When I entered parliament in 2019, I spoke about the future I wanted for Western Sydney: good, skilled jobs close to home; young people not moving away but staying and building careers and lives in Western Sydney; and parents spending less time travelling across Sydney for work and more time with their families. Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport was going to help make that possible. That's why I want it to succeed. But I haven't forgotten what was promised: the transformation of Western Sydney's economy. Advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defence, medical technology and international investment would bring new industries and thousands of skilled jobs to our region. Seven years later, where are those industries?

There's been progress. The airport has supported thousands of construction jobs, and Bradfield's Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility is operating. It's going okay. These are important investments, but an innovation facility isn't a manufacturing industry and an investment announcement isn't a permanent job. I want to know which major manufacturers have established themselves in Western Sydney, my home, what they're producing, how many locals they're employing and what they're exporting. One of the largest developments approved near the airport is Aldi's billion-dollar automated distribution centre. Its projected 585 permanent jobs are welcome. Warehouses and distribution centres have their place, but surely our ambition for Western Sydney goes further than storing and moving goods. We should be making things the world wants to buy. We have Western Sydney University and TAFE educating engineers, scientists, technicians and skilled tradespeople. We have businesses ready to grow and young people who deserve the opportunity to build rewarding careers without having to leave. And we have something else worth protecting, and it's very important: our food bowl. Families around Luddenham have farmed productive land for generations. An international freight airport should create opportunities for food processing, agricultural technology and exporting premium Australian produce. Instead, productive farmland is under pressure, while too little has been done to turn that potential into thriving industries.

This matters beyond Western Sydney. Australia has a productivity problem and a government spending problem. These two things combined are not making us wealthier. Building infrastructure is important, but infrastructure should enable businesses to invest, workers to become more productive and Australian companies to compete internationally. That's how we lift wages, strengthen living standards and create the wealth that funds the services Australians rely on.

Government needs to get the foundations right—reliable infrastructure, education and training and an economic environment that rewards enterprise, investment and hard work—which makes Labor's failure to deliver the infrastructure surrounding this airport all the more frustrating. The airport has opened, but without its promised metro connection. Instead, passengers will rely on a temporary bus from St Marys. A 24-hour international airport needs 24-hour public transport, especially for the airport workers who keep it running overnight.

There's no dedicated aviation fuel pipeline either. Infrastructure Australia estimates future demand could require 50 to 65 B-double tanker deliveries every day, adding pressure to roads already struggling with growth, and families beneath the flight paths are still waiting for promised noise insulation. Most will not receive anything, an issue I have raised with infrastructure minister, Catherine King, countless times. Of 236 eligible properties, 74 applications have been approved, but we're yet to hear of a single installation that has been completed. One resident even invited the Prime Minister and his infrastructure minister to spend a night in her home and experience the aircraft noise themselves.

But the greatest test of this airport isn't whether the government can cut a ribbon or announce another billion dollars in investment; it's whether a young person in Penrith can become an engineer and work locally, whether a manufacturer in St Mary's can win international contracts, whether a farmer in London can reach new markets, and whether parents can spend less time commuting and more time raising their families. That's what economic opportunity looks like. Western Sydney has spent decades being told about its potential. We have the people, the talent, the ambition and now an international airport connecting us to the world.

I want Western Sydney to help lead a more productive, prosperous and self-reliant Australia. We were promised an economic powerhouse. It's time that potential became not just a dream but a true story about Aussie made prosperity.