • 20-Aug-2015 15:55 | Anonymous

    Parramatta City Council has adopted a Smart City Masterplan which will guide the integration of leading-edge technology and future town planning designs in new developments across the City, including the $2 billion Parramatta Square project.


    As part of a commitment to build a world-class Smart City, Council has appointed a dedicated Strategic Project Officer to implement the blueprint and oversee the roll-out of future Smart City initiatives.


    “With so much urban renewal taking place across the city, Parramatta City Council is determined to be a leader when it comes to finding innovative solutions,” Lord Mayor of Parramatta Cr Scott Lloyd said.


    “The Masterplan will position Parramatta to achieve its ambition to become Australia’s next great city, and a world-class Smart City.”


    Chairman of the Parraconnect Committee and Deputy Lord Mayor of Parramatta Cr Steven Issa said council was actively promoting private and public collaboration in the development of Parramatta’s Smart City program.


    “Parramatta throughout the ages has been known as a place of major trade and innovation. Our new Smart City program will enable research institutions, businesses, residents and the City Council to collaborate on tech solutions to improve the quality of life and accelerate economic growth in our region,” Cr Issa said.


    Previously a strategic partnerships consultant for the National Retailers’ Association and Director of Executive Women Australia, Tara Cheesman is Australia’s first local government appointed Strategic Smart City Officer.


    “Parramatta’s Smart City initiatives will enable us to become a well-connected, prosperous and resilient city,” Ms Cheesman said.


    “Cities, locally, nationally and abroad, are competing for top talent and trade and they must provide compelling offerings to their investors, employers, employees, patrons and residents.


    “Our new Smart City program will provide us with the perfect engagement tools and platforms to source the best ideas and technologies to make it easier for people to connect, share, collaborate, and innovate. Our Smart City program will allow us to evaluate applicable technologies to improve the city’s liveability, sustainability, and develop local attractions.”


    Parramatta’s new Smart City Masterplan states: “Parramatta will be a Smart City that leverages the foundations of good urban planning, transparent governance, open data and enabling technologies that will underpin our position as a vibrant, people-centric, connected and economically prosperous city.”


    Cr Lloyd said the Masterplan and appointment of a full-time Strategic Project Officer are tangible examples of what Council is doing to position Parramatta as a true city of the 21st Century.


    “We already have convenient public transport and the city’s workforce has easy access to great amenities, shopping, cafes, parks and restaurants – these are all characteristics of a Smart City.


    “Parramatta’s Smart City Masterplan and Tara’s role will ensure that Parramatta is competing on a global stage.  By joining the global Smart City ISO standards, Parramatta will soon be able to compare its ‘smart’ efforts against Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, Melbourne and Brisbane.


    “Potential Smart City initiatives include open data, a state-of-the-art library of the future, a new Discovery Centre, street sign way finders and free public WiFi.”


    The Smart City Masterplan has been developed by leading innovation and Building Technology Strategist Bruce Duyshart of Meld Strategies, who previously played a key role as Technology Development Manager for the Barrangaroo South Project.


    The Masterplan has provided a work-ready matrix to ensure each project can be assessed against its alignment with the Council’s current strategic planning priorities to 2038.


    UWS’s timely move to a vertical campus on Parramatta Square with 10,000 ‘tech-savvy’ students will also enable Council to progress healthy discussions on the future needs of the city.


    PCC Smart City Masterplan


  • 20-Aug-2015 09:50 | Anonymous

    "WSBC has been working with Deloitte on Shaping Future Cities: Designing Western Sydney for some months now, and the following, focusing on Health & Education Precincts, is an example of the first findings following a Summit held in Parramatta on 20 August."


    Healthcare and education precincts identified as critical growth catalyst.

     

    Over 40 business and government leaders, including the NSW Planning Minister the Hon. Robert Stokes, met today at Deloitte’s Eclipse Tower offices in Parramatta to discuss a draft blueprint to create 200,000 great new jobs in Western Sydney by 2020.


    The event is the latest step in a ten month journey, which has brought together for the first time over 300 business, community and government leaders to develop an economic blueprint to maximise the potential of the Western Sydney region.


    Through its Shaping Future Cities: Designing Western Sydney initiative, Deloitte has sought to unite multiple business and government perspectives on how to transform and restructure the region and create more local jobs. 


    Deloitte Western Sydney Managing Partner, Danny Rezek, said: “Western Sydney has huge growth potential, but this brings associated challenges, particularly around retaining jobs in the region.  Over the past year, we have reviewed the existing plans and research developed to improve Western Sydney, added analysis from Deloitte Access Economics and canvassed the opinions of leaders across the region to develop a shared economic vision for Western Sydney to reach its full potential.


    “Today’s summit gives us the opportunity to road-test our hypotheses on how best to create 200,000 great new jobs by 2020.  It’s an ambitious target and the blueprint is intended to set the foundations to create greater clarity, certainty and promotion of our region’s strengths.”


    The final blueprint for Shaping Future Cities: Designing Western Sydney is expected to include a series of specific recommendations for business and government to adopt.  These recommendations will be based around a strategic framework for jobs creation, and consider platforms for growth, how to create jobs and how to connect the people of Western Sydney to those jobs.  The final blueprint will be launched in November 2015.


    Building off our strengths


    One of the recommendations in the draft blueprint is for business and government to concentrate investment on those industries which give Western Sydney the best opportunity for jobs growth in the next five years and beyond – those industries where the region’s comparative advantages meet global opportunity and demand and which will act as economic drivers to galvanise jobs growth across the region as a whole at above average rates.


    Key economic drivers for Western Sydney identified by Deloitte include:


    ·         Health and education

    ·         Advanced manufacturing

    ·         Food manufacturing (including agribusiness supply chains)

    ·         Professional services

    ·         International education

    ·         Tourism, hospitality and leisure

    ·         Cultural and creative industries


    The blueprint will explore each of these in terms of barriers to growth, where to invest, future skills required, how business can participate and connecting relevant industry and government policy. Beyond the above industries, the blueprint will look at the role of important enabling industries such as construction, logistics, retail, and other services. These will drive jobs growth indirectly through their linkages to these key sectors.


    HEPs key to future jobs growth


    · The health and community sector is the number one employer in the Western Sydney region.  In addition, Western Sydney has five health and education precincts (HEPs), and together these precincts have seen a 20% increase in jobs growth between 2006 and 2011


    · Western Sydney’s five HEPs currently provide 47,000 jobs in the region and this is forecast to increase by a further 20,000 in the next decade


    · Combined, health and education represent 21% of all jobs in Western Sydney


    · The HEPs are all undergoing enormous infrastructure expansions (totalling c. $5b), particularly around research (e.g. Ingham and Millennium Institute)


    · The region has a high prevalence of lifestyle preventable diseases compared to rest of Australia, for example Western Sydney has a 13.2% prevalence of diabetes compared to 4.1% in Australia


    · Deloitte is facilitating discussions between Western Sydney’s five health and education precincts (HEPs) to develop a joint HEP growth program, which is expected to consider how to maximise their collective impact and pioneer new models for collaboration in health R&D.


    “Healthcare provides an ecosystem of jobs and opportunities for all types of worker, from construction workers, to hospital orderlies, to receptionists, to doctors and teachers,” said Deloitte partner and blueprint author, Theo Psychogios.  “Our health and education precincts, such as Westmead, Blacktown and Liverpool are also located in areas of high population growth, providing employers with a ready local base of workers and helping to retain jobs in Western Sydney.


    “There’s a collective recognition that if we can identify more productive ways of working together, health and education precincts are one of our best magnets to create and build jobs for the future.”


    The Shaping Future Cities initiative is being led by a steering committee to ensure a bi-partisan approach and recognition that Western Sydney’s growth is a key part of Sydney’s and NSW’s overall success.  The steering committee members are: Stuart Ayres MP (NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Minister for Sport), Chris Brown (Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue), David Borger (Sydney Business Chamber), Greg Dyer (Parramatta City Council), Professor Barney Glover (University of Western Sydney), Dr Tim Williams (Committee for Sydney) and Danny Rezek, Theo Psychogios and Ben Artup from Deloitte.


  • 19-Aug-2015 17:16 | Anonymous

    We are pleased to announce the release of our second Making Western Sydney Greater report.


    In preparing this, we drew from the responses of over 200 business owners and senior management from across the region, obtaining their insights and ideas to support Making Western Sydney Greater.


    In releasing this report, WSBC President, Brendon Noney, comments "The second Making Western Sydney Greater report demonstrates the continued growth and opportunity that lay in Western Sydney and the importance of the Greater Western Sydney economy as a powerhouse of the Australian economy as a whole”.


    The key issues identified were employment and training – with businesses identifying this as critical to the region’s development and success. Transport is also a priority, echoing a theme identified in our first survey.


    The biggest change has been the performance of large business, with a significant shift in their expectations.


    SMEs are experiencing challenges, but continue to perform well.


    Fellow Board member, Janelle Dixon, added “Its refreshing to see a continued injection of full time employment opportunities highlighting Western Sydney as a competitive business district. With the planned mobility investment and continued business interest within the Greater Western Sydney Region it seems that developing capability is well on its way across multiple industries”.


    Making Western Sydney Greater is an ongoing effort. Undertaken by national accounting firm William Buck, in partnership with St George, the University of Western Sydney and Western Sydney Business Connection, our research stems from the long-term commitment to Western Sydney that we share.


    The next survey will be released in October 2015. We invite you to participate once more, and to continue Making Western Sydney Greater.


    Click here to download the second Making Western Sydney Greater report.





  • 10-Aug-2015 14:49 | Deleted user

    Create growth and prosperity for your business in Western Sydney.

    WSBC Event partner opportunities are going fast with the release of the new partner program and nearly 50% of opportunities taken already. 


    Providing an ideal opportunity for businesses to target their core audience, maximise brand exposure and provide high visibility to actively promote products, services and investment opportunities the event partner program certainly delivered results in 2014/15.


    "There are many opportunities in 2015/16 to grab a speaking slot and help shape the content of our highly valued events program" stated CEO, Michael Sugg.


    Brendon Noney, WSBC President, praised the WSBC team for the tremendous success of last year's events program saying "we are very proud of the team's work in providing a program that is regarded as the 'Best in the West', with many organisations respecting the success we have with the format, attendance and relevance to businesses in the West. Our program for 2015/16 is shaping up really well and we encourage our members to get in quick to secure the opportunities available".


    "Last year saw our attendance at our business leader luncheons increase to 250 per event with many selling out" mentioned Sugg. "The State of The Region address saw over 450 attendees and we hope to smash the 500 target this year."


    "With nearly 50% of partner opportunities sold already we are seeking interested parties to contact us quickly as we prepare more informative content for businesses in Sydney". 


    WSBC are seeking partners for their health and infrastructure events as well as only 1 more partner for the State of The Region address in October. 


    Only 2 partner opportunities remain for the annual WSBC GWS Employment Forum, in conjunction with Newscorp, in November and the WSBC CEO encourages all those interested to contact him ASAP.


    For full details of the event program and information on the partner opportunities follow the relevant links.

  • 05-Aug-2015 09:26 | Deleted user

    We've taken a few extracts from the smh letters page on this very subject and want to hear YOUR views.


    Please take a moment to click through and let us know your thoughts - 

    'Will the lack of a rail link at time of opening, be an impediment to the airport's success?'


    From the smh letters page  ...


    So, Sydney's long-awaited second airport is dead before the first sod is even turned ("No-frills airport is not solution, critics say", August 4). No train link and one runway.  Call me cynical, but is it possible the owners of Sydney Airport, who've long argued against the need for a second airport, have influenced the federal government's decision, in effect, to nobble it? As one airline operator put it, "buses from Badgerys Creek to the CBD? Who are you kidding?"

    By the NSW government's calculations, Sydney's population will grow by more than a million in the next 20 years. That population has nowhere to go but west.  We need another airport.

    Can someone please tell me when we will get a government that makes independent, honest and sensible planning and policy decisions for contemporary Australia?


    "No wonder Australians have lost faith in their democracy."



    "A "no-frills airport" reflects no-frills thinking. Can someone please let the planners know that DC-3 aircraft are no longer the major mode of aviation people-moving. Infrastructure with vision is needed for Badgerys Creek – a high-speed railway link is not a luxury, it is essential."



    "A no-frills airport with no rail connection seems a predictable outcome from a situation where the owner of Sydney Airport is only reluctantly being dragged into the picture, and neither state nor federal governments are really interested. Sounds now to be an "overflow" airport with a vast industrial estate attached for the real economic impact."



    "So, no rail link for Badgerys Creek airport.  Preferred operator is Sydney Airport.  A large part of Sydney Airport's profit is from parking. No rail means more cars. More cars means more parking fees. Simple really. An airport for Sydney or its inhabitants? No, just for more profit." 



    "No rail link to the new airport? What century are we living in, the 18th?"



    "The clear focus of the Abbott government is investor interests, particularly for two Howard-government privatisations – Sydney Airport and Telstra. Like Sydney Airport, public transport to Badgerys Creek is being restricted as it competes with car parking, taxi and minibus operations for which the airport company charges high fees. A "no-frills" airport at commencement also minimises any fees the airport company may be asked to pay while our governments spend $3 billion on roads to serve Badgerys Creek." 


    Another reason for a "no-frills" airport is airspace conflicts. The technical papers of the 1997 Badgerys Creek study show the selected runway orientation results in conflicts with Sydney Airport that are resolved by creating four layers of airspace across the Sydney Basin. The bottom layer is just 3000 feet (914 metres) above sea level. Airport noise will increase for all Sydneysiders and building heights will be restricted."



    "Those who spoke against the governments' plans for Badgerys Creek airport at the aviation conference are not critics, they are logical viewers of correct long-term planning.

    Even if the government view that "rail is a longer-term requirement" was correct, it would be much more logical – and much better economically – if the infrastructure was constructed as soon as possible.

    It's so disappointing that our state and federal governments of both brands have so regularly failed at making long-term decisions."



    "Badgerys Creek 2025 reminds me of Kingsford Smith in 1965.  Customs posted me there in September of that year. The International Terminal was a converted TAA hanger.   As the prop jets taxied outside the roller-door entries, we were blasted with kerosene.   The public transport was limited to the odd bus from Sydenham railway station.   I used to park my motorbike inside the terminal until told by Civil Aviation to park it outside.   

    Heathrow, Hong Kong, Shanghai, among many others, have excellent rail connections.   Has nothing been learnt over the past 50 years?"





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