The prime minister and federal opposition leader have flown into New South Wales to support the Liberal and Labor state election campaign launches, as a new poll show Labor with a slender lead over the incumbent Coalition government.

Scott Morrison will join Premier Gladys Berejiklian at the Liberal campaign launch in Sydney’s south-west on Sunday ahead of the 23 March poll.

Meanwhile, Bill Shorten will speak at the NSW Labor campaign launch with opposition leader Michael Daley, also to be held in Sydney’s south-west, at Revesby.

The premier will use the launch to announce a new program which will give every child in NSW access to before-and-after school care by 2021.

Under the program, every primary school will open playgrounds, classrooms and halls so children can be cared for from 7am until 6pm, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Education will be a key part of Daley’s speech with the opposition leader to pledge $2.7bn to fully fund public schools and bring them in line with the Gonski commitment.

The extra funds will mean 100% of the standard level of funding for every student is delivered by 2027, according to the Sun-Herald.

Daley will also announce that if elected, Labor will introduce nurse-to-patient ratios in mental health units in the state’s hospitals.

While Sunday’s events may signal the beginning of an official launch, campaigning has been under way for months as leaders battle it out in a bid to win over voters.

A new poll indicates Labor leads the coalition 51% to 49% on a two-party preferred basis with Daley ahead of Berejiklian as preferred premier.

The UComms/ReachTel poll, published in the Sun-Herald, also shows the Coalition’s primary vote has dropped to 28.7% while Labor’s remains steady at 34.1%.

Debate during the campaign has centred around spending on Sydney stadiums with the premier under scrutiny over the demolition and reconstruction of Allianz Stadium.

Berejiklian has argued the government was spending close to $90bn on other infrastructure in NSW and also insisted education funding was not suffering.

Daley has threatened to sack members of the SCG Trust’s board that oversees the Moore Park sporting facilities.





