Financial Services and Regulation Minister Joe Hockey has lashed out at the “arrogance and insolence” of Sydney, a city he is working to turn into a global financial centre.

The Minister, who is the MP for Sydney’s North Shore electorate, told a Committee for Sydney function the city needs to grow to 8 million over the next 50 years, and should acquire some “wisdom and sophistication” like Paris, Rome, London or (gasp) Melbourne. He also called for businesses in Sydney to work more closely with the universities.

The Minister’s comprehensive attack on the perceived lack of vision of the NSW Government since the Olympics is being seen in some circles as a form of payback for the torrid time Premier Bob Carr and his Treasurer, Michael Egan, put him through following the collapse of HIH.