Tony Abbott vows to champion his home town of Sydney Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott with David Robertson tours the Austral Brick factory in Launceston / Pic: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images Source: Getty Images TONY Abbott has vowed to get Sydney moving again if he is elected Prime Minister, claiming the city and its suburbs had suffered decades of neglect by local, state and federal governments. Warning that the country's largest metropolis could no longer rest on its laurels, Mr Abbott said that cities like Melbourne now put it to shame and good fortune was no longer enough to rely on. In a not so subtle dig at his State Liberal Party colleague, Premier Barry O'Farrell, the Opposition leader said the "tempo" had to lift. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, four days before the election, Mr Abbott said all levels of government had failed Sydney since the Olympic boom and had a "lot to learn" from Melbourne. I've lived in Sydney almost all my life, Sydney is a great city...it's a dynamic, vital, boisterous, exuberant city, it is blessed with the most magnificent harbour, some of the world's most beautiful beaches, some fabulous urban bushland...it is a really, really great city that has been kissed by God effectively. But the problem is we have been resting on our laurels for the last decade at least...since the Olympics Sydney has been basically sitting back, just relying on good fortune to carry us through. Signalling a frustration at the lack of action from the O'Farrell government on a number of projects, Mr Abbott suggested it was time for the Premier to get a wriggle on. I don't want to tell Barry what to do...and I'm sure Barry is equally keen to lift the tempo of things. Shadow Education minister Christopher Pyne stands with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in Adelaide / Pic: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images Source: Getty Images But I want to do what I can reasonably do to help...and that is to revitalise the economy, restore confidence and contribute decisively to major infrastructure projects. Mr Abbott said the first of his three key priorities in a first term of a Coalition government would be to start construction of the State Government's Westconnex motorway project - which he has committed $1.5 billion toward. The second was completing the link from the F3 north of Sydney to the orbital network. The third commitment was to a second airport, "somewhere" in Sydney. He will be backed by three of his most senior Sydney based Cabinet Ministers, if elected on Saturday in Joe Hockey, Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull. In a comparison that is likely to sting the O'Farrell government, he said while Sydney had languished since the Olympic boom, its southern rival Melbourne had boomed and should serve as a model for Sydney planners. Melbourne makes the most of itself Melbourne's architecture, Melbourne's city life, often puts Sydney to shame. We have a lot to learn from Melbourne, hopefully State government and city council ought to be learning from that. There are a lot of things that Sydney needs that are the state governments responsibility...in the end state Governments run cities, national governments run countries. (But) we have got to get Westconnex built...we have got to stop the guns coming in which are creating a climate of fear in parts of the city. We have to get confidence back....and a government that wants to work with business and not against business is critical to that. The longer term project is Sydney's aviation issues. In the short term, fixing the infrastructure around the airport is critical...in the longer term some additional airport capacity, however, wherever that may happen is very important. Mr Abbott accused the Rudd and Gillard governments of ignoring Sydney and paying lip service to its infrastructure and economic needs. It's interesting, when the current government has spent almost nothing on major infrastructure in Sydney and they claim it was because the former state government had no projects to go when they were in the business of handing out money. Plainly its failure has been bigger than usual when it comes to Sydney. Mr Abbott, despite only having lived and worked a year in western Sydney (Emu Plains and Silverwater) said he understood the region's needs, acknowledging that people of the west paid a premium to live in Sydney, due to higher prices. Property prices are higher, congestion is greater, a lot of the general amenity of the place is under pressure. I guess being a Sydneysider and being familiar with western Sydney, I mean I lived and worked in western Sydney (for a year) it helps.