NSW state election 2023: Policies Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns are taking to the polls

With just one more sleep until the NSW state election, these are the key policies each major party is promising in order to woo voters.

With the NSW state election raging to the finish line, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition Leader Chris Minns have put forward their vision for the state.

Both major parties have announced policies on housing, education, essential services, cost-of-living measures and cashless gambling in the attempts of winning votes.

Here’s what the Coalition and Labor are promising if they win.

CASHLESS GAMBLING

Coalition

– A pledge to make all poker machines cashless by 2028.

– While no daily loss limit has been set, players can set their own spending limits that cannot be altered for seven days.

– A five-year plan to buy back 2000 machines.

– Mandated play breaks and a ban on automatic and credit top-ups.

Labor

– A cashless poker machine trial of at least 500 machines.

– A ban on external advertising for VIP rooms at clubs and pubs.

– Cash feed-in limits will be reduced from $5000 to $500 from July 1.

– A $100m fund to fund problem gambling programs.

Both parties will …

Ban political donations from clubs with poker machines and establish a statewide expansion to the self-exclusion register.

Cashless poker machines have been an election issue. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

COST OF LIVING

Coalition

– $250 energy relief voucher per household if they compare their current energy deal, plus $400 in further savings if they switch to a better deal.

– A Kids Future Fund open to all kids under 10 in 2023. From 2024, only newborns born in NSW will be entitled to the program. The government would deposit $400 initially and then match up to $400 in family contributions annually.

Family contributions are also capped at $1000 a year. Funds can only be accessed once the child turns 18 and used for education, upskilling purposes or to purchase a home. It’s estimated the fund could reach up to $49,000 through maximum family contributions or about $28,000 for matched $400 contributions.

Labor

– A $250 voucher for energy relief for households on income support, pensioners and seniors. Small businesses can also get $315 off their energy bills.

– A promise to scrap the public service wages cap, which is set at 3 per cent for 2022-23 and 3 per cent for 2023-24 (with a potential 0.5 per cent increase for workers who make a substantial productivity contribution). Labor says it will instead negotiate with each sector individually.

EDUCATION

Coalition

– Plan to give all children a year of free pre-kindergarten education, plus a $5bn investment to create more affordable childcare facilities across the state.

– 500 preschools will be built in western Sydney.

– $1.2bn boost to build new and upgrade schools across NSW, including new high schools in the South West Growth Area and Jordan Springs.

– High-performance teachers could get paid super salaries of up to $152,000.

– A $253m boost to small group tutoring programs. This is on top of the $700m already committed to catch-up classes post Covid.

Labor

– Pledge to ban mobile phones in all public high schools, with exceptions for medical reasons.

– 100 public preschools will be co-located at public primary schools, plus an additional 50 new or expanded preschools at Catholic and independent schools.

– Promise to convert 10,000 temporary teachers to permanent positions, plus efforts to cut staff admin work by five hours a week.

– Plans to make small group tutoring permanent in public schools for 103,000 students from 2024 to 2026.

Investments to preschool education and school infrastructure have been made by both parties. Picture NCA NewsWire/ Emma Brasier

HEALTH

Coalition

– Allow pharmacies to diagnose and treat UTIs and renew scripts for the contraceptive pill.

– $11.9bn promised to upgrade and build new hospitals.

– Commitment to hire 10,000 healthcare workers across the next four years.

Labor

– Implement safe staffing nurse-to-patient ratios in public hospitals, including one to three nurses in emergency wards and one in four for normal wards.

– Pledge to hire 500 paramedics for rural and regional areas.

HOUSING

Coalition

– An expansion of their First Home Buyer Choice so all buyers can choose between paying stamp duty or an annual property tax. This policy can be used on two properties.

– Create a “reasonable grounds” model for evictions on periodic leases, allow landlords to offer three to five-year leases and extend the notice period for fixed-term leases from 40 to 45 days.

Labor

– First-home buyers will have their stamp duty waived on properties up to $800,000, with concessional rates for homes up to $1m.

– Create a rental commissioner to advocate for renters, and implement a 30 per cent target for surplus public land to be used as social, affordable and universal housing.

Both parties will …

– Ban secret rent bidding and create a portable bonds scheme.

If the Coalition retains power, homebuyers can choose between paying stamp duty or an annual property tax. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

TOLLS AND MOTORISTS

Coalition

– Has already introduced a 40 per cent rebate for drivers who spend more than $375 on tolls in one financial year. The maximum rebate a driver can claim in one year is $750.

– Commitment to increasing the speed limit on WestConnex to 90km/h, pending safety approval from Transport for NSW. Labor says it will consider adopting the policy too.

– Fines will be waived for low-level driving offences (no P-plate, speeding under 10km/h, driving in a bus or transit lane) if drivers have had a clean driving record for three years.

– Committed to building an 11km toll-free tunnel in the Blue Mountains from Blackheath to Little Hartley, plus a Beaches link connecting the northern beaches to the Warringah Freeway in North Sydney.

Labor

– A $60 toll cap on top of the Coalition’s existing toll rebates.

– An overhaul of the tolling network led by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman, Allan Fels, with a promise to make government contracts with toll road operators public.

– A trial to wipe one demerit point for safe drivers who don’t incur any offences in 12 months.

TRANSPORT

Coalition

– A maximum public transport cap of $40 a week. Currently, the cap is set at $50 a week.

– The final business plan cases would be finalised for Tallawong to St Marys, Macarthur to the Aerotropolis, Westmead to the Aerotropolis, Bankstown to Glenfield via Liverpool metro train lines.

Labor

– Commitment to build the next fleet of Tangara trains in NSW, creating about 1000 jobs.

– Will continue the Western Sydney to Macarthur and the St Marys to Tallawong metro lines but scrap the other two.

The Coalition will finalise business cases for four metro lines, while Labor will only progress with two. Picture: POOL via NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

WOMEN

Coalition

– A $2000 rebate for women undergoing egg freezing. This is in addition to the existing $2000 rebate for women undergoing IVF or other assisted reproductive technologies.

– $20m to set up 200 new electric monitoring devices for domestic violence offenders.

Labor

– $14.8m in funding to get more women into the workforce, plus continued industrial relations support. Labor has also committed $5.8m to a Future Women’s Jobs Academy to support 1000 women over two years.

– A specialist multicultural domestic and family violence centre in southwest Sydney

Originally published as NSW state election 2023: Policies Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns are taking to the polls