Gladys Berejiklian emerges victorious in heated debate with Michael Daley but NSW Premier is hauled over the coals for controversial stadium decision
- Gladys Berejiklian emerged victorious in heated debate with Michael Daley
- Pair met at People's Forum, part of pre-election debate to touch on key policies
- Mr Daley stumbled over some of his party's policies including education funding
- Ms Berejiklian managed to pull 50 votes from a total of 100 undecided voters
NSW Liberal leader Gladys Berejiklian has emerged victorious from a heated standoff against state Labor leader Michael Daley at the People's Forum debate.
From an audience of 100 undecided voters, Ms Berejiklian managed to draw 50 in favour for the Coalition during the pre-election debate on Wednesday night.
Her opposition leader only managed to draw 25 votes, while the remaining 25 were left undecided.
The win for the Liberal party comes after a tense debate over key policies ranging from domestic violence to climate change to tolled roads.
Scroll down for video
NSW Liberal leader Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) has emerged victorious from a heated standoff against state Labor leader Michael Daley at the People's Forum debate
Needless to say, a series of blunders from the part of Michael Daley (pictured) also helped to lift Ms Berejiklian to the top, after the Labor leader drew blanks on a number of his party's policies
Needless to say, a series of blunders from the part of Mr Daley also helped to lift Ms Berejiklian to the top, after the Labor leader drew blanks on a number of his party's policies.
When asked about education spending, Mr Daley was quick to assure the audience he would lift the Gonski funding model from 77 per cent to 100.
Though when he was asked to give a figure in terms of dollars, Mr Daley drew up short on an answer.
'I can’t remember the exact figure,' he said.
'I’ll have a look at it. I just can’t remember it off the top of my head.'
Mr Daley hit another mental blank when he was asked to give a concrete figure on how much money would be directed into TAFE funding.
After he adamantly replied $3 billion, moderator David Speers took the politician to task.
'You’re not sure on your education centrepiece, you’re not sure how much you’re spending on schools, and you’re not sure how much more you’re spending on TAFE?’
Share this article
Mr Daley could only respond that he would have to check that figure - he did manage to later confirm that his party would allocate $2.7 billion over four years to increase public school funding, and $64 million to TAFE.
Aside from the rocky episode, Mr Daley held firm in his attacks against the Liberal party and condemned them over a series of policies.
He attacked the government's $70 billion privatisation program, accused them of wasting $14 billion on projects like the eastern suburbs light rail and called them out on the Menindee Lakes disaster where more than one million fish died due to the ongoing and thorny issue of the Murray Darling Basin.
Between the attacks, Mr Daley also managed to make promises, including an attempt to tamp down on domestic violence, inject $200 million into social housing, and support student-led climate change protests every year.
He also vowed to drop the costly toll on the M4 motorway - a sore point since the NSW Liberal government recently reintroduced the fee.
Ms Berejiklian for her part, managed to bring the ball back into her court as she focused on the government's infrastructure program and promised to take pressure off households.
After Michael Daley adamantly replied $3 billion, moderator David Speers (pictured) took the politician to task
She also hit back at claims from Mr Daley that the government had slashed $22 million from domestic violence services.
'Two years ago in our budget we boosted support for families by record amounts,' she said.
'We boost opportunities for women to have safe housing when they’re in crisis.
'(We need to be) making sure that we support families who actually see the signs of this emerging before it gets to a crisis.'
Though, the $2 billion package to rebuild Sydney stadiums proved to be a hot topic that saw both parties lock horns over the subject.
Ms Berejiklian defended the final sum and said it counted for only one per cent of total infrastructure spending and that the return would be three-fold over the next couple of decades.
'For many families going to a sporting event, having their kids at a great stadium is a positive,' she said.
'The return to the state will be phenomenal (and) for every major event we hold, the return to the state is seven-fold in terms of revenue. It creates jobs and makes NSW a place people want to be.
He attacked the government's $70 billion privatisation program, accused them of wasting $14 billion on projects like the eastern suburbs light rail and called them out on the Menindee Lakes disaster where more than one million fish died due to the ongoing and thorny issue of the Murray Darling Basin
Ms Berejiklian defended the final sum and said it counted for only one per cent of total infrastructure spending and that the return would be three-fold over the next couple of decades
'For every dollar we invest over 10 years … depending on the stadium, you are looking at, it’s about $3 for each dollar investing. The business case has been on the public record for more than a year.'
While Mr Daley argued the profit would do little to appease the public, who had to fund the project to begin with, he once again failed to put a figure on what the total cost of the stadium rebuild would be under his party.
An unrelenting Ms Berejiklian would not let the topic go and continued to press Mr Daley for a proper answer.
'But how much are you gonna spend on fixing it?' she asked.
After a series of interruptions Mr Daley lashed out: 'I haven’t been interrupting you, Premier, so I’d ask you to extend me the same courtesy.'
Eventually Mr Daley admitted he could not put a final figure on the issue until a full assessment had been made on the state of the stadium - which would have to take into account the demolition works.
'We don't know what the stadium will look like when we go into it,' Mr Daley said.
'The Premier can't explain why the wrecking balls were in there today, with four days to go [until the election]. I want it standing on the weekend, so these people can decide what to do with it. That’s the difference in our approaches.'
Australian Conservatives candidate Greg Walsh even managed to slip in a question on sexual discrimination in religious schools under the guise of an undecided voter.
Though moderator Mr Walsh apologised to the candidates and audience when he learned of this oversight.
Ms Berejiklian defended the final sum of the stadium funding and said it counted for only one per cent of total infrastructure spending and that the return would be three-fold over the next couple of decades
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
