By Sky News, 30 March 2011

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says he's appointing himself minister for western Sydney to ensure the area is given priority under the new government.

This would bring western Sydney's 'significant' economy to the forefront of the political agenda, Mr O'Farrell told Fairfax Radio network on Wednesday.

'It's in recognition that western Sydney, which is a significant economy - it's one of the third or fourth biggest economies in Australia - has been neglected, hasn't been supported, hasn't been given the right priority I think under successive Labor governments over the past 16 years,' he said.

'If we're to give people in western Sydney the services, the infrastructure, the jobs, the opportunities they deserve, it needs priority and I thought to myself, well best to do what I've done over the past four years.'

Since 2007, Mr O'Farrell has been working as the opposition spokesman for western Sydney, a job he said he had thoroughly enjoyed.

'I've had a great time in getting out and meeting people, meeting community groups, meeting businesses, seeing just how extraordinarily talented people are with the opportunities they have but also the backlog, the need to fix things,' he said.

Under the new coalition government, delivering infrastructure such as express train services and more roads would be one of their priorities.

'It's those roads that have been long promised, not the big roads but the smaller roads, like the Werrington bypass that would make a significant difference to people's lives (or) the on-off ramps from the M4 that on a Saturday morning, as well as in peak hour, clog back,' he said.

'Whether it's the reopening of those beds in Nepean and Blacktown and Westmead hospitals, whether it's the extra police, whether it's the literacy (and) numeracy tests which are critical, that's what I want to make sure occurs across western Sydney, as indeed we're committed to do it across the whole state.

'But I just want to make sure that western Sydney in particular gets a share, that western Sydney has equal opportunities to anyone else who lives anywhere in Sydney and that western Sydney understands the Liberal Party is determined to govern for all people.'

(Click here for the original article on Sky News.)