Off with her head!
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will take greater responsibility for the big-picture vision for Sydney by elevating another key planning agency to report directly to her department.
The Greater Sydney Commission, the independent body responsible for championing the vision of Sydney as three 30-minute cities, will begin reporting to the Premier from July 1.
…Ms Berejiklian said the restructure reflected her government’s priority of implementing the commission’s three-city strategy, which includes planning for an emerging “aerotropolis” around the forthcoming western Sydney Airport.
“We are turning the vision of Greater Sydney as a connected metropolis of three cities into a reality,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Reporting directly to the premier will ensure the commission is front and centre of government decision-making.”
How reassuring given the cost blowouts and delays around WestConnex, Sydney Light Rail Project, the North West Metro Project, as well as the football stadiums fiasco. I’m sure Berejiklian’s Dept is thoroughly up to building an “aerotropolis” (known to us ordinary mortals as an “airport” or “tarmac” to some).
What this is really about is ensuring that the Premier’s Department controls the messaging emanating from Queen Lucy because her high-minded Point Piper rhetoric is uber-toxic to Berejiklian’s re-election chances.
I forecast that it will achieve nothing and Labor’s immigration skeptic, Luke Foley, will win in a landslide.
