NSW election promise tracker

Updated

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Labor Leader Michael Daley have unveiled a suite of promises as people in NSW prepare to head to the polls on March 23. This is what you need to know.

Health

Labor says it will recruit more than 5,500 new nurses and midwives and will mandate nurse-to-patient ratios, which will cost $500 million and be paid for, in part, by increasing duties on luxury boats and cars.

The Opposition has also promised to ban gay conversion therapy as part of a $250 million mental health package and hire an additional 4,900 health workers and hospital staff (like cleaners and admin workers), and an extra 1,500 paramedics.

It says it will spend $100 million for six ice detoxification and rehabilitation clinics across the state, four clinics in set up in regional NSW and two in Sydney.

It says it will invest $158 million on domestic and sexual violence services, including funding a trial for specialist courts and build 200 domestic violence refuge places.

It has also vows to ease pressure on emergency departments by setting up six walk-in nurse stations in Sydney to treat non-urgent illnesses and injuries.

The Coalition has promised to hire 8,300 frontline health workers over the next four years at a cost of $2.8 billion.

This includes 5,000 nurses and midwives, 100 palliative care nurses, 1,060 doctors and specialists, 880 allied health workers and 1,360 support staff.

It has also pledged to double their Active Kids Voucher program, which gives every school-aged child a $100 voucher to spend on sport, to the cost of $291 million.

The Greens want to improve public healthcare by ending public-private partnerships and will focus on providing better services in regional centres so people don't have to travel as far for medical appointments.





Metro

The Coalition has promised $6.4 billion for Metro West over the next four years, and says construction will start in 2020.

It is estimated the total cost of Metro West will be around $18 billion.

It will also build a metro line from St Marys to Western Sydney Airport, at a cost of about $2 billion.

Labor has pledged $8 billion to "fast track" construction of the Metro West line from Parramatta to the CBD.

It has not specified how it will fast track the plan but says it will "at least match" the Government's commitment to open the line by the late 2020s.

The bulk of Labor's funding will come from cancelling projects like the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link.





Regional

Both the Coalition and Labor have pledged to spend the entire $4.2 billion in proceeds from the sale of NSW's stake in the Snowy Hydro scheme in regional NSW.

The Coalition has committed $400 million to eliminate mobile phone blackspots and improve internet reliability and speed in the bush.

It will also spend more than $1.4 billion on dams, weirs and pipelines to improve water security.

Labor has promised a $1 billion "water fund" which it says will help build and upgrade infrastructure in regional areas.

It says it will overhaul the management of the Murray-Darling Basin system to secure water supplies for regional towns and improve environmental flows.

It has also pledged up to $1 billion to clear road maintenance backlogs of local governments in regional areas in accordance with NRMA recommendations.

Hospitals

The Coalition will spend $780 million redeveloping John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and have allocated $1.3 billion to relocating Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital to new site.

It has also promised $750 million towards upgrades at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, $619 million towards the Children's Hospital at Westmead, a combined $864 million for St George and Ryde hospitals, and $428 million towards a children's cancer centre.

Labor is focusing more on regional hospitals, with $200 million allocated for Goulburn Hospital and $434 million for Shoalhaven Hospital.

However, it's also promised $1 billion to redevelop Nepean Hospital and $700 for a hospital in Sydney's north west.

It has vowed to fund three more full-time cardiologists, an independent cardiac director and an additional cardiothoracic surgeon at Sydney Children's Hospital for $6 million.

Green space

The State Government has promised an additional $200 million to deliver more open green spaces in Sydney.

Labor says it will plant six million trees by 2030, pledging $50 million for the plan over the next four years.

This money will also fund land acquisitions for more green space.

Environment and power

The Coalition says it will help around 300,000 households by providing no-interest loans of up to $14,000 to install solar and battery systems.

The Liberals also have a target for NSW to have zero net emissions by 2050.

Labor says it will introduce a renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050, and ban single-use plastic bags.

It says it will spend $505 million to add seven gigawatts of renewable energy to the grid to power up to three million homes.

It is also offering to rebates of up to $2,200 for solar panel installation on about 500,000 homes, and $10 million for more electric car charging stations.

The Coalition will expand their best-price shopping system for gas customers, which they say will make the market more competitive.

The Coalition says it will expand its Energy Switch service — which helps people compare electricity providers — to include gas suppliers.

The Greens want to make it illegal to mine, burn or export thermal coal by 2030 and bring back a carbon price to achieve zero emissions by 2040.

Stadiums

The Coalition's initial $2.5 billion blueprint included demolishing and rebuilding the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) at Moore Park and Stadium Australia at Homebush.

After a backlash, Premier Berejiklian announced a change, saying Stadium Australia would be only refurbished, saving taxpayers about $500 million.

Labor will not change anything at Stadium Australia, and says it will make the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust pay for any refurbishment or redevelopment at the SFS.

Opposition leader Michael Daley says he will sack unelected members of the SCG Trust board.





Education

Labor has promised to put $2.7 billion into public schools, which would make NSW the first state to meet the Gonski funding recommendations.

It has also committed to spend $7.4 billion building or upgrading 204 schools across the state.

It has promised to hire 5,000 extra teachers over its first four years.

It has pledged to build more than 50 new schools if it wins the election, and install air conditioning in every public school.

It has promised to spend $500 million to extend early childhood education funding to every three-year-old.

It has also vowed to provide school-aged children using opal cards with free access to public transport to the tune of $165 million.

The Coalition is spending $500 million to install air conditioning in 1,000 schools over the next five years.

Religious and private schools would also receive $500 million for additional classrooms and upgraded facilities over four years under a Coalition Government.

It has also pledged $2 billion to hire an additional 4,600 teachers over the next four years.

It has also promised to build or upgrade 170 schools if it wins another term, and order schools to stay open from 7am to 6pm to provide more out-of-hours care.

The Coalition has pledged to create an extra 2,300 pre-school places for children aged 3 and 4 if it wins a third term.





Roads

The Coalition has promised $14 billion in initial funding to build the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link.

It has also pledged $2.6 billion to fund the first stage of the F6 extension from Arncliffe to Kogarah.

The Coalition has also committed several billion dollars towards individual road projects and upgrades across Sydney and NSW, and an additional $450 million to expand their existing $825-million pinch-point program to improve congested roads.

It has also pledged $2.5 billion to duplicate 31km of the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Lithgow, to be completed by 2028.

Labor says it will reinstate the M4 cashback scheme which has been costed at around $113 million.

It has also pledged $1.1 billion to expand the State Government's pinch-point program, and $900 million over five years to improve safety on rural roads.

It has also promised to scrap proposed projects such as the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches link and F6 extension so it can fund its promises on the Metro West and improve the existing rail network.

TAFE

Labor has promised to make TAFE free for 600,000 students over the next 10 years. The policy has been costed at $64.5 million over four years, but funding for the remaining six years has yet to be announced.

The Coalition has promised almost 700,000 free TAFE and VET courses over the next four years. This has been costed at around $2 billion.

It has also pledged $80 million for a new "mega TAFE" campus in western Sydney and $64 million for eight new regional TAFE campuses.

The Greens also want to make TAFE free for all students doing courses up to Certificate IV, while increasing funding by $200 million over four years.

Housing

The Coalition has promised to invest almost $90 billion into infrastructure — including roads, schools, hospitals and transport links — to support Sydney's growing housing development sector.

Its policy will focus on increasing supply of homes at "reasonable prices" and "accelerating the delivery of infrastructure" to increased demands.

Labor has pledged to revisit housing supply targets set by the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) to ensure density was "spread fairly" and not concentrated in western Sydney.

It has also promised it would conduct a "full audit" of all public-owned land and create an "affordable housing land register", mandating 25 per cent of houses on government-owned land and 15 per cent of privately developed land was affordable.

If elected, it will also create a strata commissioner to oversee rights and policy for those living in strata and community title schemes.

The Greens plan to build 300,000 social homes and say everyone will be able to apply for social housing, with rents capped at 25 per cent of their income.

Police

The Coalition has pledged $580 million to recruit an additional 1,500 NSW Police officers over four years to focus on child and elder abuse.

The Opposition has announced it will spend $80 million to upgrade police stations and an additional $12 million for rehabilitation programs to assist injured officers.

Arts

The Coalition has announced plans to reopen Sydney's Theatre Royal, and says it has committed to a 45-year lease at the 1,180-seat venue.

The Theatre Royal has been closed since 2016, and Arts Minister Don Harwin claimed that was one reason several major stage shows had chosen to open Australian tours in Melbourne.



Topics: government-and-politics, elections, state-elections, states-and-territories, state-parliament, nsw

First posted