THE Harbour, the bush and the beaches give Sydney a natural grandeur that few other major cities can match.
Then there's the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, The Rocks, many of our suburbs and our urban parks to prove that, with the right policies, the people of this city can make the most of our advantages.
Unfortunately, since the justly acclaimed Sydney Olympics, our city has been resting on its laurels.
Economically, this city still punches above its weight. Sydneysiders produce fully one quarter of our country's national income - even though only one in five Australians live here. Sydney is still a great place to live and to work but it's getting harder, not easier.
This has to change. Not only is it expensive for families to get accommodation and expensive for businesses to employ here, but it's harder and harder to get around on clogged roads and to "have a go" in commerce thanks to high taxes and more red tape.
Last time Kevin Rudd was prime minister, he promised more people while neglecting the infrastructure investment this city needs - just like previous NSW Labor governments more interested in padding the public sector than building new roads.
If you live in Sydney, as I do, you know from experience that big announcements from Labor don't mean real action. At the last federal election, for instance, Rudd-Gillard Labor promised $2 billion to build a railway that was not on Infrastructure Australia's or the state government's priority list - and then deferred the project until at least 2019!
Under the former premier turned Foreign Minister Bob Carr, NSW Labor announced $26 billion in rail projects that never progressed past a press release.
As a Sydneysider, I'm grateful to Barry O'Farrell and his government for finally ending the "NSW Labor disease" in its heartland. Unfortunately, this disease - that puts media management before good government and prefers spin to substance - is still rampant in Canberra, as Labor MP Laurie Ferguson has recently admitted. For Sydney to flourish, we need good government in Canberra as well as in Macquarie St.
The national government must take a deep interest in the success of Sydney if our nation is to advance. Our city is too important to the national economy for the neglect to continue. If elected, a Coalition government in Canberra will work with the Coalition government in NSW to build a strong, prosperous economy and to deliver the infrastructure that Sydney needs to make everyone's life easier.
In particular, a Coalition government in Canberra will provide $1.5 billion to ensure that the WestConnex road linking Sydney's west to the CBD actually gets under way. Unlike Rudd-Gillard Labor, the Coalition just wants the road built, starting within 12 months. By contrast, virtually all of Labor's WestConnex money comes with unacceptable conditions and won't actually start until almost 2019. The Coalition will also get cracking on the missing F3 to M2 motorway link between Hornsby and Pennant Hills. The people of the Central Coast need this project just as much as the people of Sydney yet all Labor has ever done is talk about it. It will actually happen under a Coalition government in Canberra.
I'm disappointed that Rudd-Gillard Labor has squibbed a decision on airport infrastructure. This is impossible to make without the expert advice and modelling available only to government but, if elected, we will make these decisions without undue delay - starting with upgrading the infrastructure around Sydney Airport.
Sydneysiders live in the most expensive city in Australia. Even the government's own figures say that the carbon tax has added 10 per cent to power and gas prices - so the federal Coalition will scrap it. Not re-badge it or reduce it but abolish it. As well as saving the average household more than $500 a year, abolishing the carbon tax will reduce the cost of a new home by over $5000.
Because we will also keep the current income tax thresholds and fortnightly pension and benefit rates, individuals and households will keep their recent tax cuts and pension increases without a carbon tax, so these become genuine relief from our high cost of living.We'll tackle crime and make our streets safer by providing councils with $50 million from the proceeds of crime for more closed-circuit TV. As well, by strengthening border protection, we won't just stop the boats but tackle the influx of guns.
In Forestville, where Margie and I live, not one home has been connected to the NBN. Under the Coalition, much faster broadband will be delivered to everyone by 2016 at an eventual cost $60 billion below Labor's.
The challenges of Sydney traffic put even more pressures on families with children in childcare. I will work with the O'Farrell government to deliver more accessible, affordable and flexible childcare and will have a Productivity Commission inquiry to make sure it happens.
The carbon tax, 21,000 new regulations, union militancy and Labor's anti-business rhetoric have all hurt small business. The Coalition's Real Solutions Plan will cut $1 billion in red and green tape costs, make parliament repeal red tape rather than just add to it, set up a one-stop shop for big project approvals and move the workplace relations pendulum back to the centre.
My plan for Sydney will deliver the 21st century infrastructure that a modern city needs, help families deal with cost of living pressures and provide the strong economy that has to be good for our largest city and its people.
Tony Abbott is federal Opposition Leader
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