The Labor Party has won the NSW election, securing 47 seats to 27 for the Coalition, with nine seats to call at time of writing.
In his address to the state, Labor leader and new State Premier Chris Minns said, “after 12 years in opposition the people of New South Wales have voted for a fresh start.”
Labor’s victory was partly dominated by wins in Western Sydney — Camden, East Hills, Parramatta, Riverstone, Holsworthy, and Penrith — which were previously safe seats held by the Coalition.
A key part of Labor’s winning strategy involved taking a firm stance against privatisation — Minns called this election “a decisive vote against privatisation.” NSW Labor has promised to remove the public sector wage cap which caused nurses, teachers, paramedics, and transport workers to strike across the state in the past year. Other policies included capping road tolls to $60 per week, and investing $1.1 billion into improving roads in regional NSW and Western Sydney.
Over the past decade, the Coalition has privatised a host of state assets, including several transport projects, and the NSW auditor general’s report revealed that the Coalition government has spent a billion dollars on private consultants since 2017.
Even though outgoing Premier Dominic Perrottet ruled out future privatisation this February, marking a major shift in Coalition policy, the party’s stance remained unclear — with one Liberal MP saying, “we as NSW Liberals support asset recycling”, directly opposing the former Premier’s commitment. Following the loss, the former Premier has stepped down from Liberal leadership saying that the party needs a “fresh start”.
The Coalition’s loss follows years of scandals and alleged corruption within the party. These include the sports rorts scandal, support of pork barreling, and former Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation after ICAC investigations. Most recently, it was revealed that Perrottet wore a Nazi costume at his 21st birthday party.
“We know the responsibilities are awesome, but NSW Labor is back and ready to govern in this great state,” said Minns. After over a decade of austerity, the people of New South Wales can only look forward.
