Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Politics
Duncan Murray and Cassandra Morgan

Labor campaign offers 'fresh start' with help from Albo

Chris Minns and Anthony Albanese launch Labor's campaign for the 2023 NSW state election in Sydney. (Steven Saphore/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

NSW Labor has put the promise of a "fresh start" at the centre of its election campaign, which it officially launched with the help of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney on Sunday.

Mr Albanese said the NSW government is "plagued by scandal and dogged by resignation" and urged NSW to vote for change.

"A government falling apart before our eyes, cracking like an imported light rail carriage, breaking down like an outsourced ferry," Mr Albanese said.

"Something so much better awaits NSW and it starts with a great leader."

After over a decade of coalition government, opposition leader Chris Minns said his party would start to fix the state's schools and hospitals and end privitisation of key public assets.

"The last few weeks have shown chaos and division inside this 12-year-old government," Mr Minns said.

"They don't even know if they want the responsibilities of office. Deep down they know they've run out of gas, they've run out of ideas and they've run out of energy."

The 43-year-old also introduced his prospective key ministers, with Jo Haylen on transport, Ryan Park on Health, Anoulack Chanthivong on finance, Prue Carr for education, Penny Sharp on environment and Daniel Mookhey as Treasurer.

Mr Albanese described described Mr Minns as someone who "doesn't pick fights but doesn't shy away from them either".

Mr Minns pushed the parties "strong commitment" against privitisation and promised to invest in better conditions for teachers and nurses.

He also announced two new policies, committing to deliver more than $90 million to hire a thousand apprentices and $70m to build three helicopter ambulance bases.

If Labor wins the election it would commit $93.7m towards hiring 1000 apprentices and trainees across the state government by 2026, the party announced on Sunday.

Apprentices would have the opportunity to train in workplaces including Essential Energy, Sydney Water, and National Parks and Wildlife Services.

The initiative is being touted among a suite of Labor measures designed to "rebuild" the state's skills and vocational education system.

It would target the skills shortage, and the more than one quarter of students leaving school without their HSC, Labor said.

"Labor will walk its talk and make sure young people have opportunities for skilled jobs within our own government," opposition skills and TAFE spokesman Tim Crakanthorp said.

"We know how valuable apprenticeships and traineeships are, and how they can set people up for life."

A Labor government would also bolster the number of helicopter ambulance bases in NSW from six to nine in a bid to slash emergency health response times in regional and rural areas.

Each base would have a helicopter and road-based ambulance, and they would begin operating in the next term of a Labor government, the party said.

About 57 per cent of life threatening cases in rural areas were responded to within the recommended time-frame of 10 minutes, compared with about 67 per cent in urban areas.

Locations for the new bases would be determined by need along with proximity to appropriate health facilities along with air infrastructure and resources, the party said.

"It shouldn't matter if you live in rural or regional NSW, or Western Sydney, everyone in NSW should be able to access quality healthcare in a reasonable and appropriate timeframe," Mr Minns said.

"Under Labor we'll have more ambulance bases, more paramedics for the regions."

Labor is also vowing to keep Sydney's Western Harbour Tunnel in public hands and cap motorist tolls at $60 a week in what it is promoting as a "fresh start" for drivers.

Treasurer Matt Kean on Saturday announced a $200 million upgrade to Henry Lawson Drive in Sydney's southwest to be completed by 2027.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.