All roads lead to Camden as NSW election race rolls on

Farid Farid, Phoebe Loomes and Jacob Shteyman | March 21, 2023

With three days left to woo undecided voters, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns have zeroed in on each other’s costings, accelerating their budget black hole attacks.

Both have used Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) analysis to poke holes in each other’s promises after the impact was revealed to the budget bottom line on Monday.

The coalition would deliver a $100 million surplus over the next four years, while Labor would add $1.4 billion, the PBO said.

Labor’s electric campaign bus hit a speed bump when a charging issue forced candidates and media to disembark in favour of a diesel bus, leaving the door wide open for the premier.

“It’s no surprise to me that Labor’s bus is broken down just like their budget broke down yesterday,” Mr Perrottet said.

Mr Minns joked the bus broke down after he forgot to charge it overnight.

“Bus or no bus, we are ready for the next four days,” he said.

The premier beat Mr Minns to Camden, where the Liberals hold the seat with a 7.4 per cent margin.

Visiting a childcare centre Mr Perrottet helped kids put the finishing touches on Lego towers.

He said that under the Liberals families would be more than $4000 better off through pre-school fee relief.

“Only with strong financial and economic management can we support family budgets across NSW.”

Asked about a potential 1.2 million families being left out of a $250 energy rebate not factored in to costings to the tune of $300 million, the premier said he would find funds.

Mr Perrottet started the day in the must-win seat of Goulburn, held by Local Government Minister Wendy Tuckerman with a 3.1 per cent margin.

He visited the of the Big Merino tourist mecca, met with Rural Fire Service volunteers and announced $3.2 million for a horseriding facility for disabled residents.

Labor had a “black hole” in its costings, the premier said after the PBO questioned the party’s pledge to scrap the government’s three per cent wage cap for public sector workers with zero cost to the bottom line.

“Labor prioritise public sector unions, we prioritise the people of NSW,” Mr perrottet said.

Mr Minns said the decision to ditch a cap on frontline workers’ wages would bring NSW in line with the rest of Australia.

“It’s necessary to sit down and negotiate with our essential workers. I’m talking teachers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics,” he said. 

Labor had calculated $3 billion in savings in its budget to fund the increases, Mr Minns said.

The former firefighter ignited a warm welcome in Camden when he stopped by the fire station and pressed the flesh after meeting with local business owners. 

Firefighters told him they had experienced a net loss in emergency responders in the area, unable to keep up with the population growth.

A lack of trucks and equipment had prompted them to reach out to the major and minor parties on the issue.

Fire Brigade Employees Union State Secretary Leighton Drury said Labor had promised 600 new permanent jobs

“We’ve heard nothing from the Nats or the Liberals,” he told reporters.

Mr Minns got his day off on the front foot, with a run with his frontbench in the Liberal-held seat of Otley in south Sydney for the second day running.

Next stop was the marginal Liberal seat of Wollondilly, where he said the coalition had failed to fund its plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.

“There is no money allocated for this project, not a cent,” Mr Minns said from the dam’s viewing deck, warning of more privatisation if the coalition was re-elected.

“The project that costs $3 billion to build.”

The Liberals committed last year to raising the wall at Warragamba Dam, with Mr Perrottet committed to funding the project without federal assistance if necessary to reduce the number of homes affected by major flooding from 15,000 to 5000.