The Gold Coast Bulletin

NSW Premier-elect getting on with the job

- JESSICA WANG

NSW Premier-elect Chris Minns emerged on Sunday vowing to get immediatel­y stuck into his new job.

On Saturday night, the Labor Party achieved an early win against the 12-year Coalition government.

A majority Labor government has been forecasted, with the opposition set to claim at least 47 seats, including Parramatta, Penrith and East Hills.

Mr Minns arrived at Cafe 959 in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah with his wife Anna, and three sons at about 11am.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Minns said that his government would prioritise policies around essential workers, restoring essential services and preparing legislatio­n to protect Sydney Water from privatisat­ion.

“We’ll be having a leadership meeting this afternoon with senior ministers elect in the coming hours,” he said.

“We need to make sure that we are recruiting and retaining essential workers in our schools and our hospitals and I’ll be speaking with senior members of both of those department­s.”

He said removal of the wages cap would be used with Labor’s other policies around essential services, including converting 10,000 temporary teachers into permanent positions, recruiting 500 regional and rural paramedics and ensuring one to three nurse-to-patient ratios in emergency department­s.

In his concession speech, outgoing Premier Dominic Perrottet announced that he would be stepping down as the Liberal Party leader.

Asked on Sunday morning who he thought should take on the top job, Mr Perrottet remained coy.

“It’s a matter for the party, they’ll work it out,” he said.

The outgoing Liberal leader said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family.

 ?? Picture: News Corp ?? NSW Labor Leader and Premier-elect Chris Minns in Sydney on Sunday.
Picture: News Corp NSW Labor Leader and Premier-elect Chris Minns in Sydney on Sunday.

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