Infrastructure feat lost in airport debate
On Monday morning I was fortunate enough to get a first hand look at construction of the new M12 Motorway, which will connect the Western Sydney International Airport at Badgerys Creek with Sydney’s existing motorway network.
As I stood on what will one day be a flowing motorway full of cars coming to and from the airport, the sheer size of the project hit home.
And as cows grazed just a few metres from the construction site, the transformation of this once rural part of Sydney into a major international gateway felt more real than ever.
The sheer nature of the entire airport project and the associated infrastructure has been somewhat lost in the debate over the airport itself.
But you only have to drive out there to realise how enormous this project is, and how it will transform western Sydney forever.
There will certainly be a ‘before airport’ and ‘after airport’ Penrith.
Those who work on projects like the M12, the Aerotropolis or the airport itself have watched with pride as it has grown from the ground up.
They get the enormity of what is being built just a stone’s throw from the Penrith CBD, even if we as a city don’t grasp it yet.
The M12 may only be a side project in terms of the airport itself, but even it alone is an infrastructure feat to be marvelled at.
It will be a fully smart motorway, with CCTV for its entire length, shared pathways and incredible artworks and sculptures, including the ‘Great Emu In the Sky’.
I’ve been writing about the airport at Badgerys Creek for as long as I’ve been the Editor of the Weekender.
If you did a bit of research you’d also find a column in which I said I’d be dead and buried before a plane took off from Badgerys Creek.
With any luck, my departure from this Earth will not occur in the next two years.
But it’s just an example of the apathy we’ve all had around the airport along the way.
We’ve often complained that infrastructure does not keep up with development, or that we put the cart before the horse with major projects.
That is not the case with the airport. It’s coming with impressive transport links, a new Motorway connection and upgraded roads around it.
While aircraft noise likely remains the single most important issue for many in this part of Sydney, it can’t be denied that the airport is the game-changer that western Sydney has been craving.
We may not embrace it right away, and perhaps understandably so.
But eventually, I get the feeling we’ll wonder why it took so long to happen after so many decades of debate.
News lost in a social vacuum
I’ve lost count of the amount of East Ward residents who had no idea they didn’t have to vote in last Saturday’s Council election.
A young couple I ran into at the shops told me they’d wasted an hour driving around.
“They need to do better at telling us this stuff,” the bloke said, before I swiftly informed him that the issue had been covered extensively in the Weekender, other local papers and the media more broadly.
“We get our news from TikTok,” his partner replied.
The great myth of “getting news from social media” strikes again.
TikTok doesn’t hire journalists. Nor does Meta, X or any of the social media platforms people “get their news from”.
What it does provide is a targeted news feed and algorithm that simply tells you more of what you want to hear.
And so the chances of getting served a story about a Council election was probably a million to one.
The news industry has changed dramatically, but I’m not sure it’s for the better.
I get the feeling we’re about to experience the most ill-informed generation we’ve seen in a hundred-odd years.
Perhaps listening to radio news on the hour, watching the 6pm TV bulletins and picking up the paper to read on the train each day was old fashioned and destined for the past.
But at least people had a broad news knowledge, not a curated one.
Interesting times ahead.
Reality check needed
You have to admire the entrepreneurial spirit of Gen Z, but I did have a chuckle at a survey this week about their work habits and desires.
76 per cent of Gen Z (those born between 1996 and 2012) say they plan to be their own boss in the future, because they don’t want to work the traditional 9-5.
Hopefully they realise that instead of working 9-5, as a business owner they’ll be working 24/7, stressed and constantly jumping hurdles and obstacles.
This idea that business owners are sitting on yachts and islands sipping margaritas is bizarre and simply untrue.
39 per cent of those surveyed also believed they could run a business from their phones and 45 per cent said they could make a living from social media.
The reality check is going to hit hard, but it’s coming.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.