Get Involved - Parliament

Families

Published on: February 2022

Record: HANSARD-1323879322-122568

Families

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore) (16:59:41):

I move:

That this House acknowledges the Coalition Government's ongoing commitment to making life easier for families across New South Wales.

Today in this public interest debate I will talk about how we as a government are making life easier for families. We know that the past couple of years have introduced a range of additional challenges to families and people across this State. We know that the impacts of COVID, lockdowns, furloughing, the challenges of learning from home and the challenges of working from home, particularly with children in tow, has left its mark on families across New South Wales. When Dominic Perrottet became the Premier in late 2021, he spoke to the community of New South Wales and said that he wanted to be the Premier for families. That is what this Government is—a government for families.

Everybody is a part of a family, whether they have children like me and other colleagues in the Chamber, or they are a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, or have nieces or cousins. We all know the importance of the our family networks and ties in keeping us safe, well and supported. But we also know the costs families incur and the challenges they face with the responsibility of keeping people fed and the obligation of keeping a roof over their heads while managing the cost-of-living pressures that continue to increase, particularly in recent years when we know that 300,000 people have lost their jobs. We also saw a number of small businesses taken to the wall during the pandemic.

This Government is committed to making life easier for families across New South Wales and it has done so in a range of ways. Parents and carers have had to help organise home learning for children. They have had to navigate a disrupted school year, dealing with lockdowns, while often still having to work themselves, which created additional challenges. I felt quite fortunate that my children were young enough not yet to be in school. The past couple of years have been challenging for my two small children, one of which was born during a COVID lockdown. But the challenges we have seen families face across the spectrum have been significant. It is not just those families that have found it difficult, it is everybody that supports them—teachers, school staff, early childhood educators and carers, sporting associations, volunteer clubs, churches and religious organisations. The challenges have flowed throughout our community through a range of different activities, whether it be the co‑curricular activities of science, tech or language development.

Our focus is to ensure that we can support families to emerge from this pandemic with a greater confidence in managing their cost of living and feeling secure in their financial and economic situations at home. This Government has put a couple of initiatives in place that will help not only families but also our economy recover, including small businesses. They include the Parents NSW voucher, which is a $250 voucher per household with children. They can be used at similar venues to the Discover NSW vouchers, which have been incredibly popular. Not only are they are helping to reduce the cost-of-living pressures for families and people across New South Wales but they are also helping the community to invest in local businesses, which will ensure that the capital contributed to them will keep them operating so they can emerge from the pandemic.

In addition, we have the new $50 Stay NSW voucher and the broader suite of Dine & Discover NSW vouchers. Now that I have a three-year-old, I was recently able to claim the $100 voucher for the First Lap program. I acknowledge the member for Holsworthy, who was an advocate for this initiative, ensuring that we focus on reducing the cost of swimming lessons for children aged three to six. We know how vital water safety is for children, particularly in those pre-school years. My three-year-old, Eleanor—she turned three just after Christmas—is now having weekly lessons, which is particularly exciting for us. She does not want to leave the house when it is raining, but she is very happy to jump in the pool with her teacher, Amanda, and she enjoys it immensely. I can see her confidence and skills growing as she participates in those classes. No child should be disadvantaged from participating in swimming lessons because of money. The Government has also released the $100 Active Kids and Creative Kids vouchers. These continue to help to lower the cost of living for families. They also get our kids to learn new skills and expose them to new opportunities. All of these voucher programs have been rolled out through Service NSW, which makes them easily accessible for families on our phones or online in one centralised location.

Another initiative the New South Wales Government is leading on is for women's economic opportunities. We know that participation in the workforce is reduced for women and that income and pay inequity, including lifelong superannuation earning and poverty in retirement, are significant issues for women. The Women's Economic Opportunities Review, led by the Treasurer, is considering how to improve women's economic participation and security, including by supporting women to re-enter and stay in the workforce.

I acknowledge the expert panel led by Sam Mostyn, who is chairing the work, which I get to participate in. These are significant experts contributing to the work of this Government in ensuring that we address what is a family matter by making sure that we have income, skills, opportunities and care and education for our children, because women remain under-represented in our trades, our offices and our boardrooms. For the State to be more productive, we need everyone who wants to work to be able to do so. Increasing the number of women in our workforce will benefit everyone, with social and economic advantages for New South Wales being significant when women's economic security is improved throughout their lifetimes.

Lastly I will talk about education because we know how crucial education is for the next generation and how important it is for our families. Our Government has extended free preschool until the end of 2022, we have offered every parent in New South Wales a $500 before- and after-school care voucher for children at primary school, and we have invested more than $700 million over two years in our free COVID intensive learning support program for any children who may have been left behind. We have introduced a record number of scholarships for early childhood educators in New South Wales to boost availability, accessibility and quality of early learning and care, and we have more than 100 of those individuals receiving up to $20,000 each for their bachelor-level early childhood education qualifications from 2022.

The New South Wales Government has a major pipeline of investment in school upgrades, at about $7.9 billion, as opposed to Labor, which closed more than 90 schools when it was last in government. We are the Government that invests in families and supports families, particularly in the cost-of-living pressures they face. I am proud to be part of the Premier's Government for families.

Ms JULIA FINN (Granville) (17:06:48):

A motion about making life easier for families, today of all days? I am flabbergasted that Government members would move this ridiculous, self-congratulatory motion, patting themselves on the back for making life easier for families on the day after they brought the entire Sydney Trains network to a standstill as a political stunt. Which families? Please name the family whose life was made easier in that chaos yesterday. On the day when universities went back to face-to-face teaching and the borders opened, the Government forced thousands of workers onto toll roads. It was a day for Transurban, but not a day for families. Do Government members not realise that commuters have families? The lack of self-awareness of this Government is absolutely breathtaking. What planet are these people on? This is the same Government that, before Christmas, ignored the health advice about how infectious Omicron is and let COVID rip. How did ruining Christmas make life easier for families? Members opposite must have some relatives they really do not like if they think ruining Christmas made it easier for families.

After it was told not to remove the last of the restrictions, the Government created a shadow lockdown because, with staff sick with COVID and supplies interrupted—not to mention a collapse in consumer confidence—businesses could not run. How did that make things easier for families? How did it make things easier for the families of frontline workers in our hospitals, who are exhausted and working double shifts to cover for their colleagues who have caught COVID? Due to the Omicron outbreak that spread quickly from Sydney when the last restrictions were removed, across Australia half a million more people took at least a week's sick leave in January. That is three times the normal amount. That is not counting the casuals who did not have access to it. How did that help families? Before Christmas the Government passed changes to workers compensation to require workers to prove scientifically that they caught COVID at work in order to access workers compensation. That means that workers without access to sick leave are out of pocket. How on earth does that help families?

During the Omicron and Delta outbreaks, we saw COVID spread through workplaces and cause all sorts of disruption. We know that people pass it on to their colleagues, but this Government wants to ignore reality. How does that make life easier for families? The Premier has been carrying on like a kid in a Young Liberals lolly shop. He wants to make life easier for families? Perhaps he needs to realise his actions have consequences. Yesterday was a disaster—and yesterday was a lockout, not a strike. It was Sydney Trains management and not the Rail, Tram, and Bus Union that shut down the network.

My electorate contains two of the 12 local government areas that had the hard lockdown and the curfew last year. Businesses struggled to access the support they needed, which was often too little and too late. Families who were just trying to go out and have a picnic were buzzed by PolAir and told not to congregate in groups, even though they were family groups. Homeschooling was really difficult, with multiple kids often having access to only one device in a family.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! Members will cease their conversations while the member for Granville is speaking.

Ms JULIA FINN:

People in my electorate travel to work primarily on the M4 or on the trains. In the 2145 postcode area, people spend an average of $4,000 a year on the M4. How is that helpful for families? It is not just people in my electorate; we are the most tolled city on earth. How on earth does that help families? In my electorate, this Government has slashed train services. Granville is not even a major interchange anymore, and the Western line services do not stop there during workdays. How do slower and less frequent trains help families?

Every year I am inundated with requests from families wanting to send their kids to schools out of the area, mainly because they want to send their kids to single-sex schools. All the local schools are full and cannot take any out-of-area students, even if their older siblings are there. How does forcing families to send their kids to multiple schools make life easier for families? How does any of this make life easier for families? Today we heard that Government members think they are making life easier for families because of some infrastructure. The Parramatta Light Rail has caused disruption for years. No compensation has been paid to businesses that have been forced to close because of constant noise and dust outside. How did it help those families whose businesses have been forced to close? We have been waiting for six years for a replacement swimming pool in Parramatta. Every year summers are stinking hot and there is no pool. How does that help families?

Mr ADAM CROUCH (Terrigal) (17:11:56):

It is a pleasure to speak in the public interest debate brought by my colleague the member for North Shore. I start by thanking all of the families and all of the parents across New South Wales, especially on the Central Coast, for what has been two very difficult years in a pandemic situation that nobody would have expected. Nobody thinks for one second that what we have been through is easy. We know that a lot of people have done it very hard. Because of the support of the New South Wales Government to all the amazing families across regional New South Wales and Sydney itself, we have been able to help people through this situation.

I reflect on Christmas on the Central Coast. I say to the member for Granville that, if she wants to see why the doors are open, she should come to the Central Coast at Christmas. I suspect that a lot of people from her electorate were actually holidaying on the Central Coast because they could. The reality is they could go to the shops and spend money and enjoy time away with their families. They could use their Dine & Discover vouchers and their Active Kids rebates. We have the Parents NSW voucher, which the member for North Shore articulated, made up of five $50 vouchers. I can say that 16,123 families on the Central Coast have already downloaded their vouchers.

An Opposition member interjected

[.]

It is a big deal when you have families who need that extra support. In addition, we have had 234,360 registrations for the Dine & Discover vouchers on the Central Coast. That is more than $21 million worth of vouchers that have been redeemed already. There is $23 million to still be spent in our region. This is making a huge difference to local businesses and families. A lot of small businesses are run by families, which I know is a foreign concept to Opposition members. But the reality is that this stimulus is supporting these families every day through what has been some of the most difficult situations the State has ever faced.

We also have the Stay NSW vouchers. Families on the Central Coast are absolutely delighted to spend those vouchers at local coast businesses and in beautiful electorates like your own, Madam Deputy Speaker. Service NSW, which is probably the greatest thing ever delivered in this State, offers the cost‑of‑living assessment. Under the Government of members opposite, we had the misery of the Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA]. This Government has delivered Service NSW. Every day the 70 cost‑of‑living savings make a huge difference to families. One of the highest rebates ever given to a person in New South Wales was provided through the Service NSW centre at Erina.

It delivered almost $14,000 of savings to one person and is making a real difference to people in New South Wales. The Service NSW team is absolutely amazing. I talk all the time to people who have done their cost‑of‑living assessment and are reaping the benefits of the one‑stop shop that is Service NSW. Members opposite opposed it. All they could say was, "How dare you take an RTA away!" Service NSW is supporting people right across the Central Coast.

Thousands of Central Coast parents have benefited from Active Kids vouchers, a multimillion‑dollar injection into Central Coast sporting facilities. Members opposite did not support it. Some 79 school projects on the Central Coast were funded under the regional and rural program, under which billions of dollars' were invested. I was talking to the Minister about the Regional Seniors Travel Card only this morning. In the first two months of this year alone, 26,493 cards have been issued in the Central Coast local government area. In year one, 42,635 cards were delivered. In year two, 44,150 were delivered. That represents millions of dollars of support for regional seniors right across the Central Coast, which is making a real difference to those people.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Oatley to order for the first time. The member for Maitland will come to order.

Mr ADAM CROUCH:

It is helping to put downwards pressure on the cost of living. The list goes on. I could stand here all day talking about the millions of dollars worth of support being delivered to families right across the Central Coast region, whether it be Active Kids, Creative Kids, or the First Lap swimming program. I acknowledge the great work done by the member for Holsworthy—children between the ages of three and six having $100 taken off the cost of learning to swim. On the Central Coast, a child is at risk if they do not learn to swim. The voucher is providing support to parents to teach their kids how to swim. Whether it be Community Building Partnerships grants, sporting upgrades or general day-to-day cost‑of‑living assistance, the Government is providing support for families. To be able to take your gas or electricity bill to Service NSW and receive advice on how to get the best deal—a cheaper price on your already cheap price—is what it is all about. I commend the member for North Shore for bringing this excellent public interest debate motion to the House.

Mr STEPHEN BALI (Blacktown) (17:17:08):

To respond to the member for Terrigal, the people in the west would have loved to have come up to Terrigal, but there were a lot of restrictions preventing us getting out of Sydney: the petrol prices, the tolls, the 90,000 COVID cases and 30 deaths per day back in January. Is it not wonderful that this Liberal and Nationals—the junior partner—I suppose we do not care too much about The Nationals. They are disappearing. It is wonderful how they have reinvented themselves. Today they are making life easier. I remember the Liberal Party motto that "life was not meant to be easy", so 40 years later it is great to see them reinventing themselves or, as Joe hockey once said, "To get ahead in life, go get a better job that pays good money."

Mr Mark Coure:

That was Paul Keating.

Mr STEPHEN BALI:

It was Joe Hockey.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Oatley to order for the second time.

Mr STEPHEN BALI:

Let us have a look at the record of this Government. The Government was supposed to order rapid antigen tests [RATs]. How did it make life easier when people had to pay over $50 for one RAT? To keep their jobs, people had to go and get tested. As the Liberals always say, "You always have a choice"—stay in the queue for eight hours and wait three days for result, or pay $50. Back in November, Scomo, the great Prime Minister, told all the State Premiers to order RATs. So where were we? Two months later in January, the Premier said, "Oh we've just ordered a couple of million RAT tests." That was a bit late—eight weeks far too late. Obviously, he was enjoying his Christmas holidays. Did that make it easier for our western Sydney families? No. What about the tolls? They will increase by 4 per cent over the next few decades. Does that make it any easier for western Sydney families? No.

The member for Granville spoke about the threat and challenges that our workers were under during the COVID pandemic. At the height of COVID, did the Liberals deliver any vaccination hubs in the Riverstone electorate, a Liberal electorate? No. International SOS, together with Riverstone Community Aid and me, had to organise it. One thing I can thank the member for North Shore for is that the North Sydney area health had to come out to Mount Druitt because Western Sydney Health District was so underfunded. They had to come out to deliver AstraZeneca. Mind you, we could pick up AstraZeneca at any chemist or doctor. In the end, what can we do? We do not get funded enough. Waiting lists have blown out. People in western Sydney have to wait two years to get their teeth fixed if they are on the public waiting list. What about ambulances? Has this Government made it easy for the people of western Sydney? No.

The Salvation Army says that one in six children live in poverty. That means that in western Sydney the figure is about 25 per cent. I know the member for North Shore may not realise that because only about 10 per cent of children in her electorate might be living in some type of poverty. Having one in four children living in poverty in western Sydney, the community foundations of north-western Sydney provided free stationery for children in the electorates of Riverstone, Mount Druitt, Londonderry, Penrith and Blacktown. We had to rely on others. Obviously, the Liberal‑Nationals Government believes in equality: Everyone should get the standard amount of kids rebates, $100 to every family.

But where is the equity when the families cannot afford it? The wait for public housing in the Blacktown area is up to 15 years. Where is social housing to support it? Has the Government made it easier for families living in rural or western Sydney to access public housing? No. The member for North Shore quite rightly boasts about her area. Mosman High School has 16 new classrooms, new administration and staff facilities, a new library, multipurpose gym, a hall—I am running out of breath—outdoor rooftop space, new canteen et cetera. She mentioned seven other schools. In Blacktown basically we do not even get the asbestos removed, and we only get 50 per cent towards the upgrade of the school's administration building. We have to run chook raffles.

Mr Mark Coure:

I bet you have not written to the Minister.

Mr STEPHEN BALI:

We have.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

I remind the member for Oatley that he is on two calls to order.

Mr STEPHEN BALI:Time expired.

We have a situation in the Sydney area that, to a certain extent, I understand but I do not get it. Why do Government members always have to self‑praise endlessly. They always need to pat themselves on the back. The by‑election results have demonstrated a massive swing against the Liberals. People are hurting in the area and they are angry. All we are asking on this side of the House is that we work together to deliver solutions. I ask the Government to not ignore us. It should not worry about self-praise, nor be arrogant. It is out of touch with rural and western Sydney people. []

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy) (17:22:23):

I need a lot more than five minutes to rebut all that. We need some positivity back in the debate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The member for Holsworthy will be heard in silence.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS:

I thank the member for North Shore for bringing this public interest debate motion to the Chamber today because it is important that our families know what is available to them. We should not listen to all that doom and gloom and drivel because it is so much more exciting out there than what is being portrayed by members opposite. The Government continues to find, create and implement new, innovative and important programs to assist families and improve their cost of living. The Liberal‑Nationals Government's strong and consistent economic management has meant that we have been able to continue our track record of building new infrastructure, upgrading our health services, improving transport options and, importantly, focusing on building new schools and upgrades to improve education.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on our families. To help ease some of the pressure, we introduced new voucher programs alongside existing ones to support families and contribute to bringing down the cost of living. The Active Kids program offers families $100 vouchers for school students to keep down the cost of sport, fitness and recreation. I used my very first voucher the other day. This season's soccer is costing us $20, which is awesome. I am thrilled to be able to let my kid run around with that kind of support. I do not know whether she will love it, but it gives her the chance to try it out while only costing my family $20. It is a great investment. The Creative Kids voucher program is also popular. Twice a year it provides families with $100 vouchers for school students to help cover the costs of creative and cultural activities.

Similarly, the First Lap program offers families $100 vouchers for children aged between three and six to help cover the cost of swimming lessons. They are expensive and easy to put off because they cost a lot of money, they take a bit of effort and it is easier to do them in a friend's pool if you are lucky enough to have access to one. It is so hard to access that program. The program helps make it that little bit easier and offers a little bit of an incentive to have your children learn to swim. We are a water-based country. So many of our activities are focused around the water, so it is important that our children have a chance to do these lessons after they were all halted during COVID. The program gives them a chance to get back on board and get back into some swimming and water safety.

We have also talked about Parents NSW vouchers, those five $50 vouchers—$250 vouchers—for the parents, guardians and carers who provided home learning to school-enrolled children. After the stress of home learning, it is a nice way to say thank you to those parents for what they did and to give them a little bit of bonding that is not over the dining table, saying, "Finish your school work. Get things done." It will get them away from the computer, out enjoying the fresh air again and spending some quality family time together as opposed to what they have endured during COVID.

Access to those vouchers and all the cost-of-living savings measures can be found at Service NSW. While I am speaking of Service NSW, on Friday we opened our brand new 111th Service NSW centre at Edmondson Park. That is an election promise of mine and I am so stoked to see it there. Minister Dominello came out several times to see the progress and I am thankful to him for seeing it from go to whoa and making it a reality. One of the things I love about the centre is that it has a cost-of-living specialist there to tell people what they qualify for and to show them all the opportunities available to help them reduce their cost of living. It is not often you can walk into a building and walk out saving money. I am really impressed with everything the centre has got to offer. It is going to be a great addition to our community.

We were talking about rapid antigen tests, and how difficult and expensive they were to get. To reduce that cost of living to our families, we all got four each to help, and then we were given some more to make sure that our kids were safe when they went to school. I know so many kids already at my kid's school who have been found to be COVID-positive due to that program. It means that people do not have to decide whether to test their child or risk infecting somebody else. They know that their child is as safe as possible going to school and around their friends when they are off to learn. It also helps reduce that fear of sending our little ones to school.

That surveillance program has been successful and I thank the Government for introducing it and continuing it on a voluntary basis so that our families can access it. I should talk about the $740 million going into the Liverpool Health and Academic Precinct and the $50 million car park so you can visit your loved ones. It is going to have a new neonatal intensive care unit for our maternity unit and babies, which is going to support our families as well. There is so much. I said I would need longer and I know the member for North Shore will give you even more information in a moment.

Mr RON HOENIG (Heffron) (17:27:42):The Sydney Morning Herald

I just listened to the wonderful pearls of wisdom of the member for Holsworthy, whom I have known for a long time and whose assessment, accuracy and honesty I respect. I quote her words as reported in :

However, Ms Gibbons has told several colleagues that she is so disillusioned by the internal war engulfing the party, including plans to install Mr Dore, that she is likely to leave politics this year if she is not preselected.

Ms Felicity Wilson:

Madam Speaker, will you ask the member to return to the motion before the House?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

I uphold the point of order. The member for Heffron will come back to the motion.

Mr RON HOENIG:Grimm's Fairy Tales

As I look over the Chamber, what do I see—delusional Tories. I endorse the remarks made by the member for Holsworthy. They assert making life easier for families. Who would believe them? They suffer from what all, or most, long-serving governments suffer from—that is, they are like the dying embers of a discarded fire. I wonder whether or not they could author the next version of or alternatively at least look in the mirror because, at the end of the day, unfortunately for the people of New South Wales, they have 13 long months to go. I wonder what is going to be left of this State by the time they are accountable to the people.

What really bothers me about the Liberal-Nationals Party is that it does not listen and it does not learn. Only a week ago—not a year ago, or two years ago—four by-elections took place in New South Wales where people were asked to send a message to Dominic Perrottet and his Government. You would have thought that they sent an overwhelming message to them. Do you think the Government heard it? Do you think they listened? They have a complete tin ear. You would not credit it. Instead of saying, "Yes, we've heard the message. Things are difficult. There is a pandemic and we're going to do better", they say, "Aren't we wonderful, the Coalition. We're doing such wonderful things to make life easier for you all." Who were they listening to? I do not think even the North Shore Tories would be happy. Bearing in mind, I look at Federal seats like Warringah and they cannot even hold blue-ribbon seats.

Yes, Minister

The classic was yesterday and today. The whole Sydney train network has been shut down. People were abandoned; they were angry, stranded and frustrated. The transport Minister, who is accountable to this House, said, "I didn't know anything about it because I was asleep. The decision was made by a bureaucrat. It has got nothing to do with me." Let me tell you this, just so that the delusional Tories on the other side of the House know this: Gladys would have inserted herself in those discussions weeks ago, as she constantly has in dealing with the Rail Tram and Bus Union or other public sector unions. It would never have come to this. But neither the Premier nor the transport Minister think that it has anything to do with them; it is operational. is alive and well: "I'm the Minister for Transport but I've got nothing to do with running the Sydney railways." It is just a bizarre state of affairs. The reality is they do not listen. They have no compassion. They have no sympathy for anyone.

I move: That the motion be amended to insert the following words after "New South Wales":

and acknowledges that life has been getting harder for New South Wales families over the last 12 months with increasing tolls, fines, fees, taxes and cost of living.

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore) (17:32:53):

In reply: What members opposite have painted for us today is a very grim picture. If they had been listening to the beginning of my speech, they would have noticed that I acknowledged the challenges of the last two years and the challenges many people continue to face. So I would suggest that they listen before making their contributions in future. But I listened to them and the image they painted for us of this moribund, defeatist, negative, unhappy New South Wales is not the New South Wales that this Government is trying to achieve by supporting families and by trying to support the community. We believe, when we listen to this community, there is hope. There is a sense that people want things to get better. People want to get back to work, their children back at school and their businesses to thrive again.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The member for Blacktown has made his contribution. The member for Granville will come to order.

Ms FELICITY WILSON:

They do not want the negativity of those opposite and they definitely do not want them in government because if we want to look at failures, let us look at what happened when Labor was last in government and whether families would ever trust them. When Labor was last in government, in the last 10 years of Labor—the member for Blacktown was not here at that point but he would be part of the next one. Labor had the slowest economic growth of any major State.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! The member for Shellharbour will come to order.

Ms FELICITY WILSON:

It had the lowest economic growth of any major State. It had the lowest jobs growth of any mainland State. In the last five years it had the lowest business confidence in any mainland State, the lowest housing growth in the nation and the lowest average annual rate of any State for retail trade. Those opposite cannot lecture us on business and how to support businesses because they failed. They have a huge failure mark against their track record, whereas we are delivering outcomes for businesses and families. When they left office they had a $30 billion infrastructure backlog. Who do you trust on delivering trains? Who do you trust on delivering these infrastructure projects?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Granville to order for the first time. I call the member for Shellharbour to order for the first time.

Ms FELICITY WILSON:

Do you trust the people who promised 12 rail lines, had nine transport master plans, six transport Ministers and only delivered half of a rail line? If you are worried about services in Parramatta, maybe Labor should have finished the Chatswood to Parramatta rail line rather than cancelling it. Maybe if it was worried about train services it should have delivered the Rozelle Metro rather than wasting half a billion dollars of taxpayers' dollars on that failure. If you want to trust anybody to deliver transport, it is this Government because we delivered Opal, not those failures across the Chamber. We have delivered brand-new trains, air-conditioned trains and new services across the entire network, and Labor failed.

If you want to talk about who to trust when it comes to cost of living, do not listen to the member for Blacktown, who says we put on tolls at a 4 per cent increase over a 10-year period. Labor did that. It introduced a 4 per cent per annum toll increase on the Cross City Tunnel, the longest concession ever introduced in the history of this State. Those opposite are the failures for families and businesses across this State and they should be ashamed of themselves because we are the only people in this place who actually want to see families and businesses thrive.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The member for North Sydney has moved a motion, to which the member for Heffron has moved an amendment. The question is that the amendment of the member for Heffron be agreed to.

The House divided.

Ayes38

Noes41

Majority3

Amendment negatived.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.