On 5 March 2010, the Federal Government published the State of Australian Cities 2010 Report. The Report draws together existing data and information across a range of economic, social and environmental parameters to provide a national snapshot of the 17 Australian cities with populations over 100,000 at the 2006 Census, and discusses the vision of the Rudd Government in terms of meeting the needs of Australians in terms of infrastructure.

“I note with interest that the City of Parramatta was not once mentioned in the 161 page Federal Government Report. For fear of Parramatta being overlooked or even taken for granted, it was my intention to bring this to the attention of the Prime Minister,” said Parramatta’s Deputy Lord Mayor Clr Chiang Lim in his letter to the Prime Minister.

Based on the described parameters by Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese MP, Parramatta exceeds every one of those parameters for inclusion in the Report. Parramatta is also ranked the 6th largest central business district of Australia, yet Parramatta was not included in the Report’s list of 17 cities. The Report’s Appendix B also describes a list of major suburbs as major cities, but Parramatta is not listed.

“The City of Parramatta also happens to be working on Australia’s largest government re-development project conservatively estimated at $1.4 billion. It may also be the only city proposing to be the first to implement wireless Internet access. It has Australia’s largest hospital and medical research institute, Australia’s second largest legal precinct, and headquarters of a number of major organisations including Sydney Water and NSW Police. And as an indicator, Westfield’s in Parramatta counts 28 million visitations annually,” said Clr Lim.

Parramatta's catchment of 500,000 more residents and 34% more office workers living within a 15 km radius of Parramatta's CBD than Sydney’s CBD makes Parramatta even more deserving of support and further assistance especially in terms of infrastructure and services just to cope with the inherent demand of the ever expanding Sydney and Western Sydney.

"Civic leaders and I would welcome the Prime Minister back to Parramatta to provide him and his Cabinet with a more personalised briefing should they need one," said Clr Lim.

State of Australian Cities 2010 Report link - http://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/files/MCU_SOAC.pdf

Click here for a copy of the Deputy Lord Mayor Clr Chiang Lim’s letter to the Prime Minister

Click here for sample print-friendly photos of Clr Chiang Lim (18 Mb)