NSW election 2023 LIVE updates: Perrottet, Minns remain neck and neck as parties ramp up promises in campaign’s final days

NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham is speaking on 2GB about key issues this election.

However, the pivot to election issues has come after Latham and 2GB host Ben Fordham spoke about flaws in the criminal justice system, with Fordham saying the number of criminal charges being tossed out on the grounds of mental health has “gone through the roof”.

Latham said “the mental health thing is ridiculous, really,” and that it was “part of the overall softness of the criminal justice system in NSW”.

“It’s got to the ridiculous stage now where you’re a fool if you’re charged with something and you don’t plead mental illness.”

The conversation has now pivoted to climate issues, and the Darling River, where millions of fish have turned up dead in Menindee.

Interestingly, when we asked voters to write-in about things happening in their electorate yesterday, a number of people wrote in to ask why neither Dominic Perrottet nor Chris Minns had spoken about the issue at the Darling River.

However, it’s not an issue says Latham, who acknowledged “it’s unfortunate it’s happened there for the clothes and the showering”.

“They tell us to follow the science. The Department of Primary Industries has reported that it’s due to the recent flooding and some warmer weather,” Latham says.

“The Greens are out there blaming the government, but realistically, this is nature – the thing the Greens are supposed to support. This would have happened hundreds of times before European settlement in 1788.”

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s signature election promise to set up a superannuation-style savings fund for children is not a clear vote-winner, with the majority of people undecided or against the plan, writes the Herald’s state political editor Alexandra Smith.

Perrottet left his Future Fund idea, a project he had been working on for several years, to unveil as his major election policy. However, voters are divided over the plan, with more broad support for Labor’s proposal to set up a state-owned Energy Security Corporation.

The Future Fund would allow parents and grandparents in NSW to contribute a maximum of $1000 a year, with a re-elected Coalition government kick-starting it with an initial $400 and then matching contributions up to $400 a year.

Perrottet, who detailed his idea at the Liberal campaign launch two weeks before polling day, said a child could have as much as $50,000 in savings to spend on education or housing by the time they reach 18 under his plan.

However, the latest Resolve Political Monitor for the Herald reveals that while 43 per cent of voters support the Future Fund, 57 per cent are either opposed to it or undecided. The biggest support for the fund comes from Coalition voters (58 per cent) compared to Labor voters (33 per cent).

Read the full story here.

There were plenty of doorstops and photo opportunities yesterday, but if you missed what happened on the campaign trail, here’s a quick rundown of Monday’s headlines:

• NSW premier Dominic Perrottet promised to lift the speed limit on Sydney’s WestConnex from 80 kilometres to 90 kilometres an hour, an idea which was similarly endorsed by NSW Labor leader Chris Minns.
• NSW treasurer Matt Kean and shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey both spoke after the Parliamentary Budget Office released the budget impact statements, which costed each of the major parties’ key election commitments. The PBO found Labor’s policies would improve the net operating budget for the next four years by $1.4 billion, compared to a $97.2 million improvement under the Coalition. But the agency had to issue a major revision after it said Labor’s policies would increase, rather than decrease, net borrowing. Oops.
• Opposition leader Chris Minns announced an elected Labor government would create a surgical care taskforce to deal with the backlog of patients waiting for elective surgery.
• The most recent Resolve Political Monitor, released today, has Coalition and Labor neck and neck on 38 per cent of the primary vote.

Good morning, and welcome to day two of our NSW election live coverage.

My name is Billie Eder, and I will be taking you through all the door stops, press conferences and breaking news of the day along with Anthony Segaert.

Yesterday was a busy start to election week, and I’m sure today won’t be too different, as Premier Dominic Perrottet and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns campaign in the lead up to election day on March 25.

The Herald’s state political reporter Lucy Cormack will bring us updates from the Minns bus today, while state political reporter Tom Rabe will keep us up to date from the Perrottet bus (and let us know how many times they play Thunderstruck).

If there’s anything happening in your electorate that you think we should know about, let us know below. Otherwise, enjoy the coverage!