NSW election 2023: Stuart Ayres takes on Karen McKeown in Debate for Penrith
This crucial Western Sydney seat is held at a razor-thin margin and voters remain undecided on who best to lead them beyond the 2023 election. Here’s what they had to say at a crucial debate.
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This crucial Western Sydney seat remains hugely divided ahead of the NSW state election and could prove decisive in Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns’ missions to form a majority government on March 25.
Penrith is held at a razor-thin margin of just 0.6 per cent, with former minister and incumbent Liberal MP Stuart Ayres vying to hold on when his constituents head to the polls in just three weeks.
His challenger, former Penrith Mayor Karen McKeown, hopes to tip the scales Labor’s way.
The two will go head-to-head at The Daily Telegraph’s candidates debate on Wednesday from 2:30pm.
OPENING STATEMENTS
The Daily Telegraph’s debate for Penrith has kicked off with Labor candidate Karen McKeown and incumbent Liberal MP Stuart Ayres tabling their opening statements at Western Sydney University’s Penrith campus.
“Everywhere I go, I’ve heard about cost of living pressures people have been under,” Ms McKeown said.
Privatisation and the introduction of tolls on the M4 were two key issues she said had added to cost of living pressures in the region.
Mr Ayres said it was “an incredibly important election”.
“At this election, we want to make sure…NSW is still represented and lead by a government with the credentials (to get us through these tough economic times),” he said.
“Now is not the time to change direction.”
WARRAGAMBA DAM
Labor candidate Ms McKeown has ruled out her party raising the Warragamba Dam wall.
“Simply because we know half our flooding in the Nepean and Hawkesbury does not come from (over) the dam wall,” she said.
She said evacuation routes were needed more than raising the wall.
Mr Ayres said his party was “clear” on funding the wall.
He said to achieve raising the wall the state government needs approval from the federal government, but that he had been “unequivocal” in advocating it being raised to deal with flood events.
Mr Ayres also ruled out lowering water levels in the dam to achieve flood mitigation, saying drinking water levels could get dangerously low if that happened.
Ms McKeown said she was “more concerned about how the government is going to pay for it” rather than lowering water levels in the dam.
PENRITH STADIUM
Mr Ayres said it “made a lot of sense” to acquire Penrith paceway for the new $300m Penrith Stadium, confirming the government has already allocated funding for it.
Ms McKeown said while she wanted the best stadium possible for the area, she was concerned acquiring the site and building the stadium would cost a billion dollars.
“We didn’t hear a clear dollar figure about how much it would cost…I don’t know if the people of NSW can justify spending a billion dollars (on the stadium),” she said.
Mr Ayres called that a “preposterous figure” and it would take advice on the price of the acquisition from the valuer general.
HEALTH WORKERS
Ms McKeown has backflipped on a “real wage increase” for essential workers like nurses.
“I think they definitely deserve real wage increases otherwise you’re going backwards every year,” she said when first asked.
When pressed she backed down on the move, saying: “I don’t know if that involves keeping up with inflation…I’m not going to sit here and answer a specific potential figure…we will raise the cap…there’s a consultation that happens with that.”
Mr Ayres said “we’ve got to make sure we look after…the state budget” and Labor’s policy would be a “complete unchecked mess” if wages grew in line with inflation, after being queried on why the government had kept public wages under a wage cap.
“We need to make sure we manage every dollar properly,” he said.
QUESTIONS
Both candidates have posed questions to one another, with Labor’s Ms McKeown asking Mr Ayres if he stood by the reintroduction of a M4 toll and selling WestConnex.
He said he didn’t “think of a single motorist who would rather drive on the Parramatta Road and not the M4”.
“The sale of Westconnex was ensuring we could keep building infrasturcutre,” he said.
Mr Ayres asked her why she hadn’t built more car parks in Penrith during her near two decade tenure on Penrith Council, with the two clashing over whether Labor or Liberal had built more.
Ms McKeown insisted the council had a carpark ready to open, while Mr Ayres said the Coalition had funded new car parks at Nepean Hospital and Penrith and Kingswood train stations.
CLOSING STATEMENTS
Both candidates have given their closing statements at the end of the debate at Western Sydney University’s Penrith campus.
“Make no mistake, this election will be close…it’s about hitting the reset button for Penrith…We know who our senior ministers of government are going to be…safe staffing levels for nurses, extra teachers to alleviate their role,” Labor’s Ms McKeown said.
Mr Ayres said “This election you should be looking at what’s happened in Penrith in the last 12 years” pointing to a track record of upgraded roads and schools in the electorate.
“Only the Liberal government has a plan to keep growing the economy…if you grow the economy you can keep investing in those frontline services.”
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