Following my letter to the Prime Minister Rudd and Federal Minister Albanese about why Parramatta was not mentioned in their State of Australian Cities 2010 report, I have been invited by the Lord Mayor to attend the Federal Community Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, 15 April 2010 at Epping Boys High School.

The Federal Community Cabinet meeting occurs every so often when the Prime Minister and Ministers of the Crown get to meet with leaders and representatives of the community across Australia.

With Minister Albanese, we will be discussing the Federal Government’s commitment to building infrastructure, including the missing Parramatta-Epping rail link. Such federal funding through the NSW State Government will enable this infrastructure to access more technology and white-collar jobs at Parramatta and the technology corridor of North Ryde and also North Sydney.

With Minister Conroy, we will be discussing our eParra Strategy as a potential funded component to the broader national broadband strategy. eParra not only has the capability to bring the Internet even closer to Parramatta’s residents and businesses, it also will enable developer applications being built in a business/enterprise incubator-model, but also provide value-added features to Parramatta.

And with Minister Garrett, we will be discussing our arts strategy, repositioning Parramatta as also a key centre for cultural and artistic pursuits for the Western Sydney region.

Click here for the letter to Prime Minister Rudd and Minister Albanese asking why Parramatta was forgotten.