Meagre moves on big issues before NSW votes
The New South Wales Government has been accused of missing several key points ahead of this weekend’s election, as it tours the state spruiking a plan to sell valuable assets.
Councils and community groups say the NSW Liberals have made no commitments on vital issues such as domestic violence prevention and looming cuts to Indigenous communities.
Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President Keith Rhoades has slammed the Government for its lack of commitment to supporting improved gender diversity.
The group wants state money to support a significant long-term women’s development program.
“Only 27 per cent of councillors elected in the 2012 Local Government elections were women,” Cr Rhoades said.
“In that same year just 19 per cent of NSW Mayors were women, and the proportion of female Council General Managers was even lower at 11 per cent.
“Government is supposed to be about building a better future, and we need to start now.”
Meanwhile, prominent Indigenous figures say the state election campaigns of both major parties have largely ignored Aboriginal issues.
They say there has been hardly any talk about the heavy impact on Indigenous communities from the Baird government’s cuts to services.
The NSW Government is seeking to save money by cutting services dealing with legal aid, domestic violence, women’s shelters and homelessness.
These cuts will have a disproportionately big impact on Indigenous communities in particular.
Former chief executive of the NSW Land Council, Geoff Scott, has told Guardian Australia that Indigenous incarceration rates in NSW are “shocking” but have been “neglected across the board”.
Statistics show nearly a quarter of adult prisoners in NSW are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, despite comprising just 2 per cent of the state’s population.
Pledges for the Indigenous community have been fairly low-key.
Labor has promised $4 million for “justice reinvestment” programs, which use data to identify communities particularly at risk of seeing its young people in prisons.
If Labor wins the election and follows through on its promise, the money will be spent on targeted early intervention and diversionary programs in key communities.
The savings for the criminal justice system would be reinvested in these same programs, Labor says.
Current Premier Mike Baird has promised “up to” $20 million to establish an Aboriginal centre for excellence that will serves the Indigenous population of Sydney’s western suburbs.
He also pledged to divert $12 million from new funding for counsellors and student support officers, so that it can be used to assist Aboriginal and refugee students.