Speaking at an infrastructure conference on Thursday, the Premier said Sydney was experiencing a "new frontier".

"The reason it's new is because the city hasn't seen this in a long, long time," he said.

"That is, when infrastructure is built it causes significant disruption."

The government has been battling complaints over the demolition of houses in the inner west to make way for the WestConnex and the impact of construction of light rail in George Street in the Sydney CBD.

The government is also preparing to partially privatise the NSW electricity network and expects to have $20 billion to spend on projects including a second Sydney Harbour rail crossing.

Mr Baird noted that his father, former NSW transport minister Bruce Baird, received death threats when the M2 motorway was being built.

He said the government "can't dismiss concerns that are raised as projects are delivered. You have to listen very carefully".

He conceded that governments including his need "to do a better job in terms of community engagement".

"But at the same time it is the new world," he said. "And the new world is: if you want to build the infrastructure that we need, there will be significant disruption. It will cause inconvenience."

The Premier said some people's reaction was: "Well that must be stopped and fixed immediately!"

"Well it can't be," he argued. "It can be minimised, it can be managed and that's what we'll be focusing on over the next few years.

"But the message for Sydney and NSW is: expect the inconvenience to come," he warned.

"Because all of these projects will cause disruption, they will cause inconvenience. But we have to take the long term view.

"And the long term view is that how does this city look when the infrastructure is completed? And that's the exciting thing."

Mr Baird highlighted the difficulties experienced building the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

"And no one would question those now."

During his address Mr Baird reflected on his success at taking the unpopular electricity privatisation policy to the March election and winning.

"This is the message to every government – at the core if you are actually fighting for what you believe in [and] you know is right for the state, then you are fighting in the interests of the people you are there to serve," he said.

Mr Baird said he believed that voters valued "an honest discussion" about difficult reforms.

"My sense is, you do the right thing in the long term the politics will take care of itself," he said.