Greater Western Sydney is often maligned in the press or in popular culture. It is seen as the home of the ‘bogan’ – the male, blue-singlet-wearing, ute-driving, beer-swilling denizen of the Western Suburbs. Sometimes referred to disparagingly as a ‘Westie’, the bogan is seen as poorly educated, most likely employed in some kind of manual labour or trade, and obsessed with Rugby League.
Such characterisations of the residents of Western Sydney are, of course, both simplistic and false. These characterisations do nothing to address the complexities that are evident across such a large geographic area, and they only reinforce a minimalist view of Australian social and cultural life. Consider this, for a moment: there are more than 1.5 million people living in Western Sydney. This is equivalent to one in every 11 Australians. It is also Australia’s largest growing area, with many thousands of people moving there every year to take advantage of new housing developments and the perceived value for money to be found there, as opposed to Sydney’s more affluent Eastern suburbs.
It is also a place of great cultural diversity. There are more than 200 languages spoken in Western Sydney, from the Maltese of some of the oldest residents in the area, who have lived in Western Sydney since the second world war, to the Sudanese dialects of some of the newest immigrants. It is estimated that more than a quarter of all residents in Western Sydney were either born overseas or have parents who were born overseas.
In addition to these migrant communities, Western Sydney is also home to large numbers of Indigenous Australians. Greater Western Sydney has the largest urban Indigenous population in Australia.
There are vast mixes in levels of affluence, too. There are areas like Mount Druitt and its surrounding suburbs, where the levels of education are low, crime is high and the socio-economic rating is well below the Australian average. However, there are also places that are quite affluent, like Rouse Hill and Kellyville, which were recently identified as amongst Australia’s most desirable suburbs in which to live.
So what does this mean? Firstly, the way ‘the West’ is portrayed by the media is hopelessly negligent and simplistic. It is common for the tabloids to identify shooting as taking place in ‘Western Sydney’ – the area covered by that phrase, and the population within that area, are so vast as to render the term almost meaningless. One could talk about Tasmania, or South Australia and cover the same amount of people.
In addition, certain common links have become part of the media’s vocabulary. Bike Gangs are invariable from Western Sydney. So are gangs of middle Eastern descent. In a shorthand that is, at best lazy and at worst deliberate, the West has become linked in the minds of the viewer with violence and terrorism.