Jubilant returned Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch is determined to put teachers and nurses at the top of the agenda for the first term of the new Minns Labor State Government.
“I’m ecstatic to be re-elected but the extent to which we won state-wide has come as a surprise,” Tesch said on March 26.
“The extent of the Labor vote wasn’t reflected in the polls, although we were hopeful of winning.”
Tesch isn’t the only one surprised, with pundits declaring a Labor government by 10 pm on March 25, just hours after the voting closed.
Regarding the seat of Terrigal, Tesch was cautiously optimistic that Labor colleague Sam Boughton would take the seat from incumbent Liberal Member Adam Crouch, but said it was too soon to celebrate.
“Sam is so gracious and will be content even if the vote changes because he has worked hard and done everything he could,” Tesch said.
While political experts declared the seat for Labor on Saturday night, Tesch said with postal votes and pre polls yet to be counted, it was too soon to celebrate a victory in the traditionally Liberal-held seat.
By Sunday, pundits were more cautious, saying it was still too close to call a Labor victory in Terrigal.
It is one of two seats looking likely to fall to Labor; if they both go red it will see the Party form a majority government, with 45 of the 47 seats necessary already secured.
The region’s other three incumbent Labor MPs David Harris (Wyong), David Mehan (The Entrance) and Yasmin Catley (Swansea ) have all retained their seats.
Tesch said it would be “absolutely fantastic” if Labor were to hold all five Central Coast seats in a majority government when counting closed.
“It could make a huge difference to the region – we have been promised so much which hasn’t eventuated,” she said.
“Compared to other regions in the Six Cities, the Coast has nothing as far as big projects go.”
But Tesch said the new government’s first priority would be the state’s nurses and teachers, echoing new Premier Chris Minns’ declaration in his acceptance speech that it was “time to look after those who looked after us” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know nurses and teachers who have said they would quit if Labor didn’t win the election; it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
“As a teacher I know education is the greatest gift we can give to our children and to our society and too many top teachers have been leaving the profession.
“We have to attract new teachers.”
The first step in that process would be lifting the freeze on the wage cap for both teachers and nurses, she said.
Tesch said fixing the ailing health system would be a “long haul”.
“There will be financial support for anyone studying in the health sector and a huge recruitment push as we phase in 1.200 new nurses in the coming term,” she said.
The new government will introduce one to three nurse to patient ratios in all public hospital Emergency departments, but extending the ratio to wards would take time, Tesch said.
“We have to phase the ratio in gradually because right now there just aren’t enough staff and morale is low,” she said.
Tech said her other priorities would include getting Gosford waterfront up and running, which would again take time.
“We have to continue to work with a failed Central Coast Council,” she said.
She will also concentrate on delivering pre-election pledges of a rejuvenation for Pelican Park at Woy Woy and a specialised housing project for those suffering from mental health difficulties in the region.
“I will work with community groups towards a linear park in Dardanelles Ave at Umina Beach and against overdevelopment on the Peninsula,” she said.
She said smaller moves would include reinstating a koala commitment for the Pearl Beach Arboretum, which was promised by the former Federal Government but never delivered, recruiting 100 more National Parks and Wildlife rangers across the state, including more First Nations rangers, funding commitments to Landcare across the region and increasing the Coast’s national parks by small pockets.
Terry Collins