Natalie Ward: Shadow Minister for South Coast to hold Labor members accountable

She may hail from Sydney however Natalie Ward, a mum-of-two, lawyer and deputy leader of the NSW Liberal Party has vowed to hold Labor to account on key issues across the south coast and Illawarra region.

Shadow Minister for the South Coast and Illawarra, Natalie Ward, said she plans to hold Labor accountable.

She may hail from Sydney’s northern beaches however Natalie Ward, a mum-of-two, lawyer and deputy leader of the NSW Liberal Party has vowed to hold Labor to account on key issues across the south coast and Illawarra region.

Ms Ward has taken up the position of Shadow Minister for the South Coast and Illawarra, a title she asked for due to her love of the area – “it’s just so beautiful” – from frequent trips with her family.

A Liberal politician since 2017, current member of the NSW Legislative Council and former Minister for Metropolitan Roads and Women’s Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence, Ms Ward said she would be ensuring Labor promises for the region were delivered.

“You can’t hide behind ‘we’re doing a review’, or ‘we’re taking time to deliver the budget’,” she said.

“These communities need this infrastructure now and it’s easy to promise it before an election, but you need to make sure you’re delivering or the community will hold you to account.”

Natalie Ward said she wanted the shadow ministry position due to her love for the south coast.

Ms Ward put new South Coast Labor MP Liza Butler in the crosshairs, saying she had not been making much of an impact in parliament.

“I’m not seeing a lot from this local member (Liza Butler, South Coast MP) about her fighting for these projects and that’s what I’ll be asking her about and approaching her together with community groups and stand with them,” she said.

“All you need to do is go online and you can see Liza has only put forth two motions in parliament.

“It has been over 100 days since Liza was elected, so you really would expect more than two motions.”

However, Ms Butler said she wasn’t surprised the Liberal Party had picked a Sydney based member for the position.

“[In the last election] the Liberal Party lost a host of seats in key regional areas, so I’m not surprised.”

Labor member, Liza Butler, was elected the member for South Coast at the recent state election.

“While I am yet to be contacted by the new Shadow Minister, I want my community to know that I will work with all sides of parliament for the betterment of the South Coast electorate.”

Ms Ward did concede, however, infrastructure projects do take time.

“You’ve got to do the planning, you’ve got to contract the works, you’ve got to make sure the people are available,” she said.

One promise in particular Ms Ward would like to see kept, was the $40m committed to the Shoalhaven Council in the 2022 federal election by Gilmore federal MP Fiona Phillips, which was aimed to be used by the council to fix the roads riddled with potholes.

“The council are yet to see this money,” she said. “So, I will also be questioning the federal government about these promises.”

Ms Ward said she would be making regular trips to the south coast to meet with community groups, leaders and businesses to discuss what issues the state government should be tackling.