Category: NSW News

Waiting times will be dramatically reduced for children who need surgery under a NSW Liberals & Nationals Government, with a commitment to deliver 8000 additional paediatric operations.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the $45 million investment will strengthen the State’s on-time paediatric surgery performance, which sits at 97 per cent – its highest level ever.
“No other NSW Government has ever invested as much in health and one of the benefits is the dramatic improvement in on-time paediatric specialist surgery times,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Our healthcare system is already world-class and this investment will do even more to help get children in and out of hospital quickly, easing the burden on parents and carers.”
The funding will employ an additional 10 doctors and 25 nurses in the public system to deliver on this commitment, as well as utilising spare capacity in private hospitals. In NSW, 97 per cent of paediatric specialist surgery is performed on time compared to 86 per cent under Labor.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said NSW already has the best on-time elective surgery rates in Australia but this funding will ensure children needing minor operations are back at home with their families even faster.
“We want to remove any obstacles to a child’s social and learning development and get them back home as quick as we can. Surgeries to remove tonsils, grommets and adenoids which are usually classified as semi and non-urgent, can also help kids overcome educational and behavioural issues, so this initiative gets a gold star,” Mr Hazzard said.
The investment is expected to reduce the time taken to receive non-urgent elective surgeries by around three months, and halve the time taken to receive semi-urgent elective surgeries. Urgent elective surgeries are already delivered as soon as possible.
In 2018-19, the NSW Government is investing a record $25 billion in health, a $1.1 billion increase over the 2017-18 Budget.

Thousands of elderly people struggling with poor vision from cataracts will have faster access to surgical services under a NSW Liberals & Nationals Government.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the $31 million funding boost would deliver an extra 10,000 cataract surgeries over the next four years.
“Cataracts impact the lives of so many of our senior citizens – in fact, in NSW cataract removal is already the most common elective surgery, so we want to make it even easier to access,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“This investment will help provide a better quality of life for our seniors and ensure we are ready to provide the services for our ageing population in the future.”
The $31 million will fund 46 clinical staff including nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists – ensuring more cataract surgeries occur than ever before.
The funding will also reduce the time between accessing surgery on a patient’s first and second eye.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said one in three people aged over 65 have clinically significant cataracts, which affects their ability to live independently and places them at risk of injury from falls.
“Thanks to the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government, 99 per cent of people receive their surgery within clinically recommended timeframes, up from 91 per cent under Labor,” Mr Hazzard said.
“However, we are committed to doing even better – this investment will ensure people receive their surgery even faster.”
Cataract removal is already the most common elective surgery with 24,546 patients admitted in NSW public hospitals in 2017-18. In comparison, Labor only provided 19,104 cataract surgeries in 2009-10.
“Our Government’s focus on cataract treatment confirms the Liberals & Nationals’ commitment to getting it done for NSW residents,” Mr Hazzard said.

In the largest workforce boost in the history of Australian healthcare, patients will gain an extra 5000 nurses and midwives under a NSW Liberals & Nationals Government.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the unprecedented workforce rise over four years obliterates Labor’s pledge, which does not have the economic credentials to match it.
“We are investing $2.8 billion to recruit thousands of extra nurses, midwives and frontline staff to care for patients, far more than Labor promised,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Labor promised hundreds of nurses across NSW in its election material but the Liberals & Nationals are boosting frontline staff numbers to figures never seen before.
“Patients in NSW will now have more nurses to look after them and nurses will have more colleagues to share the workload – all due to our strong economic management.”
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said almost half the new nurses and midwives employed will be in regional areas. In total, 8300 frontline staff, including doctors, allied health and other professionals will be added to the workforce, with 45 per cent in the regions.
“Whether you are in Byron or Bombala, Broken Hill or Bulahdelah, Wagga Wagga or Walgett, you will get the care you need, much closer to home,” Mr Barilaro said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said nursing hours per patient day will increase dramatically in Peer Group B and C hospitals across NSW, from 5.2 hours to six hours and 5.5 to six hours respectively.
“This increase in nurse numbers equates to even higher nurse to patient ratios than the NSW Nurses & Midwives’ Association asked for and leaves Labor’s promises in the dust,” Mr Hazzard said.
“No other State or Territory in Australia could match this commitment and the only reason we can deliver it is thanks to eight years of strong economic management.”
The NSW Liberals & Nationals have boosted the nursing and midwifery workforce by almost 20 per cent to 51,890 while in Government, and the number of doctors has soared 35 per cent to 12,100 – huge increases compared to the workforce under Labor. In total 16,000 extra frontline health staff have been employed since 2011, up 23 per cent on Labor.
The new investment will fund targeted areas of services and workforce including:

• More nurses: 5000 nurses and midwives across regional and metropolitan areas of NSW, including mental health and residential care nurses;
• More doctors: 1060 more doctors to enhance response times for patients waiting in emergency departments, for elective surgery, and to access psychiatric care;
• More allied health staff: 880 additional allied health staff including pharmacists, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists; and
• More support staff: 1360 hospital support staff.

“The Liberals & Nationals Government has built or upgraded more than 100 hospitals and health facilities since elected, with 100 more underway,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Mr Hazzard said more than half of the hospital redevelopments or upgrades are in regional NSW, where many of the new staff will be deployed.   “Good patient care relies not only on first-class facilities but skilled people to deliver it, which is why we are building on our commitment to look after those who look after us,” Mr Hazzard said.
Achievements of the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government in health include:

• Timely treatment: The best on-time elective surgery in Australia with 97.4 per cent of patients in 2017-18 receiving their elective surgery within clinically recommended timeframes, compared to 88.4 per cent in 2009-10 under Labor;
• Less time in emergency: The percentage of patients leaving the emergency department within four hours has improved from 62.2 per cent in 2009-10 under Labor to 73.0 per cent in 2017-18 under the Liberals & Nationals Government; and
• Fewer overdue for surgery: Across all surgical categories, almost 1200 patients waited longer than the recommended benchmark in June 2010 under Labor, this dropped to just 257 in June 2018 under the Liberals & Nationals.

The hugely popular Active Kids program will double with the NSW Government today announcing two separate $100 vouchers will be available for each child to encourage them to become involved in sport across the entire year.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said from July 2019 families will be able to access two Active Kids vouchers with the twin aims of encouraging children to play sport from January to December and to further ease the cost of living for NSW families.
“The program has been hugely popular with more than 1 million vouchers issued since launching,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“This is all about making sports more accessible for more children across the State and by making it affordable for parents, we are doing our part to help make kids active and healthy.”
In 2019 a second $100 Active Kids voucher will be available for the six month period from 1 July to 31 December. From 2020 two $100 Active Kids vouchers will be available from Service NSW for the entire calendar year.
The aim of the expanded program is to pay for two separate sports such as netball in winter and swimming in summer, or two separate seasons or terms of the one sport such as winter football and summer football.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said increasing the popular rebate program will help all parents across the State with school-aged children cover the cost of their children’s sports and active recreation fees.
“We are doing everything we can through our strong financial management to ease the cost of living burdens on families,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Because of the strength of the NSW Budget we are able to allocate more funding because we want more kids to be happy and healthy.”
The two $100 vouchers issued under the Active Kids program can be used by every school age child towards the cost of sports registration, membership expenses and fees for physical activities such as swimming, football, netball, dance lessons and athletics.
Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres said the expanded program would benefit sports which traditionally seek registrations in the second half of the year as families would now have access to two vouchers per year.
“If your child plays cricket in the summer and football in winter, you can choose to use a $100 voucher to pay for cricket registration fees and then use the second $100 voucher to help offset the costs for the football season,” Mr Ayres said.
The two vouchers cannot be combined to pay for a single program costing more than $100. They can be used with the one provider to help pay the cost of two separate terms of sport such as the summer and winter season of netball.
To apply for the Active Kids voucher parents can register online with Service NSW and find a registered sport or physical activity, club or organisation to use their voucher with.
The Active Kids rebate is one of a raft of NSW Government cost of living measures, including Free Rego, cheaper CTP green slips and energy rebates.
More information: sport.nsw.gov.au/activekids or by phoning Service NSW on  13 77 88.

People from Nelson Bay will have access to the training they need to get a job and get ahead with the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government announcing a new local TAFE campus will be built.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian was today joined by Liberal Candidate for Port Stephens Jaimie Abbott for the announcement.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals are driving a massive expansion of TAFE’s footprint across rural and regional NSW, with Nelson Bay set to benefit from a new and state-of-the-art TAFE campus,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“TAFE campuses are the beating hearts of our regional communities and provide access to the education and training people need to get a job and get ahead.
“Today’s announcement is yet another significant investment in the future of rural and regional communities.”
Ms Abbott said she was delighted locals in Nelson Bay would soon have access to their very own TAFE.
“This announcement is an absolute game-changer for the people of Nelson Bay who until now have never had a major TAFE presence in town,” Ms Abbott said.
“For the first time ever people in Nelson Bay will be able to study a broad range of courses at TAFE locally, improving their ability to get the education they need to get a job and get ahead.
“As it stands many locals have to travel for an hour to access the courses they wish to study at either Maitland or Newcastle.
“This is about giving people the chance to study right here locally and removing barriers to education and training.”
The NSW Liberals & Nationals have already delivered 14 new or upgraded TAFE campuses in regional NSW since 2017. These campuses have on average tripled course offerings (compared to an existing facility) and more than doubled student enrolments.

For the first time all NSW residents over the age of 60 will be eligible to receive discounts on products and services offered by businesses through the NSW Seniors Card program.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Ageing Tanya Davies today announced the new Senior Savers Cardwould be available from July 1, for senior residents who are not yet eligible for the existing Seniors Card.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals have worked hard to deliver more savings than ever before to our Seniors Card members and this new card will mean no one is left out,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Seniors give so much to our communities and every single senior across NSW deserves some relief from the growing costs of everyday living.”
The NSW Seniors Card will continue to provide existing benefits to its 1.6 million members on anything from mechanics, to hairdressers, to phone bills, while Senior Savers Card holders will have access to the same discounts and deals with the exclusion of NSW Government rebates and transport concessions.
Mrs Davies said that welcoming seniors into the program who still work more than 20 hours a week made sense.
“We understand a lot of people are working longer and retiring later. The introduction of the Senior Savers Card is a way for the NSW Government to give back to these individuals for their tireless contribution,” Mrs Davies said.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is committed to reducing the cost of living for seniors through the Seniors Card program.”
In the past 12 months, members have enjoyed increased benefits from an additional 1800 businesses and a major supermarket deal. More than 7300 businesses currently offer savings to members statewide, a 32 per cent increase on this time last year.
Ms Berejiklian also announced those with a Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card will not face any fare cap increases under the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government.
“The current Gold Opal card cap will stay the same across the Opal network, meaning customers can enjoy unlimited travel across Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Hunter, Illawarra and Southern Highlands for just $2.50 a day,” she said.
For more information about the NSW Seniors Card program, visit www.seniorscard.nsw.gov.au.

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance condemned Labor’s plan to cancel the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro upgrade following revelations today that Infrastructure Australia has ranked the project as a “high priority” for NSW.
Labor’s cancellation plan will stop rail improvements across the Sydney Trains network, affecting hundreds of thousands of people on seven different lines.
“This is yet more evidence that Labor’s plan to axe infrastructure projects will take NSW backwards.
“Labor’s only infrastructure plan is to cancel projects. Under Labor there would be no F6 Extension, no Western Harbour Tunnel and no Sydenham to Bankstown Metro rail upgrade,” Mr Constance said.
“Labor’s reckless decision to axe Sydney Metro Southwest will deny hundreds of thousands of commuters from Sydney’s South, Southwest, South Coast and Southern Highlands faster and more frequent services.
The desperately needed upgrade, which the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government will deliver, removes the bottleneck that prevents increases in services on the T1 Western Line, the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line, T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line and T8 Airport and South Line.
“We have seen a huge uplift in the number of train services across the train network under the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government, with record levels of investment in service numbers and new trains to deliver them,” Mr Constance said.
“Labor’s recent metro announcement on Monday said they would make all investment decisions based on the advice of Infrastructure NSW and Infrastructure Australia. Yet Labor is already ignoring the experts by pushing ahead with their commitment to cancelling the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro upgrade.
“Our rail network is over 100 years old and it needs continued investment to meet the needs of the people of NSW.
“That is why the Metro City and Southwest project is a critical investment allowing us to upgrade services across the network. By cancelling this project, Labor is ruling out service upgrades for decades to come.
“The critical need for this project is further justified in Infrastructure Australia’s latest report released today, which lists Sydney Metro City and Southwest in the top three high priority projects.
“Michael Daley is a L-plate leader of a L-plate party which isn’t listening to the needs of the state or its people.”
Labor’s plan to cancel the Metro City and Southwest project would see:

• T8 Airport & South Line: up to 48 fewer services across the peaks;
• T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line and South Coast Line: up to 108 fewer services across the peaks;
• T2 Inner West & Leppington Line: up to 72 fewer services across the peaks;
• T3 Bankstown Line: up to 72 fewer services across the peaks; and
• T1 Western Line and Blue Mountains Line: up to 72 fewer services across the peaks

The NSW Government has signed a global agreement to halve street homelessness across the State by 2025.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward, together with service providers and the City of Sydney, signed the agreement today at NSW Parliament, making Sydney the tenth city to join the fight against street homelessness.
“We are working hard to break the cycle of homelessness with the latest street count showing a significant reduction in the number of rough sleepers in Sydney,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We have already invested $1 billion in funding for homelessness services over four years to break the cycle of homelessness, but we cannot become complacent and by signing this agreement we are pushing ourselves to do even more.
“We know that homelessness is not just a city issue, which is why we have set this target to halve street homelessness across the entire State by 2025.
“Homelessness is a complex social issue that cannot be solved by government alone – that’s why we will be inviting the best and brightest from the frontline and from the community to collaborate with us to find new ways of tackling street homelessness.”
The ‘A Place to Call Home’ initiative – founded by the Institute of Global Homelessness – will support homelessness services in Sydney to set goals and strategies to reduce rough sleeping numbers and to measure and track their progress.
Chair of the Institute Dame Louise Casey said ‘A Place to Call Home’ gives cities a focused way to share knowledge among leaders who might not otherwise learn about each other’s work.
“There is an emerging global movement to end homelessness and NSW is leading by example and will help other cities around the world set ambitious, achievable goals to end street homelessness,” Ms Casey said.
The City of Sydney last year recorded the lowest number of people sleeping rough in five years – evidence that the NSW Government’s record spending and intensive outreach efforts are helping more people facing homelessness to find housing and support.
The NSW Government’s assertive street outreach program in Sydney has already housed nearly 300 rough sleepers since May 2017 and 94 per cent have successfully maintained their tenancies for more than 12 months.
Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward said the drastic drop in people sleeping rough in Sydney in 2018 showed the Government’s focus on prevention and early intervention was working.
“Homelessness is not a simple issue to solve – you cannot simply put a person who has been sleeping on the streets for years into a home and expect it to work – you need to give them the right wraparound support,” Ms Goward said.
“Complex mental health and substance abuse issues are often the underlying causes of homelessness which is why we are focusing on early intervention.”
The NSW Homelessness Strategy sets the direction for the next five years, focusing on prevention responses that address the root causes of homelessness and early intervention responses that will reduce the longer-term impact of homelessness.
Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich said: “The issue of homelessness in NSW needs urgent attention and the setting of this target and signing of this agreement kick starts this vital action.”
The following parties have signed the agreement:

• NSW Government
• City of Sydney
• Institute of Global Homelessness
• St Vincent de Paul, St Vincent’s Health, Mission Australia, Salvation Army, Wesley Mission, Neami National, Yfoundations.

The NSW Government today boosted the State’s Farm Innovation Fund from $650 million to $1 billion – giving farming communities affected by the drought a long-term guarantee that they have a strong future in NSW.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the additional funding brings the NSW Liberals & Nationals investment in drought support to almost $1.5 billion.
“We know that our farmers and drought-affected communities are doing it tough, which is why we are doing everything we can to make sure they have every support they need,” Ms Berejiklian said.
The Farm Innovation Fund has already helped more than 1700 farmers across the State drought-proof their properties, providing low-interest loans to fund capital works such as new cattle yards, solar power systems, silos or bore water systems.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the NSW Government is also giving farmers the opportunity to invest in infrastructure that will last for generations by increasing the value of low interest loans available through the Fund from $250,000 up to $1 million.
“The additional $350 million we have added to the Farm Innovation Fund is another signal to our farmers that no matter what conditions you face we will continue to stand side-by-side with you, now and into the future,” Mr Barilaro said.
“We want farmers to approach this fund as a low interest resource they can draw on to make sure they are in a stronger position today to face whatever challenges are coming in the future.
“Every dollar our farmers spend gets circulated through regional towns and cities making this billion dollars an investment in our regional communities.
“The NSW Government will continue to back our farmers who make a living under some of the toughest conditions in the world, growing the food and fibre we all rely on.”
NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said the NSW Government will further strengthen its Drought Relief Package to provide urgent support for those who need it most.
“When we announced our drought package last year we said we would continually respond to changing conditions and adjust our assistance measures accordingly.  Today’s announcement is a reflection of this commitment,” Mr Blair said.
“We know NSW farmers are among the best in the world and that’s why we will continue to stand with them. This fund will back farmers to be even more resilient and better placed when these conditions arise again.”
Key changes include:

• providing an additional $5 million for emergency water supplies to ensure towns have access to safe and reliable water;
• increasing the amount farmers can claim on Drought Transport Subsidies from $30,000 to $40,000; and
• providing an additional $2 million to connect people to support services through the Rural Resilience Program.

For more information on the Farm Innovation Fund, visit https://www.raa.nsw.gov.au/assistance/farm-innovation-fund..