16 News

Plans to transform and expand the Sydney Jewish Museum will become a reality through a $10 million investment by a re-elected NSW Liberal Government.

Liberal candidates for Vaucluse, Coogee and Davidson welcome this investment that will support the Sydney Jewish Museum with an additional $6.5 million to create two centres in one precinct – a Sydney Holocaust Museum to share the history and testimonies of survivors and a Centre for Contemporary Jewish Life to share the community’s culture, traditions and contributions to Australia.

Liberal Candidate for Vaucluse Kellie Sloane said the Sydney Jewish Museum plays an incredibly vital role in helping bridge gaps and foster mutual respect and understanding between all people.

“Education and storytelling are key to building tolerance and understanding. This is so important for encouraging harmony for all people in our community,” Ms Sloane said.

Liberal candidate for Coogee, Dr Kylie von Muenster, said the Sydney Jewish Museum has provided a voice for Jewish heritage in Sydney.

“This continued support by the Perrottet Liberal Government will elevate the experience for those who visit the museum by enhancing the platform to share in the Jewish community’s culture and contribution to Australia.” Dr von Muenster said.

Liberal candidate for Davidson, Matt Cross, said this is an investment that will benefit generations to come in better understanding Jewish heritage and will pave the way forward with state-of the art facilities.

“This is a great investment for not only the Jewish community but for the wider community who will now be able to learn and understand more to foster greater respect for all people.”

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the commitment is part of the Government’s long-term plan for a united and harmonious multicultural and multi-faith society.

“Once completed, our investment will be returned significantly through helping current and future generations lead our state forward in eliminating racism, hatred and faith-based intolerance,” Mr Perrottet said.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government was committed to honouring the memories of the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, while also promoting and celebrating Australian Jewish culture.

“The Sydney Jewish Museum gives a voice to victims of the Holocaust and to the incredible survivors who still guide visitors through the exhibitions and help educate and inspire thousands of school children each year,” Mr Kean said.

“The museum is crucial to ensuring that the atrocities of the Holocaust are never repeated and that racism and hatred have no place in Australia or anywhere else.”

The $6.5 million commitment will add to the $3.5 million already invested by the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government in the project.

Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Coure said the NSW Liberals and Nationals are proud to partner with the Jewish community to strengthen the state’s multicultural and multi-faith society.

“The Sydney Jewish Museum stands to ensure that, as a society, we learn and remember the terrible lessons of the Holocaust. This investment continues this important work, while also providing new spaces to better tell the stories of Jewish-Australians,” Mr Coure said.

President of the Sydney Jewish Museum Greg Shand said the recent upsurge in anti-Semitism only serves to highlight the importance of the Museum seeking to double its impact by doubling the number that visit annually.

“The support of the Government, for which the Museum is enormously grateful, will contribute in a material way to creating a larger, state-of-the-art facility, and will greatly assist the Museum in achieving this objective,” Mr Shand said.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark said as Holocaust survivors dwindle, keeping their stories alive and educating future generations about the horrors of the past has never been more important.

“Today’s announcement will help the Sydney Jewish Museum open its doors to twice as many Australians, particularly school students, showing them where racism, hate speech and intolerance can ultimately lead,” Mr Bark said.

“We thank the NSW Government for its commitment to stamping out anti-Semitism and discrimination and ensuring that the worst atrocities in our history are not forgotten, and never repeated.”

The support for the Sydney Jewish Museum comes as a proposed partnership between the Department of Education and the newly formed Religious Communities Advisory Council is progressed to recommend best-practice teaching of the Holocaust in all NSW schools.

Netball NSW has today published its Strategic Plan for 2023 to 2025, which provides a clear pathway to ensure that netball is the State’s leading sport of choice and opportunity.

Netball has proudly been the leading high-performance and community sport for NSW women and girls for over nine decades and the clear message in the new Strategic Plan is that the game plans to retain its number 1 position in women’s sport, whilst ensuring it is adapting and evolving to welcome a more expansive participation base and audience.

“It is our vision to make netball the leading sport of choice and opportunity across the State,” Netball NSW CEO Tracey Scott says.

“This means continuing to be leaders in women’s sport, focusing on innovation and inclusivity in terms of how we deliver the game and prioritising supporting our incredible volunteer community.

“We are excited for the next evolution of netball in NSW as we look to ensure our game continues to grow and thrive.    

“When you look at our market-leading grassroots numbers, and the success of the Australian Diamonds on the world stage, coupled with the NSW Swifts and GIANTS Netball on the national front, the game is really the premier sport of choice across the State.

“We are already in every community, in every region from Albury in the south to Tweed Heads in the north.   

“Over 20 million play netball worldwide and we have 20 of the world’s best in the NSW Swifts and GIANTS Netball – that is the calibre of athlete our game is producing year in and year out.”

With a meaningful commitment to capacity building, inclusivity and growth, a key strategic focus in the plan is to facilitate compelling opportunities to empower everyone in the community to nurture their love of the game. 

“Netball gave women an equal voice and opportunity when they had no other avenues to pursue and we will always remain proud of this heritage. However, that has led to a perception at times that netball is a female-only sport, which is simply not the case,” Scott added.

“Visit any netball venue during the week and you will see men’s and/or mixed netball, while boys divisions in our Schools Cup have been highly popular. We now also have male divisions at our Junior and Senior State Titles.  We have made some good progress over recent years and we want to accelerate this.

“Finally, more broadly, we feel it is our responsibility to unleash netball’s potential in NSW, and a fundamental part of achieving this is to ensure that we create environments and opportunities that meaningfully ensure netball is a sport for all communities, ages, genders and abilities.

“Netball is the most popular team sport in NSW and provides more health and social benefits to the community than any other code in the State.

“We must champion the game and market it properly as the major player it is on the NSW sporting landscape.”

To view the full Netball NSW Strategic Plan please CLICK HERE

Up to three million households and small businesses across NSW could be saving on their energy bills by switching to a cheaper deal, according to new Government analysis of retail performance data from the Australian Energy Regulator.  

The percentage of customers switching their electricity plans in NSW each quarter has hovered at a low average of 5 per cent over the last year, leaving up to 3 million customers potentially paying more than they should by staying with their provider and not shopping around.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government’s Energy Bill Saver program would help millions of families and small businesses across the state.

“Our program will help millions of hardworking families and small businesses save hundreds of dollars on their energy bills just by shopping around for a better deal,” Mr Perrottet said. 

“We will provide an immediate $250 saving for every household, while helping them potentially save hundreds of dollars more by switching to a cheaper plan.

“Only a Liberal and Nationals Government will deliver bill relief for families because of our long-term economic plan to support NSW families and keep our state moving forward.”

Treasurer Matt Kean said this type of cost of living support was only possible because of the Liberal and Nationals Government’s strong economic management and responsible stewardship of the State’s finances.

“This cost of living relief is not bipartisan – the Labor party has announced that it will cut the Energy Bill Saver if it is elected, denying households a guaranteed $250 in energy bill relief and up to $400 more in potential savings the Coalition will deliver,” Mr Kean said.

“The Labor Party does not have a long term economic plan to manage the State’s budget and so they are coming after the budgets of NSW families, denying them cost of living relief that they cannot afford to lose.”

NSW lagged far behind Victoria, where the average switch rate was 22 per cent higher than NSW’s over the same period, representing thousands of customers that had saved on their bills by finding a cheaper alternative.

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello said that under a re-elected Liberal and Nationals Government the $250 payment would be offered via Service NSW from July to eligible account holders who use the Energy Switch comparison tool.  

“Customers will be able to claim their $250 payment using the MyService account, making it as seamless as possible to prove your eligibility when completing an online application,” Mr Dominello said.

“The NSW Liberal and Nationals Government has the most comprehensive cost of living program in the country. Using Service NSW as the platform, our goal is always to ensure everyone who is eligible knows about these great initiatives and when they go to apply it’s intuitive and simple.”

Source: Energy Made Easy, February 2023

Liberal candidate for Wakehurst, Toby Williams, has welcomed a major boost to frontline emergency care for residents on the Northern Beaches, with a new ambulance station set to be built near Dee Why.

“A new ambulance station in Dee Why will significantly boost access to frontline health care. It is a gamechanger for our community. As the brother of a paramedic, I have enormous admiration for the amazing work paramedics do in our community,” Mr Williams said.

“A new station in Dee Why will ensure our paramedics have the state of the art infrastructure they deserve, while improving access to care for local residents.  This crucial investment is only possible because of the Perrottet Liberal Government’s strong financial record and plan to keep NSW moving forward”.   

Minister for Health and Member for Wakehurst Brad Hazzard said the announcement forms part of a record $1.76 billion NSW Government investment which will transform NSW Ambulance services over the next four years with more than 2,000 extra staff, including 1,858 paramedics, and 30 new ambulance stations across NSW.

“Ambulance services are experiencing unprecedented demand and this new station will not only keep us ahead of the curve but provide our hardworking paramedics with first-class facilities as they assist communities in their time of need,” Mr Hazzard said. 

“The NSW Government is investing in ambulance stations right across the state to ensure communities continue to receive emergency care when they need it, no matter where they live.”

Member for Manly James Griffin welcomed the news which he says will ensure that the local community has improved access to emergency care when and where they need it most.

“Not only will this new ambulance station boost local health services and bring more jobs to the local area, it will also provide a better working environment for our paramedics who are doing their utmost to serve our community,” Mr Griffin said.

“The new station will feature internal parking for emergency ambulance vehicles, vehicle wash facilities, multipurpose spaces to support staff education and rest, logistics and storage spaces, an office area for administration as well as staff amenities.”

NSW Ambulance identifies suitable locations to improve ambulance response times  for patients using best practice modelling software that maps Triple Zero call demands

Mr Griffin said the exact location for the new ambulance station at Dee Why will be determined once further planning is completed which includes working with key stakeholders to identify a suitable site.

“We will shortly commence a process to identify potential sites for the new ambulance station. This process will ensure we best meet the needs of the Northern Beaches community and our emergency staff.”

The NSW Government is committed to increasing the capacity of NSW Ambulance. In total, more than $1 billion is being invested across three major NSW Ambulance infrastructure programs, with more than 100 projects announced since 2014.

The NSW Government’s $1 billion investment in NSW Ambulance infrastructure includes:

• Sydney Ambulance Metropolitan Infrastructure Strategy ($184 million) – 19 projects – 18 projects completed to date with one due for completion late 2023. Program began 2014
• NSW Ambulance Infrastructure Program ($615.5 million) 30 projects – 8 in early planning. Program announced in 2022-23 State Budget.
• RAIR program Stage 1 & 2 ($232 million) – 54 projects – 39 complete, 15 underway. Program began 2015.

The new ambulance station at Dee Why is being delivered as part of the $615.5 million NSW Ambulance Infrastructure program, and is additional to local health investments including the Australian-first $19.5 million Manly Adolescent and Young Adult Hospice completed in December and the $600 million Northern Beaches Hospital opened in late 2018.