Delegates, Members,
Thank you.
It’s nice to be in Melbourne...and a great opportunity for me to find out where all of NSW’s GST money has gone!
It is wonderful to be joined by the amazing leaders of our Party from around Australia. I am especially pleased to be Joined by Ashton Hurn and Jess Wilson.
The three of us became Leaders of our party within a week of each other last year…I have to say, I appreciated the media coverage that kept calling us ‘three fresh faced young leaders.’
I was in Bossley Park in Sydney’s west recently – a place that’s populated by aspirational suburban families. A place of small business and industry. Warehouses and factories.
A place that’s home to dreamers and fighters ...like Socceroo Mark Schwartzer who grew up there.
But what I saw in paddocks on the outskirts of this suburb stopped me. Because it was emblematic of what is happening in NSW. Blocks of land full of un-used scaffolding and cranes. ..lined up… waiting for work… a graveyard of potential.
Under Mike – under Gladys – under Dom – we all remember cranes across New South Wales. New metros – new homes – new hospitals…
But in three short years Chris Minns and Labor have put the brakes on our economy… They’ve put the brakes on planning and building for the future.
The houses and apartments Labor promised – are not being built. We’re 40% behind our housing accord targets. Labor has added new taxes to a struggling industry, further pushing up the cost of housing.
We’ve seen major infrastructure projects stalling – and our big businesses and tradies are heading to Queensland. Where a Liberal government is repairing a decade of Labor’s decay on their projects.
Chris Minns and NSW Labor have taken billions out of the forward estimates in health and transport infrastructure. They have said no to any new metros – beyond the projects the NSW Liberals planned and budgeted for.
A vision for the future of NSW shouldn’t end at cutting ribbons on the projects built by your predecessors.
State and Federal Labor have been a disaster for NSW – with the premier unable to negotiate a decent deal for our state when it comes to GST. For every dollar collected in GST in NSW we now get 82 cents back...the worst outcome on record.
For every dollar someone spends in Victoria, you get a dollar and six cents back.
That means that despite having 1.5 million more residents than Victoria, over the next four years, NSW will receive $7.1 billion less than Victoria.
And we have been duded on infrastructure funding from Canberra too.. Over the next four years, we will receive $11.7 billion compared to Victoria’s $15.6 billion and QLD with $20.4 billion.
Imagine what NSW could be do if we were receiving our fair share.
That could mean half a dozen new hospitals…
Or
We could build a new Metro Line with a 50/50 a funding split with the federal Government, better connecting communities to high paying jobs and new homes.
Last week Chris Minns tried to distance himself from Albanese. Well, no wonder…
But angry press conferences after a loss aren’t leadership – they are a cover for failure. A failure by State Labor to stand up for NSW and deliver an outcome.
In three short years – Labor has taken us from the top performing state to the bottom when it comes to our gross state product or GSP – our scoreboard for how much economic activity is happening in the state.
More projects delayed.
More investment stalled.
More cranes headed for early retirement.
Imagine what damage they will do with another term.
The fact is, NSW did not become the greatest state in the greatest country on earth by dreaming small or taking the easy path.
123 years ago, on a wet winter’s day, Premier George Fuller and Dr John Bradfield turned the first sod on what would become the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
At the time, there were critics who said it was too ambitious. Too expensive.
Too difficult.
We have seen this story time and time again in NSW.
When Gladys put forward the vision for the Metro over 10 years ago, Labor and the unions attacked it relentlessly.
We saw it again with Westconnex.
Protested and opposed by Labor, but today thousands of people rely on it every single day. Previous governments understood something NSW Labor seems to have forgotten: Leadership means building for the future not just managing the present.
And the contrast with Chris Minns could not be clearer.
When Chris Minns was recently asked what his vision was for the metro in 2032, he said ‘well I won’t be here.’
No long-term vision beyond his own political cycle – and an admission that he's already thinking of retirement next term.
The question for NSW is whether we still have the same ambition and confidence, defined by earlier generations, to lead our nation forward.
I believe we do.
NSW should set the standard for what we can achieve in this country.
Friends,
The NSW election is in March next year – a little over 9 months away. It will be one of the most consequential State elections of our time.
And I will be fighting to win it. We know it will be tough.
A first term Government hasn’t been overturned for a century in NSW. But elections are not decided by what has come before.
They are decided by families who know they are working harder than ever only to go backwards.
Like the young professionals in their thirties, who tell me they feel like they are doing everything right, working hard, saving, but sees any hope of owning a home in Sydney slipping away.
Like the mum in southwestern Sydney, qualified and smart, wanting to take that job in the city, but knowing she can’t balance the long commute with raising kids.
Elections are decided by the people who see their high streets decaying. Their local bakery replaced with another dodgy tobacconist.
People like Ishaan – a dad from Western Sydney who told me he used to spend Saturday mornings on the sidelines of his kid's sport but now drives uber as a second job on weekends because there is nothing left to cut in the family budget.
People are exhausted.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
NSW can choose a different path.
Change is possible.
NSW Labor is in minority government.
If we hold onto our current seats – we just need to flip 6 seats. That’s all. I have a team that is capable of doing it.
A mix of former Government Ministers who know how to drive our state – as well as fresh faces including 10 millennials.
Almost 50% of my party room are women including 3 having babies right now. Country and city MPs – grandparents and young singles.
And a close and respectful relationship with our National Party colleagues. We’re match fit and ready to govern.
This election matters because there is simply too much at stake to drift. Too much at stake for small businesses.
Too much at stake for families trying to get ahead.
Too much at stake for young people who deserve the chance to build a life.
Too much at stake for the future strength of New South Wales.
That is why our campaign must be bigger than slogans. It must be bigger than anger.
Bigger than division.
We are not here simply to oppose. We are here to build.
To offer hope again. Restore confidence again.
Make New South Wales the state where effort is rewarded once more.
That means backing business - because every job begins with someone willing to take a risk.
It means restoring a culture that celebrates aspiration instead of attacking it.
It means rebuilding a government that understands its role is not to control the economy, but to unleash it.
It means investing again in the infrastructure that drives productivity and opportunity.
And it means having the courage to think not just about the next election - but about the next generation.
That is the Liberal tradition at its best.
Optimistic.
Forward-looking.
Practical.
A belief that people, families and businesses - not government bureaucracy - are the real source of prosperity.
A belief that the role of leadership is to expand opportunity, not manage decline.
And a belief that New South Wales should never settle for second best. Certainly not last.
Friends, I believe our best days are still ahead of us.
But only if we are prepared to fight for them.
Only if we are prepared to put forward a positive vision worthy of NSW.
Only if we are prepared to lead with conviction, courage and optimism.
That is the campaign I intend to run.
A campaign about restoring reward for effort. About rebuilding confidence in the future.
Building the homes and infrastructure that make your life better.
A campaign about making New South Wales the premier state once again.
Thank you.