Macquarie Park. Core businesses unaffected

Metcash, based at Macquarie Park, said its four core business – Australian Liquor Marketers, Campbells Wholesale, IGA>D and Mitre 10 – had been unaffected by the Queensland floods, but some of its major customers had been affected.

Liverpool. Company to supply NBN Co

Prysmian Cables and Systems Australia, based at Liverpool, will supply equipment to the national broadband network. The company’s Italian-based parent has won a five-year contract worth up to $300 million with NBN Co. The company has manufacturing facilities at Liverpool and Dee Why. Prysmian's presence in Australia began in 1975 trading as Pirelli Cables Australia Ltd manufacturing both power and telecommunications cables in Minto.

Macquarie Park. Sonic expands overseas

Sonic Healthcare, Australia's biggest provider of pathology services based at Macquarie Park, has paid $54 million for KBL-BML-Unilabo and Woestyn Laboratory, in Belgium, and made its first foray into the Californian market, paying $30 million for Physicians Automated Laboratory. Sonic managing director Colin Goldschmidt said the acquisitions were part of the company's growth strategy in Europe and the US and added there were more to come.

Parramatta. Funding may be reconsidered

The federal government’s funding for Nation Building 2 infrastructure projects, including the $2.1 billion Parramatta to Epping Rail Link, may be reconsidered in favour of rebuilding road, rail, water and power utilities damaged or destroyed by floods. The chairman of Infrastructure Australia, Rod Eddington, said the size of the task and cost of rebuilding would be enormous, maybe “gargantuan”, according to The Australian Financial Review

Parramatta. SMH supports rail link

The Epping-Parramatta link is a fully developed project ready for immediate work, and will be an extremely useful short-cut in the metropolitan rail system, enabling workers from the west to get to jobs in the knowledge-industry belt north of the harbour and Parramatta River, The Sydney Morning Herald said in an editorial supporting the link over the north-west and south-west links. Coalition leader, Barry O'Farrell, has signalled his disagreement with the allocation of $2.1 billion of Canberra money to build the Epping to Parramatta rail link, a deal likely to be approved soon by the Premier, Kristina Keneally. Mr O'Farrell would do better by pledging to build the north-west (Epping to Rouse Hill) line and the south-west (Leppington to Glenfield) line as soon as possible, and demand that Canberra properly helps fund this essential infrastructure for Australia's main city, the editorial said.