New South Wales premier Barry O鈥橣arrell calls project 鈥渁 shot in the arm鈥� to revinvigorate Sydney

Construction has begun on architect Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners鈥� 拢3.3bn Barangaroo development in Sydney Harbour.

New South Wales premier Barry O鈥橣arrell visited the southern end of Barangaroo last week when work officially commenced.

He said of the scheme: 鈥淭oday marks an important milestone in the transformation of Barangaroo, which is crucial to creating jobs, attracting investment to NSW and giving Sydney one of the best new waterfront developments in the world.

鈥淭his project is a shot in the arm for the State鈥檚 construction sector 鈥� Barangaroo will create 9,000 jobs during construction.鈥�

The harbour makeover has faced considerable public opposition, with critics claiming features such as a 230-metre-tall hotel would resemble 鈥渢he worst of Dubai 鈥榣ook at me鈥� architecture鈥�.

Mr O鈥橣arrell brushed off such concerns, saying: 鈥淭he NSW Government has decided to get on with delivering Barangaroo 鈥� without any more tinkering of the design of the major features, which are already world class.鈥�

He went on: 鈥淭his $6 billion transformation is set to reinvigorate Sydney鈥檚 position as a global city and financial services hub in the Asia Pacific region and is one of the most significant waterfront redevelopments in the world.

鈥淲hen complete, 23,000 people will work in the precinct and up to 33,000 people will visit the site each day.

鈥淎s well as being a great place to live and visit, Barangaroo will form the newest hub of Sydney鈥檚 financial services and it will rival the financial headquarters of Asia.鈥�

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