State Member for Campbelltown and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney Greg Warren is determined not let the government get away with their relentless attack on Western Sydney.

“What residents in Western Sydney need is a Minister who acknowledges and recognises their concerns, frustration and anger – not a Minister that tells them to stop complaining and suck it up,” Mr Warren says.

Here is Mr Warren’s opinion:

“The Minister for Western Sydney and the Member for Penrith “rejects the idea that we live in a two-tiered city”.

“If the Minister’s statement wasn’t so offensive, it would be laughable.

“In reality, it’s grossly untrue and we will not let this government get away with their relentless attack on Western Sydney

“It’s easy to see why people are disillusioned with politics when you have a Minister who earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, telling families in Western Sydney who have been financially ruined as a result of the pandemic to stop with the ‘victim mentality’.

“These are the facts: the Chief Health Officer recommended harsh restrictions be placed on all of Greater Sydney; yet, the government dismissed that advice and instead targeted 12 LGAs in Western Sydney instead.

“The NSW Government deliberately targeted Western Sydney areas in Labor strongholds, while exempting areas in Liberal electorates on the North Shore and in North Sydney.

“That Minister, is the very definition of a two-tiered city.

“In October, the Minister told a Budget Estimates hearing that he had played an active role in imposing harsher restrictions on the 12 LGAs of concern, but “politics and local seats did not come into consideration of our public health response”.

“Even Shane Warne couldn’t spin the Minister out of this mess, of his own creation.

“Residents in those 12 LGAs of concern have every right to feel victimised.

“They have every right to feel like what is good enough for the West is certainly not good enough for the rest.

“What residents in Western Sydney need is a Minister who advocates for them, not against them.

“What residents in Western Sydney need is a Minister who acknowledges and recognises their concerns, frustration and anger – not a Minister that tells them to stop complaining and suck it up.”