Introduction
NSW deserves better.
So let's not pull any punches - the Minns Labor Government is a bad, bungling government:
• They've lost control of the Budget.
• They've imposed a lazy, arrogant, one size fits all approach to housing, that's only seen things get worse.
• They've got no plan to address the cost of living.
• They've got no vision for our future.
• They've blamed everyone, but themselves.
• And they've been letting down the households, families and businesses of NSW.
NSW deserves better.
It deserves a Government that's focused on the people of this State –
not one focused on doing the bidding of their Labor mates in Canberra
or kneeling before their union masters.
So it's more important than ever to have the strong, ambitious team I lead holding this bad government to account.
We're listening to people right across our state – from the city to the regions.
We're up for the fight – and so it's been the Opposition, not the Government, leading the debate on so many issues that matter to the people of our great state.
Budget
Chris Minns and NSW Labor have lost control of the Budget.
Their unfunded union wage deals have already blown a $9.5 billion hole in the Budget. That hole continues to grow.
Before the election Chris Minns promised his union masters big pay rises – and told the taxpayer it would cost nothing.
You don't have to be an accountant to know that was never going to work.
And now the reality is hitting home. To make up for their blowouts:
• They've slashed crucial cost of living support for families.
• They've slashed funding for our police, our schools and our hospitals.
• They've even slashed funding for the dying – with cruel cuts to palliative care.
• They've broken their promise of no new or increased taxes.
They've now all but lost our Triple A credit rating.
Chris Minns has to take responsibility for the mess he's created.
He has to stop blaming everyone else for his budget blowouts.
He has to stand up to Anthony Albanese and his Labor mates in Canberra, instead of giving in…
• Like he did on housing…
• Like he did on immigration…
• Like he did on the GST…
• Like he did on federal infrastructure cuts…
This is a bloke who refuses to pick up the phone to Albo to fight for NSW.
We're just weeks away from Labor's second Budget – but we don't need to wait to know what their bungling will look like:
• More pressure on family budgets.
• More pressure on renters and first home buyers.
• More pressure on schools and hospitals.
• More deals for Labor's union masters.
• More debt and more cuts.
That's why it's so important that we hold this government to account – and fight back against cuts impacting people right across NSW.
Housing
Both here in NSW, and at a Federal level – it's been the Liberals who are putting forward the policy ideas to resuscitate the dream of home ownership in Australia.
We want to see young people have choice and the ability to become homeowners – something that's becoming limited to those
who have access to the Bank of Mum and Dad.
But Labor's lazy, arrogant, one size fits all approach to housing
is only seeing things get worse.
Under this Government, building approvals have fallen to the lowest level in a decade.
After a year of Labor, in the year to March, dwelling approvals have dropped to around 45,000, which is 5,500 less than last year's figure, a fall of nearly 11%.
The Government admits that financial feasibility is a key factor holding back new housing construction. So why introduce a new housing tax – increasing the cost of a new home by $12,000?
With rising house prices and skyrocketing rents, there's obviously no lack of demand. So why roll over and accept Canberra's immigration failures?
And with the need to work with people to get houses built… Why literally tell communities to "get out of the way"?
And with young people in our state struggling more than ever to get into the housing market… Why scrap the First Home Buyer Choice program?
We'd be doing things differently to address the housing crisis:
• We'd be working with communities to identify suitable locations for extra housing, with access to transport, schools, hospitals and essential services.
• We'd be engaging with Canberra to reduce Australia's record immigration, to reduce pressure on rents and improve housing affordability.
• We'd be removing the burden of stamp duty on young people, by reintroducing the First Home Buyer Choice program.
• We'd be providing stamp duty exemptions for older people looking to downsize, to free up larger homes for families.
• We'd be providing incentives for local councils to work with communities to meet and beat their housing targets.
Chris Minns and Labor have wasted a year responding to the housing crisis with their bungling, arrogant approach – we don't have more time to waste.
Community safety
I'd like now to turn to the Liberals' response to recent law and safety challenges here in NSW.
Here in NSW:
• We've seen social cohesion degraded, fuelled by international events.
• We've seen the rise of antisemitism.
• We've seen continued gang warfare.
• We've seen the escalation of youth crime in our regions.
• We've seen much publicised and debated tragic cases of domestic and family violence.
• We've seen major incidents that have tested our state's resolve:
o The Bondi Junction tragedy.
o The Wakeley terrorism incident.
o Regular protests about events in the Middle East.
These challenges require a timely and proportionate response from government. It's been the Liberals leading the debate. It's been the Liberals putting forward the ideas to keep our community safe.
To combat knife crime, we were the first to propose the use of
new, non-invasive wanding powers by police anywhere, at any time.
I recently met with Brett and Belinda Beasley, the parents of Jack Beasley, whose death in a Surfers Paradise knife attack led to the introduction of Jack's Law in Queensland. In 12 months, Jack's Law saw over 500 knives taken off the streets. The Beasleys supported the introduction of similar laws in NSW as quickly as possible, and as wide ranging as possible.
We're disappointed that the Government's proposed laws don't go as far as what we've called for. Instead they're limited to public transport and declared areas. We'll keep pursuing this, to back in our police and keep our communities safe.
Like with Jack's Law, it's been the Opposition leading on commonsense bail reform in NSW.
We know that any Government's response to violence against women and children needs to be holistic and far broader than just bail reform. It has to look at changing attitudes, early intervention with victim-survivors and perpetrators, safe places for victim-survivors to stay or to escape, and
recovery from trauma, including for children to avoid intergenerational cycles of violence - but bail reform now is an important start.
We need reform to keep the most serious domestic violence offenders off our streets – or under strict electronic monitoring.
We know electronic monitoring works.
When we were in government, in 2016 we started the Domestic Violence Electronic Monitoring Program, for convicted offenders on parole or on intensive corrections orders.
After we left government, last year the state's crime statisticians, BOCSAR for short, published their analysis of around 1,000 offenders and found that electronic monitoring was associated with a 33% reduction in domestic violence reoffending.
It now makes sense to extend it to bail – and it's critical that we act now.
So earlier this month the NSW Opposition introduced into Parliament our own bill to strengthen bail laws in NSW. Our bill proposes:
• electronic monitoring for those on bail charged with serious domestic violence offences
• suspending the grant of bail for those on bail charged with serious domestic violence offences and
• magistrates not registrars dealing with bail for serious personal violence changes.
We're pleased to see that the Government's subsequent announcement on bail reform picks up those ideas. We're more than happy for them to copy our homework.
But we're disappointed that they didn't support our efforts to suspend the business of Parliament to work constructively and collaboratively with them to pass their own new bail laws urgently.
We want consideration of these new laws to be the top priority when Parliament resumes next month.
We stand ready to work constructively and collaboratively to get new laws passed – in response to both knife crime and domestic violence.
Conclusion
To sum up, as an Opposition we're focused on
• holding the Government to account,
• leading when the Government falters, and
• providing a voice for households, families and businesses across NSW.
We're still nearly three years away from the next NSW election,
but you can be confident that our team is already proactive and looking forward, working on practical solutions to meet our challenges now.
With your ongoing support, we can keep the pressure on Labor –
and, in 2027, we can restore good government here in NSW.
