People in Kogarah are doing it tough right now with the cost of living rising sharply all over Australia, making it increasingly difficult for families to make ends meet.

NSW faces rampant inflation and rising interest rates, but we are committed to ensuring that our State is prepared to tackle these challenges.

We recognise Governments needed to borrow more during the pandemic to keep people safe; however, the former Government fell into a bad habit of wasteful spending, making large spending commitments that left NSW with the highest debt on record.

In addition to record debt, the previous Liberal Government had more than $7 billion worth of promises they could not pay.

This includes not funding 1,200 nurses working after June 30 2024, a school repair backlog of $1.2 billion and a funding shortfall of $700 million for children living in and out of home care.

We need to reprioritise spending to fund these critical measures. 

Focusing on what people need is helping us to make better choices as we try to balance the budget and plan for the future.

I want to send a message to the people of Kogarah that, I am committed to doing everything I can to relive cost-of-living pressures and make it easier for people to access financial support.

1.6 million eligible low-income households, pensioners, self-funded retirees, families, veterans and carers will receive $500 to help pay their electricity bills.

I have also created the Cost of Living Hub which is an easy-to-use website that provides resources and tools to help ease-cost-of-living pressures.

This one-stop-shop helps people connect to important services and support, giving them access to what they need, when they need it the most. The Cost of Living Hub can be viewed at https://www.nsw.gov.au/cost-of-living-hub.

As your Premier, I am prepared to make the careful and necessary decisions to address the holes left in the budget by the Liberals and ensure we fund the essential services people rely on.

My focus is on fixing wait times for healthcare, keeping the best teachers in our schools and supporting people who are struggling to afford the basic costs of living.

By managing our finances responsibly and by redirecting wasteful spending, we can rebuild our essential services and reinvest in our frontline workers and ensure we provide support when people in NSW need it most.

Yours sincerely,

The Hon. Chris Minns MP
Premier of New South Wales
Member for Kogarah