The Illawarra’s six state electorates remain in the dark on just how many extra teachers, police, nurses and midwives, and ambulance officers the region will get nine months after the 2019 NSW election when the promise was made.
Member for Wollongong, Paul Scully asked the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, in a question on notice:
…how many of the 1500 extra police officers, 5000 extra nurses and midwives, 4600 extra teachers, and 750 extra paramedics accounted for the 2019-20 NSW Budget forward estimates will be allocated to the electorates of Wollongong, Keira, Shellharbour, Kiama, Heathcote and South Coast.
Mr Scully also asked whether any allocations of extra police, nurses and midwives, teachers and ambulance officers had been made for the 2019-20 financial year.
The Premier has been unable to provide any numbers for the extra frontline service staff she promised at the election for any of the region’s six electorates.
“It has been nine months since the Government promised extra teachers, police, ambulance officers, nurses and midwives during the election.
“Yet the Premier is still unable to tell the Illawarra community just how many of the extra frontline service staff we’ll actually get.
“We’ve become used to getting very little from the NSW Liberal Government, but now the Premier is treating the three Government-held electorates in the Illawarra with the same contempt.
“Two of the region’s electorates, Kiama and South Coast, are held by senior Cabinet Ministers and even they can’t get answers from the Premier on this issue.
“It’s a pretty simple question – the Premier made a promise of extra teachers, nurses and midwives, police and ambulance officers, and the NSW Budget has these extra numbers factored in – yet she cannot tell us how many.
“Gladys Berejiklian said that NSW could have it all, but when it comes to finding out the details, we get nothing”, he said.
