Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This weekend, 25 March is the New South Wales state election. After 12 years of Liberal-National government in New South Wales, voters can choose to change and choose a fresh start for the state. Labor is offering a suite of fresh policies targeting and addressing a range of issues that have been neglected under the Liberal-National government for far too long. Of note—to me, as an emergency doctor—is Labor's sensible plan to implement minimum safe staffing levels for nurses in our public hospitals, especially in EDs. I know too well the immense pressure and strain our healthcare workers are under every day.

We have been under a state government that has turned its back on frontline workers for too long. We need this change to ensure nurses can be providing the best level care that they can. Labor is also committed to delivering an additional 1,200 nurses and midwives and recruiting 500 new paramedics to rural and regional areas. This is important because you can build new hospitals and build new ambulance stations but you need the staff to appropriately staff them with safe levels of staff. Further, Labor will scrap the wages cap, and this will mean healthcare workers across the state will be remunerated fairly and acknowledged for the care they provided through the pandemic, ending the Liberals and Nationals real wage cuts.

This weekend, vote Labor for a fresh start for New South Wales: Liesl Tesch, Sam Boughton, David Mehan and David Harris.