By NSW Premier Mike Baird @MikeBairdMP
The sails of the Sydney Opera House were lit up in the French blue, white and red as a show of solidarity following the tragedy that occurred on the streets of Paris.
The terror attacks in Paris and Beirut were an attack on our values, our freedoms and what we believe in. Our hearts were broken by the events that unfolded, but our spirit remains strong. The people of France responded by pouring out onto the streets of Paris and the world followed because we are stronger standing together in solidarity across the world against these attacks.
Back at home, this week I joined the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance to announce the new locations of Sydney’s new world-class metro railway line.
We’re wasting no time delivering Australia’s biggest public transport project and have confirmed new metro stations will be built at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross (North Sydney), Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street (near Park Street) and underground at Central.
We’re looking at another potential station to be built at either Waterloo or Sydney University, and are considering extending the metro from Bankstown to Liverpool to potentially cut travel times to the CBD by up to 15 minutes and reduce overcrowding on existing rail services.
I have no doubt the Sydney Metro line will change our city forever.
It will help boost the capacity of our train network by moving an additional 100,000 people every hour, moving more people across the Harbour in peak hour than the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel combined.
It will also be a ‘turn up and go’ service providing a world-class metro rail line under Sydney Harbour and the CBD that will support Sydney as it continues to grow as a global city in the decades ahead.
The formal planning process for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project kicked off this week, which means we will be seeing the first tunneling machine in the ground before the end of 2018 when Stage 2 of the project gets underway.
Construction of Stage 1 – the $8.3 billion Sydney Metro Northwest – has passed the halfway mark and is due to open to passengers in 2019 while the City & Southwest arm of the project is expected to open to passengers in 2024.
Finally, as Parliament winds up for another year changes to the Conveyancing Act have been approved, strengthening protections for buyers purchasing properties off the plan. The new laws prevent rogue property developers from taking advantage of sunset clauses to cancel contracts in order to make hefty profits.
We’ve listened to the community’s concerns and have acted to provide greater certainty for home buyers and send a clear message to developers thinking of acting unethically, that their behaviour will no longer be tolerated. More information about the new law can be found at www.lpi.nsw.gov.au
