Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, there is a state election in New South Wales and the people of the Shortland electorate have the opportunity to vote to return a Labor government to power in New South Wales. In the Shortland electorate, we have had quite an experience with Liberal Party members of parliament. Three Liberals were elected at the last state election. One had to resign because he took money in a brown paper bag from a developer. The other two have had to move to the crossbenches because of their association with developers. The people of the Shortland electorate know they can trust Labor. They know that their Labor representatives have always been honest. There has never been a whiff of corruption about the Labor members in the Shortland electorate. But, unfortunately, the three Liberal Party state members have all made appearances at ICAC. I find that very disturbing and so do the people of the Hunter and the Central Coast.

In addition to the fact that we have had big problems with the Liberal Party members within the Shortland electorate and the three state electorates of Swansea, Charlestown and Wyong, the Baird government is going to sell off electricity, the poles and wires, in New South Wales. The people of the Hunter and the Central Coast do not want that. They know that they were promised that electricity prices would go down. But under the Baird Liberal government, and I might say under the O'Farrell Liberal government, electricity prices have only gone one way, and that is up. I cannot be convinced, nor can the voters in Swansea, Charlestown and Wyong, that by selling off electricity poles and wires that electricity prices will go down.

In addition to that, we have seen Mike Baird siding with Tony Abbott, refusing to speak out against money being ripped out of hospitals in New South Wales. We have seen Mike Baird being very quiet about the schoolkids bonus being removed from families in the Shortland electorate and throughout New South Wales. And we have seen the Baird Liberal government failing time and time again to stand up against the excesses of the Abbott government here in Canberra. It is not good enough. The people of New South Wales deserve a good, decent, honest government.