Be ‘bold like Bradfield’: Premier’s challenge over Sydney’s future

Engineer John Bradfield future-proofed the city with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and for the last 10 years The Daily Telegraph oration named in his honour has urged our leaders to walk in his shoes.

Mr Minns will outline his future plans for Sydney at the Bradfield Oration in the Museum of Contemporary Art today in front of 150 city and business leaders, former premiers and orators including Mike Baird and Dominic Perrottet and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

In his address the Premier will say that Sydney’s natural beauty is a double-edged sword that can make people scared of change.

“Because of its natural beauty there’s a temptation to treat it like a masterpiece and let it hang in a museum untouched,” he will say. “We must have the confidence to make change in our city.

“Our city is a living thing – and just as Bradfield’s Harbour Bridge and Utzon’s Opera House are additions to the city that ultimately made it even more attractive – we can’t be afraid to make change that will add – not subtract – from its beauty.”

The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English said over the last decade the Bradfield campaign had led to the building of the WestConnex M4 extension, the NorthConnex linking the M2 and M1, the Northwest-West Rail Link and the second airport at Badgerys Creek.

Former chief of the Greater Sydney Commission Lucy Turnbull used her Bradfield oration to unveil her vision for three 30-minute cities that has since focused urban planning.

Mr English said today’s challenge was housing and that “bureaucratic barriers need to be swatted aside” to embrace the spirit of Sydney that would allow for “a unification of people and property”.

“Housing is to Sydney now as the bridge was to Sydney in John Bradfield’s time,” he said. “If solving the housing situation seems difficult, it is only because we’ve lost a kind of realistic and practical optimism that once defined our city.”

Paul Whittaker, Sky News Australia chief executive, said Bradfield’s strength was not only his vision to build a 10-lane bridge when the motor car was in its infancy but his ability to stand up and explain to a doubting public why it was necessary.

“Where are the politicians and the public servants today who are prepared to stand up and take risks to argue why we need to make the improvements we do to harness the potential of what is Australia’s only truly global city?” he said.

Mr Whittaker said there was “barely a crane in the sky” when The Daily Telegraph launched its Bradfield campaign which led to a string of infrastructure projects that linked the city and finally delivered a second airport that was “decades overdue”.

“Sydney has long been a city of compromise that has been hampered by those leading a chorus of complaint and for the second airport to succeed it cannot be subject to any curfew,” he said.

Tony Shepherd, chair of the Bradfield Board of Governors, said it was time for Sydney to be “bold and expansive” and to learn from Bradfield the importance of long term planning and embracing new technology.

“The private sector is eager to invest in NSW and particularly Sydney but bureaucracy stands in the way,” he said.

“The night time economy in Sydney is still on life support. Sydney must grow its entertainment sector and bring it to the world’s best in facilities and content.”

Mr Shepherd was joined by other Governors from the Bradfield Board who outlined their vision for a bigger, better and bolder Sydney.

Aqualand chair John Carfi said the superannuation savings of Australians being used to fund city shaping infrastructure offshore but not in NSW was “madness”.

“The super savings of New South Wales residents should be invested back in New South Wales projects to unlock the next wave of city shaping infrastructure for Sydney,” he said.

He also called for a NSW cabinet task force to be formed to drive housing supply.

“The biggest thing the Government can do to drive housing supply in New South Wales is to change the culture of the bureaucracy,” he said.

The key to that was supercharging housing supply around railway stations and encouraging residential development within the CBD.

Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said our leaders need to aim to be “nothing less than the greatest city in the world” but could not rely on “good looks alone” to get there.

“It must be a city that is functional and works for everyone,” he said. “A city whose physical beauty is matched by its efficiency and accessibility. A 24 hour city that lives up to its potential on every front.“

Sydney University vice chancellor Mark Scott said Australia had traditionally thrived on mining and agriculture but future success would be driven by innovation.

“Investing in critical and efficient infrastructure to keep our cities moving is vital but equally important is investing in our people and our universities so that our research can be done here and done well to ensure economic growth, societal wellbeing, and national security,” he said.

John Holland chief executive Joe Barr said the key to a better future Sydney was to continue to have a “bold and visionary” approach to infrastructure.

“Projects that create more vibrant and connected communities, with diverse housing options, services and jobs closer to where people want to live, and all underpinned by a world-class transport system,” he said.

His point was echoed by Western Sydney University vice chancellor Barney Glover who said transport links particularly in the west and to the new airport were critical.

“We must leverage coming infrastructure investments like the Nancy Bird Walton International Airport,” he said. “We need to optimise movement across our city. That is why projects like they Metro West and wider links to the Airport and growth areas like the outer southwest are pivotal. We must connect the west with itself, if we are to provide the quality jobs and housing the region deserves.”

Sky News Host Laura Jayes said The Daily Telegraph Bradfield Oration had “unashamedly” kept the decision makers in the state on their toes for 10 years.

“Now in it’s 10th year, we’re at a critical juncture where we need more building and investment. We need to back small and big business who make our city the entertainment social hub that it is. It’s the best city in the world to live – we have to maintain that – We can’t let the NIMBYS and whingers ruin that,” she said.