Sydney Summit as it happened: City’s leaders discuss big ideas for the future

Former NSW Liberal energy minister Matt Kean has condemned the Coalition’s nuclear election pitch, saying we must focus on renewables instead of being “distracted by unicorns”.

“The best way to ensure reliable, cheap and clean electricity is to build new generation into the system, and that’s why renewables are the only solution to meeting our energy needs. Now, into the future, anyone talking about other technologies is arguing for higher prices”, he said in a panel at the Sydney Summit.

The current system that facilitates the pathway to create more clean energy farms is stalling projects and must become more efficient, says Kean, who chairs the Climate Change Authority, which provides climate advice to the federal government.

“The fact that it takes 492 days for a renewable project to see SSI approval means that you see a blowout in [the] time it takes to build that new capacity that we really need right now, in wind farms and solar farms of between two and four years. That’s increasing the cost of these projects by 25 times and flows through to consumers,” he said.

“We can remove a lot of that red tape and get that cheap, reliable and clean electricity into the system today. We don’t need to wait for a shooting bullet in 20 years’ time.”

Australia has more than doubled its capacity to adopt renewables in the last five years, which since 2018 has accounted for nearly 40 per cent of Australia’s energy needs, Kean said.

“We have the policies in place right now that will turbocharge the agenda to ensure that we’re not only getting cheaper … clean energy but also getting reliable energy.”

“We’re in a race against time to replace our ageing coal-fired power stations, and you can extend these coal-fired power stations, [but] that doesn’t make them more reliable. That’s the reality.”

NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully says his desire to increase density in Sydney will not end suburbia, but the city needs more choice when it comes to housing.

The first planning minister to live in an apartment was asked about the proliferation of new suburbs of “black roofs” by the Herald’s urban affairs reporter Anthony Segaert. He said Labor’s planning reforms, despite striving for density, would not end new greenfield developments.

“You won’t see the end of them ... people want the choice,” he said.

Scully said it was wrong to think that people in Sydney are always seeking proximity to the CBD.

“When you go around south-west Sydney, there are still opportunities there, and people don’t want to move to the city,” he said.

Scully said the results of the Life in Sydney report from the Committee for Sydney and Ipsos were encouraging, with more people supporting density in their own suburbs as a solution to the housing crisis.

“I think people are starting to recognise we can’t continue to do things the way we have in the last decade, with the same outcome,” he said.

That’s the end of the 2025 Sydney Summit, thank you for joining our live coverage. Here are some of the takeaways that have been shared by some of the brightest minds on our city’s future:

• NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully told Herald reporter Anthony Segaert about the need for increased diversity in housing choices for Sydneysiders.
• Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis said the construction sector’s productivity output needed to be addressed to fix the housing crisis.
• Support for high-density housing was shared by many panellists and Sydneysiders alike as a fix to the housing crisis, as shown by data published today.
• Former NSW Liberal energy minister Matt Kean condemned the Coalition’s pitch for nuclear energy, urging Australians not to be “distracted by unicorns”.
• Former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr shared his thoughts on the impact of Trump’s presidency, and his passion for tariffs, on Australia.
• Playgrounds in junkyards were pitched as a new way to address childhood play in the city. Arts worker and creative place maker Bethan Donnelly presented her idea to the audience at the summit, but spoke in depth to the Herald’s Sydney editor Megan Gorrey.

Herald photographer Flavio Brancaleone is covering the Sydney Summit live from the Grand Ballroom of the ICC. Check out his photos of the event here.