Australasian Airport Real Estate Conference 2017

1. Western Sydney Airport: Project update
Australasian Airport Real Estate Conference 2017

2. 2 ‘Partnership’ as an Attitude
Since 2004, leaders from the local and global aviation industry
have gathered at the Australasian Airport Real Estate
Conference. This year they gathered in Sydney in September to
discuss key policy issues and developments, share best
practice (and conduct post mortems) and plan for the future of
this vital driver of economic growth and productivity.
Following are notes on key points raised as part of the
discussion on Western Sydney Airport, produced by Norton
Rose Fulbright aviation leader, Tom Young who attended the
conference.
We hope you find our observations from this session of interest.
Norton Rose Fulbright is a Sponsor for the
Australasian Airport Real Estate Conference 2017.
Introduction

3. A tale of three cities 4
Growth and demand 5
Economic development 5
Job growth 6
Land development 7
What problem are we trying to solve? 8
The cultural element 9
Contact us 10
Contents
3 Western Sydney Airport: Project update

4. 4 Private M&A Deal Points Study 2015
• At this year’s Australasian Airport Real Estate Conference
(AAREC) held at Sydney’s Rydges International Airport,
Geoff Roberts, Deputy Chief Commissioner and Economic
Commissioner of Greater Sydney Commission (GSC), spoke
passionately about the role Western Sydney (Badgerys
Creek) Airport will play in creating Sydney’s third city. Geoff
explained GSC’s vision of Sydney’s population being
forecasted at 6.4 million by 2036 living in three distinct future
cities.
• The Eastern City, being the current Sydney CBD and
surrounding eastern suburbs, Central City, being the new
commercial CBD comprising Greater Parramatta, and a new
Western City, being an aerotropolis, with the creation of
Badgerys Creek Airport. One of GSC’s primary roles is to
plan for this forecasted growth.
• GSC is rethinking current planning principles and now
adopting a longer term perspective on planning initiatives.
The site of this new airport is 50 kms from Sydney’s CBD
and already has a population of 2 million people with a
further 1 million people predicted to live in western Sydney
by the 2030s.
A tale of three cities

5. Growth and demand
5
• The GSC has confidence in its forecast as the “west” is simply
balancing Sydney’s future growth. However, these 3 million or
so people must have a thriving economy to work within,
independent and distinct from the current concentration of
employment opportunities in the “east”, otherwise Greater
Sydney will collapse from congestion.
• The daily travel movements of Sydney’s current workforce is
like an octopus. The Sydney CBD is the head and transport
corridors spread out west like tentacles. At present, 200,000
“squinters” drive eastward each morning along congested
roads into the sun and at the end of the day drive back
westward along the same equally congested corridor squinting
towards the setting sun.
• Sydney workers endure some of the longest travel times to
their respective place of employment more than any other
workforce in the world. This daily commute impacts on the
quality of life and household budgets as a typical Western
Sydney worker using a car to get to work travels about 200 kms
per week spending $10,000 per year on running costs and
depreciation. More jobs are needed closer to home for
Western Sydney residents.
Western Sydney Airport: Project update
Economic development
• The GSC is committed to disrupting these travel patterns that
serve an eastern economy. There is no economy in the west
at present.
• The GSC is committed to planning for better job distribution
with Parramatta to become the capital of Greater Sydney and
with education and health as a focus for jobs generation. In
only 10 to 20 years, GSC forecasts that Greater Parramatta
will be a completely separate and independent economy to
that of the Sydney CBD. Fintech jobs will remain centred in
Sydney CBD. However, the game changer and key to a
better job distribution, in the opinion of GSC, is the creation of
an aerotropolis in Western Sydney.
• At present, there is no economy in the west that will create
sufficient employment opportunities for its growing number of
residents. However, the Federal government and NSW’s
GSC both see airports as job generators. According to GSC’s
research, for every job created at an airport, two to three new
jobs are created off-airport. This joint focus by GSC and the
Federal government is not an accident when one considers
that the Prime Minister’s wife, Lucy Turnbull, is the Chief
Commissioner of GSC.

6. Job growth
6
• The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (DIRD) estimates that around
750 jobs are created for every million passengers using the airport. Therefore, if the airport
accommodates 10 million passengers, which is predicted by Stage 1 of the airport opening
in 2026, around 7,500 airport jobs will be created, not to mention over 4,000 additional jobs
projected in the airport business park. DIRD forecasts that Badgerys Creek Airport will
ultimately have a capacity of accommodating 80 million passengers by 2063.
• The maths equates to a very persuasive political message for the Federal coalition
government, whose policies advocate job growth to create a sustainable economy.
• GSC’s plans include developing an aerotropolis at Badgerys Creek, with an economy driven
by the defence and aerospace industries. Located near the airport site is a new Sydney
science park at Luddenham and already Northrop Grumman, one of the world’s leading hi
tech defence and aerospace companies, has committed $50 million to establishing a
presence near the airport that will require workers with skills in aircraft systems and
electronic maintenance.
• Aviation related jobs, such as pilots and crew, engineers and ground staff, will mean new
jobs will arrive in Western Sydney for its growing population. The on-site business park will
attract many different businesses into the area, servicing both the airport’s needs and
enjoying nearby access to Australia’s domestic and international aviation network. This job
growth is in addition to the over 11,000 direct jobs supported during the construction phase
of the airport.
• By 2031, GSC predicts that there will be 9,000 jobs generated at Badgerys Creek Airport.
Western Sydney Airport: Project update

7. Land development
7
• The Western Sydney airport will be built around the 1,780 hectares of
land that was secured by the Hawke Labor government at Badgerys
Creek during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Construction is to start
in 2018 on this $5.3 billion infrastructure project.
Western Sydney Airport: Project update

8. Dr Garth Taylor, General Manager
of Communications, Environment,
Legal and Site Transition in the
Department of Infrastructure and
Regional Development, explained
that the three fundamental
ingredients necessary to
commence the airport development
were now in place.
What problem are we trying to solve?
8 Western Sydney Airport: Project update
Politics
CommunityFinance
Finally, the government now had a
developer to carry out this massive
infrastructure project, with the
formation of WSA Co Limited on 7
August 2017, which will be the
company responsible for the
construction of the Western Sydney
airport. WSA Co will operate as a
Commonwealth company and already
has a board of four directors, with
three further appointments expected in
the coming months.
First, the Federal government
had in its last budget allocated
$5.3 billion to the Western
Sydney airport project.
Second, all necessary approvals have
now been obtained, including the
environmental impact statement and
Western Sydney airport plan last year.

9. The cultural element
9
• Both the State and Federal governments recognise the Badgerys Creek Airport is a once in a lifetime
opportunity to deliver a significant piece of infrastructure that will create investment and job
opportunities in industries such as defence, aerospace, freight and logistics, agribusiness, health,
education and tourism to secure the economic sustainability of Western Sydney.
• If the City of Sydney is still committed to remaining carbon neutral, as the first local council in Australia
to be certified as carbon neutral under the National Carbon Offset Standard, then Western Sydney will
need to integrate renewable energy into its planned aerotropolis.
• On many levels, the Western Sydney Airport project has the potential to be one of Australia’s most
significant and successful civil engineering projects and become a significant national asset for future
Australians.
Western Sydney Airport: Project update

10. Tom Young
Head of Aviation
Brisbane
+61 2 9330 8715
marnie.payne@nortonrosefulbright.com
Noni Shannon
Environment & Planning
Sydney
+61 2 9330 8346
noni.shannon@nortonrosefulbright.com
Contact us
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10 Western Sydney Airport: Project update