Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (11:29): My question is addressed to the Deputy Premier, and Minister for Western Sydney. Will the Deputy Premier please update the House on the threats posed to the Minns Labor Government's investment in workers in the public sector and what they mean for communities right across New South Wales?
Ms PRUE CAR (Londonderry—Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Early Learning, and Minister for Western Sydney) (11:30): I thank the member for Campbelltown for that important question. Of course, we came to government almost 3½ years ago on one simple promise to rebuild the essential services of this State. At the heart of that commitment was the very simple principle to invest in the people who deliver those essential services throughout New South Wales—teachers, nurses, police officers, paramedics and child protection workers. We know that the Liberals and Nationals deliberately suppressed the wages of those public service workers for more than 12 years, and we know the result. Record teacher vacancies resulted in more than 10,000 merged and cancelled classes. Police officers left the force in droves. A thousand nurses faced the sack. Children in crisis were staying in hotels and caravan parks with unapproved providers.
That is why the work we did almost immediately to abolish the wages cap mattered so much. The clear result of that abolition was the delivery of better pay and conditions to rebuild the front line in New South Wales. There are 6½ thousand additional nurses and 1,000 new paramedics. We have seen the largest ever graduating class at the Goulburn police academy in 14 years. Teacher vacancies have been reduced by 70 per cent. That has made a real and material difference for children in classrooms. Thanks to the Minister for Families and Communities, children in crisis are no longer staying in unsuitable accommodation. The truth is that the abolition of the wages cap was not just about pay and conditions, although that was very important. It was actually about the services that the people of New South Wales rely on. Six months out from the election, we do have to look at the alternative if the government were to change in New South Wales.
Ms PRUE CAR: It is clear the alternative government in New South Wales would be a One Nation‑Liberal‑Nationals coalition, a Frankenstein's monster type of government.
Mr Greg Warren: I seek further information.
The SPEAKER: An additional two minutes is granted.
Ms PRUE CAR: The member for Willoughby says we're obsessed with One Nation. What does that tell members about those opposite? That is the alternative government. Based on what we know so far about the leader of One Nation, the truth is that we could go so far as to say that party looks at our schools, our hospitals and our emergency services and says there are too many people delivering those services. Mr Newman holds up public service job cuts that have happened overseas as a model for what to do in New South Wales. He salivates over Javier Milei. For the benefit of the House, Javier Milei is the guy who goes on stage and holds a chainsaw over his head.
Mr Newman says he has done the Argentinean modelling on New South Wales. That would mean around 104,000 job cuts in New South Wales. Tell me how that could be done without touching the numbers of teachers, police officers, nurses and paramedics. The truth is that it cannot. The people of New South Wales deserve to know what the alternative is. The alternative to the Minns Labor Government investing in the people who deliver those services is the American-style, Argentinean-style attack on the frontline workers who deliver the services we rely on. Those opposite laugh, but we do not find it funny.
Ms PRUE CAR: They will sign up to whatever keeps them in some sort of opposition or puts them in some sort of government in New South Wales. We will not back down when it comes to the protection of public service workers in New South Wales.
