Fighting the cost of living crisis
The price of everything needed to survive is pushing people to the brink. Real wages have gone backwards while the cost of groceries, transport, housing and energy skyrockets. The supermarket giants are raking in profits through price gouging.
Many renters and working class households are going without, forced to choose between paying the rent or mortgage on time or skipping meals. According to Foodbank Australia, 1 in 3 households in NSW and ACT face food insecurity. No one should go hungry in NSW. We’ll fight for real government intervention to cap prices on essentials and provide government run alternatives to the supermarket duopoly.
A decent life means more than just getting your basic needs met — we want bread but we want roses too. People shouldn’t have to spend money just to leave their house or socialise. NSW is a beautiful state with some of the greatest parks, gardens, theatres, stadiums and museums in the world. Culture and sport should be enjoyed by all, not just those who can afford the price of entry to a stadium or theatre.
We’ll fight for
End food insecurity & cap the cost of essentials
- Establish a not for profit, publicly owned grocery store in every electorate with low prices, set at cost price.
- Bring the major supermarket chains into public ownership, beginning with their NSW operations, and run them on a not-for-profit basis.
- Cap prices on essential groceries.
- Provide free, nutritious lunches to all primary school students in NSW public schools.
- Provide free baby formula and other essential supplies for infants.
- Introduce an immediate annual price cap on electricity and gas bills for two years based on their average 2022 prices.
Transport, sport and arts for all
- Free public transport for rail, bus and ferries, with increased services.
- Abolish tolls and bring the toll-road network into public ownership.
- Free-to-air sports coverage including all NRL games.
- Introduce a lottery system for all NSW based professional sports games with at least 10% of seating reserved for lottery winners.
- Free access to all exhibitions in NSW and council run museums and galleries.
- Introduce a lottery system for all Opera House performances and major NSW festivals with at least 10% of seating reserved for lottery winners.
Free community and social spaces
- Massively expand free public libraries, community centres, youth spaces and study areas, with longer opening hours, free Wi-Fi and properly paid staff.
- Give councils major ongoing funding to provide free and low-cost community, recreation and cultural facilities, including pools, sporting facilities, community halls, rehearsal rooms and workshops.
- Create more free spaces where young people can meet, study, organise, make music and socialise without being expected to spend money.
- Require major new developments to include publicly owned green space, community facilities, seating, toilets, shade and places where people can gather without having to spend money.