NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane cites Eminem, spruiks new Western Sydney deal in budget reply speech

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has channelled US rapper Eminem in her first budget reply speech to take aim at the Minns government for what she describes as a “lost opportunity to make a difference” while outlining her priorities as the state heads into an election year. Speaking two days after NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey handed down Labor’s fourth budget, Ms Sloane began her speech by quoting – “If you had one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted/Would you capture it or would you just let it slip?” – from the American musician’s chart-topping 2002 single Lose Yourself. “Labor had their opportunity. After 12 long years on the opposition benches waiting for their moment. What did they do? They let it slip,” she said on Thursday. Although the Coalition backed the government’s $100 rego rebate, Ms Sloane claimed Labor “borrowed” the idea from the opposition and attacked the government for lacking a long-term strategy to address the state’s economic growth, citing stalled housing targets and business closures. The Liberal leader outlined the Coalition’s flagship economic policy would raise the annual payroll tax threshold from $1.2 million to $1.5 million, cut the payroll tax rate by 0.5 per cent for payroll spend below $10 million, and introduce CPI indexation to both thresholds. Ms Sloane described this proposition as “the most competitive state payroll tax regime” for small and medium businesses in the country but did not outline how the Coalition would offset the revenue lost by cutting the tax. She also made a pre-election pledge to sign a new Western Sydney City Deal by 2028 with the federal government, saying the agreement would deliver a new Metro for southwestern Sydney, as well as deliver new roads, schools and hospitals in the region. The first Western Sydney City Deal was struck in 2018 between former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. “With many of the projects in the original deal now completed or coming to an end, the need for more rail, roads, hospitals and schools for a growing West and Southwestern Sydney is still there. NSW can’t afford to stall,” Ms Sloane said. The Coalition would also freeze the Housing and Productivity Contribution by developers until June 2029 and change the payment point from approval to completion as part of efforts to streamline housing projects. Ms Sloane also reiterated a commitment to close the Long Bay Correctional Complex and turn it into a housing precinct that could include up to 12,000 new homes. Detainees at Long Bay would be relocated to Goulburn Correctional Centre, a facility currently slated to be retired by September 2026. The Coalition’s energy platform would focus on scaling back the bipartisan New England Renewable Energy Zone and instead establish new zones in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, Ms Sloane said. She claimed this approach would generate and store power “closer to where it was used” and remove the need for 500KV power lines through “prime agricultural land” in New England, where the proposition has faced significant pushback from farmers and local producers. Ms Sloane also pledged a Coalition government would commit 25 per cent of new infrastructure spending to regional NSW.