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Traditional rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne

*Continued from page 20

How will this affect traditional rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne?

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Melbourne has for decades revelled in its status as underdog. Now it's overtaken Sydney as the biggest Australian city, it's actually a bit of an anticlimax, experts say

“They're roughly the same size, they're both international cities, which is really important for Australia, and there's huge movement between the two,” Professor McDonald says “I think the rivalry thing has disappeared a bit, and when it comes to business, the two cities cooperate very substantially now That wasn't the case in the past when there was more of a rivalry between them ”

Dr Bob Birrell (pictured left) describes the rivalry as “ridiculous” but admits it's “taken very seriously in Melbourne” “The property and finance interests have hinged on Melbourne's continued population growth Its growth was a lifeline ”

But many residents don't see population growth as a good thing “Costs and congestion are just getting bigger and bigger Most people can see that population growth is simply delivering competition for services ”

CarolineRiches, AymenBaghdadi

(Source: SBS News)

O'Neil's denials, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley accused Labor of pursuing a “Big Australia” policy.

“It's unplanned and not linked to the skills crisis that we're seeing all around us,” she told Sky News. “There are hundreds of thousands fewer migrants in the country now than we thought would be here before the pandemic, and we still face very substantial difficulties with housing ”

FinnMcHugh (Source: SBS New)

The long-awaited result of NSW

The NSW Electoral Commission computer on April 19 revealed the longawaited results of the Legislative Council (Upper House) count following the March 25 NSW state election

Twenty-one candidates were elected for the next eight years, with the Labor government securing eight spots and the Coalition seven. They join the 21 Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) who are continuing their terms Of these MLC is Mark Buttigieg One Nation secured one seat, that of state party leader Mark Latham.

The results have determined the overall makeup of the Legislative Council and show how the newly elected Minns government will need to rely on the crossbench to pass legislation if the Coalition opposes

Both Labor and the Coalition have 15 members in total, but traditionally a government member is elected as president, which will leave Labor with 14 members Labor will now have to rely on votes from seven of the 12 crossbench members without opposition support