In the aftermath of one of the greatest mercy killings in Australian political history and following an agonising 16 years in the wilderness, the new Coalition government in NSW was sworn in on Sunday 3 April.
Now Premier Barry O’Farrell has the reins of office and the sceptre of mandate, what to do with them.
According to the new government, there’s an extraordinary amount of work required to restore confidence in the State and rebuild economic performance. The voters of NSW thought the same.
For a long time O’Farrell and his team have talked publicly about restoring NSW to the position of the number one State.
Now the government has that chance.
Its 100 Day Plan, published the day after the new government was sworn in, is a long list of activity under five key themes.
There is an important commitment to restore accountability. If the government can do that in a meaningful way, it is well on the way to clawing back some badly needed credibility for the NSW political system and economy.
Because of high community expectations, O’Farrell and his ministers will have to deliver their promises. There can be no backsliding. The electorate’s in no mood to accept that.
The community is tired of promises not being delivered and trust being betrayed. Not to mention that the State of NSW is in a state of disarray.
The new State Government’s five key priority promises are:
- to rebuild the economy
- to return quality services
- to renovate infrastructure
- to restore accountability
- to protect the local environment and communities
There are 39 separate promises under these five key themes, a lot to get started on in just 100 days. Many of these projects will take years to filter through to tangible improvements in people’s lives and to restoring the kind of services that people need and expect.
The government already has scrapped the contentious Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, a promise that was front and centre during the recent election campaign. Its abolition will give an immediate boost to getting local community involvement in planning outcomes.
What’s not in the 100 day plan is a proposal to change the violent crime, which has worried Sydneysiders in particular for two decades. O’Farrell will introduce legislation to strengthen police powers to target drunkenness and disorder, there’s probably another step required there.
Promises aside, the hard job for Barry and his colleagues is to restore confidence that the government will govern for the community and that commitments will be kept.
The task is nothing less than the restoration of NSW to an economic powerhouse.
No easy task, but the new government has the chance to do this, and with a massive mandate to back it every inch of the way.
Published in
Issue 39
