Minns laid down the law to his shadow cabinet and caucus this week. The opposition leader,who desperately hopes to drag the party out of the political wilderness next year,warned that the pathway to government is to show that Labor is fiscally responsible,and with that comes the confidence to say no.
He was specifically referring to Labor’s position thatit would not cave to union demands for mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in the state’s hospitals,a key sticking point in industrial negotiations with the government. It was a significant policy shift from Labor,and the Greens and the Coalition both seized on it.
Labor took the staffing ratios for nurses to the 2015 and the 2019 elections. It is sensible to dump policies after successive losses,but Labor again backed mandated ratios as recently as last year in the upper house. However,much has changed in 12 months. Labor’s shadow treasurer,Daniel Mookhey,presented a slide show to shadow cabinet on Monday,where he outlined,in black and white,just how hard the next 12 months (and beyond) will be for the NSW economy.
Mookhey warned that the typical family in Sydney will see a real wage cut of $6000 a year if inflation stays at its existing level. His presentation also showed that the government’s medium-term borrowing costs have more than tripled since the last state budget. Put simply,Labor will not be able to risk wasting a single dollar,Mookhey said.
As well as proving themselves competent money managers,another point Labor will need to make to voters is that it will not be heavied by the unions,and that pitch began with the NSW Nurse and Midwives’ Association.
The government has argued that it would be hugely costly to meet the demands for one nurse per four patients – Health Minister Brad Hazzard has cited the figure of $1 billion. It would also stop any staffing flexibility if there were changing needs in hospitals,Hazzard says.