Will you win out in NSW’s hip-pocket poll battle?

Cost of living will be top of mind as NSW voters head to the polls with many fringe dwellers — particularly in Western Sydney — struggling with expensive transport costs, long commutes and housing affordability. So which party is promising you the most hip-pocket relief in Saturday’s election?

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Cost of living will be top of mind as NSW voters head to the polls with many fringe dwellers — particularly in Western Sydney — struggling with expensive transport costs, long commutes and housing affordability.

As the state election campaign enters its final week, momentum has shifted away from schools and hospitals to hip-pocket relief measures which will prove crucial to winning votes in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

Of the two million residents living in Western Sydney alone, at least 226,000 have to leave the region for work every day.

Hip-pocket relief measures will prove

crucial to winning votes on Saturday

Many pay a heavy price in tolls, fuel and public transport costs and generally have less disposable income.

The key battleground seat of Penrith, held by the Liberals’ on a 6.2 per cent margin, is where Premier Gladys Berejiklian has vowed to bring the maximum weekly Opal cap down from $63.20 to $50.

She has made cost of living a key part of her campaign platform, promising to “take pressure off families”.

Cost of living reforms introduced by the Coalition since early 2017 have saved NSW residents more than $2 billion in just over two years.

There are currently more than 40 measures on offer through Service NSW including free car registration for regular toll users, CTP Green Slip refunds and energy rebates.

If re-elected, the Coalition would also double the Active Kids program to provide two separate $100 vouchers for each child and invest $120 million in rolling out before and after school care for all public primary students.

On the energy front, they would provide interest-free loans for up to 300,000 homes to install solar energy and battery storage systems over the next decade.

Labor Leader Michael Daley has a similar policy offering 500,000 households solar panel rebates capped at $2,200 per home.

He would also reinstate the M4 cashback scheme to ease the toll burden for Western Sydney motorists, deliver free public transport for school kids and refund rail commuters for “avoidable” delays of 30 minutes or more.

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A Daley-Labor government would also revise “unfair” housing supply targets, arguing they make Western Sydney bear the brunt of rampant residential development.

To bring down the cost of vocational education, Labor would deliver 600,000 free TAFE places over the next decade while the Coalition would provide 700,000 free TAFE and VET places over the next four years.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the Coalition’s track record on cost of living measures “shows we have put families first to help take the pressure off”.

“The real question is how high will the cost of living rise under Labor because their poor financial management will mean less help for those who need it most,” he said.

Labor’s treasury spokesman Ryan Park hit back, saying: “The Liberals have hit the people of Western Sydney with new and rising tolls and electricity prices that are through the roof”.

He said Labor’s strategy “will ease the burden of the Liberal Government’s unfair M4 toll” as well as bring down electricity prices, make TAFE more accessible and slash public transport costs.

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