A $70 million contract for a western Sydney business powering the city's shift to electric buses will begin a "manufacturing renaissance" in NSW, according to the premier.
Dominic Perrottet says the contract for Custom Denning to deliver a further 79 electric buses from its St Marys factory will also create 40 apprenticeships, as local manufacturing becomes a "substantial focus" of the government.
"This is all about creating local jobs for local people to help our local communities thrive," Mr Perrottet said on Monday.
Custom Denning's electric bus was approved by the Transport for NSW procurement panel last year and more than 20 had previously been ordered after trials by bus operators around Sydney.
The new buses are slated to deliver services in Sydney's inner west.
The government plans to transition about 8000 diesel and gas buses to electric by the end of the decade.
Transport Minister David Elliott says the electric shift is part of "the next industrial revolution" that will "see cities evolve as much cleaner destinations".
Mr Elliott was appointed to the position in December amid a challenging time for transport in NSW, with procurement issues surrounding foreign-built trains, ferries, and trams providing ammunition for the government's critics.
The decision to build locally may provide "goodwill" with unions who have been calling on the government to increase local manufacturing of transport assets, but the decision is "a concession to the taxpayers", not the unions.
"We're happy to pay for quality, and what we see with this product is not something that went to the lowest bidder at the earliest and the quickest opportunity," Mr Elliott said.
Mr Perrottet says the state hasn't "got the balance right in the past" when it comes to local manufacturing and has lost "opportunities for us to manufacture onshore".
Doing so comes "at potentially a higher price, but a higher price meaning more jobs and better business opportunities for the people of our state", he said.
