CHRIS MINNS – SPEECH – ADDRESS TO NSW LABOR CONFERENCE 2024 – SYDNEY TOWN HALL –
SUNDAY, 28 JULY 2024
Delegates, thank you. For the last decade, most years since 2011, the delegates of the NSW Labor Party, our affiliated unions and supporters have met in this beautiful Town Hall for our state conference.
And on the Sunday morning of each conference weekend, the State Parliamentary Labor Party wandered in to sit for the Leaders address.
For each and every one of those Conferences – we were in Opposition.
A diligent opposition – and yes, a hard working opposition.
But always in opposition.
Today, delegates, after 12 long years, thanks to all of you, we proudly assemble before this Conference, not in Opposition, but as the 19th Labor Government of New South Wales.
Can I acknowledge the strong and proud descendants of Bennelong and Barangaroo, part of the Eora nation – and thank them for welcoming this Party to their lands.
Thanks Liza – for those lovely words – and for always being there for your community – from that RFA hall in Bawley Point during the bushfires – to the benches of the state parliament each and every day.
Thanks so much to Anna my wife – now we couldn’t convince the kids to come to this year Conference and walk down the aisle – so this might have to count as a date night.
Just you, me, Theo from the Plumbers’ Union, 900 of our mates. And a couple of thousand protestors. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Delegates – none of us joined this Party to sit on the sidelines – out of Government – and just looking in.
We don’t want to come here just to throw rocks or complain.
That’s why at the end of the day we are in Labor.
This is not a think tank – or a fringe political Party – hoping to make up the cross bench.
Labor exists to win. So that we can fulfill the mission of this Conference.
We are not a protest Party. We are built for Government.
And the reason is that without Government, we can’t build a single new hospital, or put a single parent family into public housing.
We can’t breathe life into public education – or bring back manufacturing to our State.
We can’t prove that our Ideas, Labor Ideas, are better than the Conservatives.
Delegates, 500 days ago – this State – the country’s largest – had a wages cap – it was a deliberate attempt to hold down the wages of the largest employer in the country.
Delegates – it’s my honour to report to you that the wages cap, in this State, is now gone.
500 days ago – we were ordering trains from South Korea, our light rail from Spain and our ferries from Indonesia.
Today – we have new ferries made in Australia – we have NSW workers maintaining our Tangara carriages once again – and we have begun the plan to bring train manufacturing back to our state.
500 days ago – privatisation was the apparent answer to all our economic problems – $90 Billion of assets had been sold – and Sydney Water was next on the chopping block.
Today, we’re building public assets – and Sydney Water can’t be sold.
Because Labor put it in the Constitution.
My point is here don’t let anyone tell you that elections don’t matter.
They do matter.
And this Government is starting the long task of turning the State around.
And that is down to you.
Everybody in the room.
Everyone who gave their time, who knocked on doors, who convinced a sceptical uncle that maybe Labor wasn’t all that bad.
Labor has never been a party that can rely on big money, on big business money. And in all honesty – when we have in the past, it’s been a huge mistake.
Ultimately our greatest asset is our people and our ideas.
And delegates, that’s all we need.
I’ll speak about our ideas in a moment – but firstly on our people.
Can I specifically thank and acknowledge the union movement of New South Wales – and Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey.
It is the alliance between our Party and the union movement that has given us solidarity and strength for more than a century.
It rests on a simple idea – fairness, progress and safety for those who work for their families and those that work for our country.
But we shouldn’t presume that that simple, fair concept doesn’t have large scale opponents within our State, because it does.
Last year, the Liberals were trying out an election slogan, which they thought was very clever.
It said:
‘When Labor and Unions win – you lose’.
So, think about that. In their alternative universe –
When a paramedic gets a well-deserved pay rise – to keep doing the job that she loves – apparently, we all lose.
When a worker at Woollies gets protected from an abusive thug because he’s completing his shift – apparently, we all lose.
When a stone mason, thanks to a years long union campaign, no longer has to work on a slab that could cause their early death – apparently, we all lose.
It’s a dangerous idea – And we know what it’s true meaning is – its designed to demonise the union movement in this State.
But think about what that slogan says about the kind of economy, society and country that our opponents want to create.
About the message they’re happy to have floating in our media and into the minds of young people throughout the country.
It rests on the idea that our economy is a zero sum gain.
In order for me to win – someone else has to lose.
Now that’s a miserable idea.
And it’s in the bones of our political opponents.
I want to say unambiguously, that this Conference, that this Party and the Union movement believes that when we come together, when we build up working Australians our State and our country thrives.
With that in mind, this State needs a plan to lift up young Australian’s and give them the best start to their working lives.
Under the last government – the number of people finishing apprenticeships or traineeships halved in New South Wales.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’re letting down young people – and it’s clearly hurting our skilled Labor force and affecting the economy.
So something needs to change, and it needs to change urgently –today I can announce we’re prepared to do something about it.
Labor will deliver the biggest direct state government investment in new apprentices in decades.
I want to acknowledge former Secretary of Unions New South Wales and former Premier of New South Wales and a former apprentice, Barrie Unsworth, who’s with us here today.
It’s no small change. $252 million – to hire 1300 apprentices across every local government area and every council across New South Wales.
That’s 1300 new mechanics, new electricians, new landscapers, new plumbers and planning cadets – the people who make our councils work.
Now we’re up against two problems here: an ageing workforce and a skills shortage.
These apprenticeships will start to plug the gaps – while letting younger Australians learn from their experienced workmates.
Every council will benefit from this injection of new talent – but it will be a major boon for the regions and the bush in the State.
The reason is smaller towns have fewer apprenticeships; fewer pathways for formal training; and this will make a big difference in those places.
And I want to specifically thank and acknowledge the activism of Secretary Graeme Kelly from the USU for all their advocacy on this issue, and all their members who keep this state running.
Labor’s mission must also stay up to date with the massive changes in our online economy.
It’s clear that society is changing and our mission has to keep pace with that.
I think we’ve all accepted a level of convenience that makes life easier with online apps.
But for too long – we’ve seen workers on our streets – peddling hard, weaving through traffic – in difficult, dangerous work, carrying our food and delivering our packages with next to no protection.
We cannot be a society that prioritises our convenience over these workers – that treats them as if they are disposable or anonymous or someone to be exploitable.
Think of people like Zhuoying – who is one of those hard working delivery drivers and she’s here with us today in the TWU delegation.
Since she started her job, her pay has always been below the minimum wage.
When her pay began to drop even lower, she asked the company what was going on.
Straight after that inquiry, her orders stopped completely.
Currently, gig workers like Zhuoying are treated as independent contractors.
They don’t have a say over rights and conditions.
They don’t have minimum rates of pay.
And they have no recourse if they’re dismissed from the apps unfairly.
Delegates – that changes today.
Today I can announce major changes to gig workers – in our economy.
We will introduce legislation this year to:
Empower the Industrial Commission to set minimum pay and conditions for gig workers in the transport sector.
And, provide these workers with remedies for unfair treatment.
This will be the first time these workers will be protected by labour laws in the history of New South Wales.
It’s long overdue – and it’s the right thing to do.
As part of these reforms, we’ll also be bringing in truck drivers who deliver our milk and bread under the act – finally giving them the same protection as every other driver.
And today, delegates, I can also announce that we will be funding a brand new Migrant Workers Centre in New South Wales.
So multicultural organisations and trade unions can partner together to support, train and educate our workers about their rights – and to stop exploitation in this state.
Delegates,
Take a look at what a Labor Government can do in a little over a year.
In 2023 – our Deputy Premier, Prue Car – the Minister for Education – took teachers from the lowest paid in Australia to the highest paid.
The reason for that is that we know that there’s no app, no computer, no magic website that can substitute for a bright, committed public school teacher.
A teacher that can see something in a school student that they don’t see in themselves – can draw something out of them that they didn’t know that they had.
That’s the magic spark of education in Australia, and it’s the reason why we are one of the best countries – no we are, the best country in the world.
And it wasn’t a major change for us in opposition, but we were committed to doing it and at the same time, we made a decision to move teachers and support staff from temporary to permanent contracts.
We have moved 17,000 teachers from temporary positions to permanent jobs.
There’s a long way to go, but I can report to you that, so far, there’s been a 20% drop in teacher vacancies across our public schools, that’s major progress in a short space of time.
More teacher, less cancelled classes – better outcomes for the next generation of young Australians.
Delegates, this State and it’s people are faced with unprecedented challenges,
Our Government inherited the largest debt ever passed from one Government to another in the history of the State.
We know that inflation has smashed household budgets.
And that’s before you even get to the largest financial hit of all – and that’s the cost of housing.
After Hong Kong – Sydney is the most expensive city in the world.
We’ve been warned repeatedly that we’re under threat of living in a city without grandchildren.
Young people are fleeing our cities and towns and moving to cheaper places, not even to regional New South Wales which we know is very expensive as well, but moving to other States.
Which is why, last December, we embarked on the single biggest housing reform and zoning changes in Australia’s history.
A plan to build thousands of new homes around train stations and transport corridors.
These are big calls – and when you make a big call you can expect opposition.
Much of it from Liberal politicians who want us to build a wall around the North Shore.
Or from Green MPs who say we need a million new houses – as long as they don’t go anywhere near any of their electorates.
And maybe one or two of our own Councillors.
But the truth of the matter is we need to do something about it. It’s an urgent priority for New South Wales.
We followed that reform with the biggest investment in public housing in the New South Wales’ history.
$5.1 billion – to build 8,400 new homes.
It’s been said before that the single most effective Government policy to combat domestic violence was the Whitlam Government’s decision to introduce the single parent pension.
It meant that for the first time – a woman with her children could leave a dangerous household.
She didn’t leave with a fortune – but she left with some hope, some dignity and she could make a fresh start.
Today, the single biggest barrier to a woman leaving a violent home is whether they’ll be homeless if they do.
I can report to conference, that of the 8400 new public housing homes – half will be for survivors of domestic violence.
This decision by itself won’t stop the scourge of domestic violence – but it will save lives.
There’s no one easy way to solve the housing crisis in the State.
But we are going to pull every lever in the State to make a difference.
So today, I’m very happy to announce the next major pillar of our housing reforms – and that is to give more security to renters in New South Wales by ending no grounds evictions in the State.
There are two million renters in New South Wales.
Far too often, they’ve been forgotten in our political discussions.
Even if you’ve got a place, you can’t help but feel anxious if you’re renting.
With low vacancy rates, driving big rent increases, and very little security of tenure to fall back on is almost non-existent.
When I was young, the question used to be whether you would ever be able to afford to buy a place i in a city like Sydney.
Now many ask whether they can even afford to rent a place in a city like Sydney.
As things stand, renters can be evicted for no reason at all.
Of course, there will still be reasonable grounds to end a tenancy – if the house is damaged, or the property is being renovated, or the owners are moving back in – or if they’re just not paying.
It just can’t just be to put up the rent.
We haven’t made this decision lightly and we haven’t done it without consideration.
But the truth is, we’ve made this decision not so that renters have a home, but to ensure they can build a life, to get a start in this great city.
Something has to change – we are losing twice as many young people as we are taking in – and the next generation feel locked out of the place they were brought up.
I want to make it clear only Labor has a plan for housing in New South Wales. Only Labor has a plan for rezoning, for social housing, for public housing, for essential workers, to protect renters.
Do you hear any of these ideas from our political opposition, either in the Conservatives or the Greens?
We are leading this agenda and we will make a difference for the next generation of young Australians.
Delegates – these are the differences a Labor government can make.
The difference between privatisation and actually investing in public services.
The differences between an old idea and a fresh start.
As Labor members, we should he proud of what we’ve achieved in the last 500 days.
Cutting the number of those waiting too long for elective surgery from 14,000 down to 3,000.
Reducing the teacher vacancy rate by 20%.
Saving Sydney Water from privatisation.
Putting a $60 toll cap on our roads.
And introducing the toughest domestic violence laws in the country, making it far harder for cowards to access bail in our court system.
But the truth is it’s all still ahead of us.
Noone is interested in NSW Labor starting a victory lap right now, least of all us.
Having run a marathon to get into Government – We have to start another one straight away to rebuild the State.
The people of NSW want us to work relentlessly on their behalf – and we’re going to do just that.
We’ll build 100 new preschools.
We’ll reform our unfair privatised toll roads.
We’ll complete Rouse Hill and Eurobodalla Hospital.
We’ll bring back train building.
We’ll grow our economy to ensure that everyone earns a piece of that prosperity.
We’ll invest in renewable energy– and meet our climate change goals.
We’ll keep the public safe – by investing in the best police force in the country.
When times are tough – we don’t have a moment to lose.
We have the people, the energy and the ideas to deliver for this great state.
Thank you for all your you did in the election campaign – thank you for your commitment to this great party – but the job has just begun.
