Month: March 2023

Hammondville Park in South Western Sydney will be transformed into a state-of-the-art sports precinct thanks to a $21.8 million commitment from the Perrottet Liberal Government.

Liberal candidate for Holsworthy, Tina Ayyad, welcomed the funding for the creation of a sporting super centre that will deliver exciting new sports infrastructure to be enjoyed by lovers of sport across the community.

“The reinvigorated Hammondville Park sporting precinct will encourage more people, of all ages, into local sporting clubs and cater for growing participation,” said Ms Ayyad.

“From upgraded fields to a brand new aquatic centre, the Perrottet Government’s investment will cater for Holsworthy sports clubs and player, and will attract lots of new participants and fans. This is where Australia future Olympians will be made – from our next Freddy Fittler to Australia’s first Football World Cup winners.

“The new sporting facilities is a perfect example of the positive impact on our communities that the Perrottet Government’s strong economic management and long term planning have delivered – ensuring that people from all walks of life have the opportunity to play sport, get healthy and have fun.

“This facility is already home to so many great local sporting clubs and organisations, and I can’t wait to watch it grow in the years to come.”

The Liberal Government’s commitment towards the $50 million Liverpool City Council project would upgrade existing sporting fields and create a new aquatic centre for the growing community.

The new aquatic centre will include a 25 metre indoor pool, a splash park and fitness facility. In addition, upgrades to the surrounding sporting precinct will feature new hybrid turf and synthetic fields, upgraded lighting, additional cricket nets, female-friendly changerooms and improved amenities for players and spectators.

Minister for Sport Alister Henskens said the NSW Liberal Government’s funding commitment would help create a modern and diverse sporting precinct for both locals and visitors.

“The NSW Liberal Government has invested more than $2 billion in grassroots community sport infrastructure and programs since 2017, delivering an enormous boost to sporting clubs and organisations right across our state,” Mr Henskens said.

“In comparison, Labor invested only $22.6 million in sport during its last full year in government. Under Labor, our record investment in sport will stall and our community can’t afford that to happen.”

Families in Kogarah are set to benefit from a major upgrade of Kogarah Public School under a re-elected NSW Liberal Government.

Liberal candidate for Kogarah, Craig Chung, said the upgrade will be a wonderful addition to the schools in the area and will deliver modern resources for students.

“This announcement is great news for the community and will be a game-changer for Kogarah Public School,” Mr Chung said.

“A re-elected Liberal Government will deliver this project because we have a long-term economic plan to keep NSW moving forward.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the multi-million upgrade of the local school will deliver significant upgrades and improvements, creating more modern infrastructure for students and teachers.

“Because of the NSW Liberal Government’s long-term economic plan, we are investing $8.6 billion in school infrastructure over the next four years,” Mr Perrottet said.

“We’re committed to delivering infrastructure upgrades to schools to ensure young people get the best possible start in life, and under a re-elected Liberal Government, the Kogarah community will benefit from a major upgrade.

“This upgrade will replace demountables with new, permanent classrooms, deliver upgrade core facilities such as the toilets, canteen, staff facilities and hall.

“Investments like this are only possible because of the Liberal long-term economic plan to keep NSW moving forward.”

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said she was pleased to be able to make a commitment to young people and families in Kogarah with an upgrade to the local primary school.

“The Liberal and Nationals in government have a proven track record of delivering schools for growing communities,” Ms Mitchell said.

“Families know under Labor they risk going backwards, given Labor’s track record of closing 90 schools when they were last in government. It’s only the Liberal and Nationals Government that will keep NSW and our young people moving forward.”

The NSW Liberal Government is investing $8.6 billion in school infrastructure over the next four years, continuing its program to deliver 160 new and upgraded schools to support communities across NSW. This builds on the more than $9.1 billion invested in projects delivered since 2017, a program of $17.7 billion in public education infrastructure.

This commitment is another example of the NSW Liberal Government’s nation-leading work to give our kids the best start in life:

• A $15.9 billion Early Years Commitment, including delivering universal pre-Kindergarten for every child in the year before school and rolling out a full suite of health and development checks to NSW preschools;
• By building modern schools that prepare students for success investing $8.6 billion for hundreds of new and upgraded schoolsover the next four years;
• A once-in-a-generation back-to-basics school curriculum that puts literacy and numeracy first for all students;
• A $250 million tutoring program to support up to 120,000 students in 2023, bringing the total to $890 million invested in tutoring since 2021; and
• Making sure we have the best teachers in our classrooms by supporting our students with a guaranteed 6% pay rise for teachers over the next two years, and a $100 million commitment to pay excellent teachers salaries of up to $152,000.

Liberal candidate for Bega, Russell Fitzpatrick, welcomes the announcement that a re-elected NSW Liberal Government will invest $15.3 million to roll out six new state-of-the-art mobile dialysis buses across rural and regional NSW, which will see dialysis services boosted in Bega. 

“This will ensure patients can get the care they need as close as possible to home.” Mr Fitzpatrick said.

“Living with chronic kidney disease can be difficult and incredibly demanding on patients and their families.

“We know that the majority of patients who receive dialysis need treatment three to five times a week. For patients and their carers in regional areas this can mean hours on the road every week, and time away from their loved ones and communities.

“This will not only make life easier for patients and their families, but also reduce out-of-pocket costs.”

Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said establishing mobile dialysis services will mean for weeks at a time people will be able to receive treatment in their local community.

“These buses will be fitted out with dialysis machines and comfortable chairs for patients to receive the care they need, and will be staffed with specialist nurses,” Mrs Taylor said.

“Patients will be able to receive the same level of care from highly trained renal nurses in the buses as they would in a dialysis unit in our hospitals, making a huge difference to so many across the Bega electorate.”

As part of this commitment, four state-of-the-art mobile dialysis units will be built, and will operate right across regional NSW including parts of Western NSW, across the Riverina and Murray, Southern NSW, the Upper Hunter and the Northern Tablelands.

A re-elected NSW Liberal Government will also provide additional funding to Kidney Health Australia to expand coverage across the North Coast and the South Coast.

The Liberal Government last year significantly increased the financial support available to patients from regional communities travelling for medical treatment as part of a major investment in the Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme.

The $149.5 million expansion of the scheme means eligible patients are now receiving almost double the subsidy towards accommodation costs and private vehicle use where they travel more than 100 kilometres for care.

In the first six months of the expanded scheme, 2347 patients in Bega received more than $1.1 million in financial support.

The NSW Liberal and Nationals Government has invested $3.2 million in a shared walking and cycling path that will connect the Goulburn city centre to its south and east as part of the Get NSW Active program.

Minister for Active Transport Rob Stokes said the project was part of the Government’s $1.2 billion investment in walking and cycling and was an example of the state’s recently-released Active Transport Strategy in action.

“People in regional NSW have just as much right to decent walking and cycling infrastructure as people in Sydney and the Get NSW Active program ensures that regions get their fair share,” Mr Stokes said.

“Regional cities like Goulburn have become really car-dependent. This investment will give locals and tourists more freedom to get to and from the city cheaply, safely and easily.”

Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman welcomed the investment in Goulburn’s community infrastructure that will make the city a better place to live, work and play.

“This proposal was put forward by the Goulburn Mulwaree Youth Council, a group of community minded young people between the ages of 12-24 and then supported by Goulburn Mulwaree Council,” Mrs Tuckerman said.

“It is incredibly encouraging and affirming to see the next generation not only thinking about the importance of active transport in their community, but making it happen.”

The 1.9km path will connect the existing shared pathways that currently end at Lansdowne Street and Sloane Street. Construction is set to begin in early 2024. More successful Get NSW Active recipients will be announced in the coming months.

More than $310 million has already been allocated to almost 700 projects over the past six years. For more information about Get NSW Active, visit: Get NSW Active | Transport for NSW.

When Federal Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a 56 per cent increase in energy prices over two years in his October budget, the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government acted to protect NSW residents by capping coal prices.

As a result, contract prices have fallen by up to 50 per cent since the Commonwealth budget announcement, leading to today’s reduced draft Default Market Offer that caps price rises for 2023-24 at 22 per cent.

A re-elected Liberal and Nationals Government will deliver $250 in household energy bill relief. Chris Minns has said he will cut this assistance for around 1.5 million households.

I would also note today’s announcement that Victorian household bills are expected to increase by up to 31 per cent which is higher than NSW and every other eastern mainland state in the National Energy Market.

Given Chris Minns has signalled his intention to copy Victorian Labor’s approach to energy policy here in NSW, this should be a cause of concern for every single electricity consumer in our state who cannot afford the price of a Labor government.

Federal Labor delivered a budget announcement of huge energy bills, and to date zero dollars in cost of living relief. State Labor and Chris Minns have promised to slash our $250 bill relief while also admitting their energy plan will deliver no bill relief for seven years. It’s clear that Labor is all rhetoric and no action.