The NSW Liberal Party gathered its Shadow Cabinet in Penrith on Monday to discuss in depth the issues facing Penrith and western Sydney.
Led by the Leader of the Opposition, Mark Speakman, Penrith was inundated with Liberal Shadow Ministers to hold a community cabinet meeting and a formal Shadow Cabinet meeting.
First Speakman visited High Street café High Street Depot with Shadow Minister for Western Sydney Robyn Preston and Shadow Minister for Small Business Tim James to meet with CEO of the Penrith CBD Corporation Gai Hawthorn and former Liberal Penrith City Councillor Tricia Hitchen to discuss how local businesses are travelling in Penrith.
Later, Speakman along with his NSW Shadow Cabinet, attended Penrith Panthers Leagues Club to meet with local constituents.
“We’re here today not to talk at you but we’re here to listen and to learn because western Sydney and Penrith in particular is such a vital part of NSW. We know that Sydney can only thrive if western Sydney thrives and half of the population of Sydney these days is west of Parramatta. NSW can only thrive if Sydney and therefore western Sydney thrives as well. We know this part of Sydney shares many of the problems NSW share,” Speakman said.
“We have a cost-of-living crisis, we have a housing affordability crisis, we know that Sydney is now the second most expensive city to rent or to buy a home in the English-speaking world second only to Hong Kong.
“We know there is a cost-of-living crisis, we know from stats in the last 12 months that something like one in three Australians had some form of food poverty. That means they haven’t purchased all the food they’d like to purchase because their hip pocket is being hit. We know that’s not just the parts of society that we traditionally class as strugglers, it’s affecting all levels of society and certainly it’s an issue out here in Penrith and speaking to local businesses this morning I know it’s hitting people in High Street really hard, people are cutting back on their coffees, they’re cutting back on going out, businesses are struggling, they are facing higher electricity prices, labour issues, insurance has gone through the roof.
“So, we know that there are many of these problems here in Penrith and western Sydney that the rest of NSW is suffering as well. Pretty much all of the Shadow Cabinet is here at the moment… Thank you for coming along. It is really important that we get out to local communities and hear what is happening on the ground rather than being stuck in Macquarie Street…”
Shadow Minister for Western Sydney Robyn Preston also spoke of the importance of western Sydney and said it was so important to take time to speak with the local community.
“Today is about western Sydney and we particularly chose Penrith [because] it’s the heartthrob of western Sydney in many many ways,” Preston said.
“It’s an important day for us because politicians are here today to listen to you, not for you to listen to us.
“We will be talking to you about what’s not working well, what’s not right and how things can be done better because let’s face it western Sydney deserves it.”
The Shadow Ministers spent over an hour mingling and chatting with the community about any issues that were brought to them.
It was then that the meeting went behind closed doors to discuss issues of high importance to the state.
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.