with Robyn Preston MP

I am pleased to welcome the 2022-23 NSW Budget ’ s blueprint for reform to create opportunity and help Hawkesbury prosper .

This Budget has focused on the health and safety of women , creating opportunities for women to have the choice to be more active in the workforce , education and boosting family budgets .

Women ’ s health and safety is a priority of the NSW Government and this Budget is investing in programs and services to ensure that women in all stages of life feel safe and supported .

Some of these investments include

$ 43.6 million to expand the Safer Pathway program to support victimsurvivors of domestic and family violence and $ 80 million over four years to extend and expand the Affordable IVF Program to assist families with the high costs associated with pre-IVF fertility testing , fertility treatments and preservation .

This Budget will also be investing $ 40 million to ensure women struggling with menopause have access to a network of dedicated health services .

It is great news that the Budget is committing $ 16.5 billion to create more avenues of opportunity for women and help give our children the best start in life . This investment will deliver

affordable and accessible childcare which means more women will have the choice to enter the workforce or take on more hours which will increase female workforce participation and close the gender pay gap .

Investing in the education of the next generation is important for the success of our state ’ s future which is why NSW will launch one of the biggest education reforms in a generation , starting with the introduction of a universal pre-Kindergarten year of education .

This year ’ s Budget will set aside more than $ 5.8 billion over the next 10 years to introduce universal pre-Kindergarten for all children in NSW by 2030 .

The key to the success of this state ’ s future is in education and I welcome the $ 37.1 million commitment from the NSW Government for the building of the Hawkesbury Centre of Excellence for Agricultural Education .

Parents will also receive help to pay for school supplies thanks to Premier Dominic Perrottet ’ s new $ 193 million Back to School program . This will provide families with a $ 150 subsidy for each child who attends a primary or secondary school in NSW in 2023 .

With this Budget , the NSW Government sets out a transformational roadmap for the decade ahead , delivering not just for our people today but for generations to come .

with Susan Templeman MP

As we mark NAIDOC Week at the beginning of July , it ’ s time to reflect on how best we can walk together , as a nation , for a better future .

In his first speech to the Australian people on election night , Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committed our new government to the Uluru Statement from the Heart .

It ’ s been five years since the statement was delivered , calling for a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution , the creation of a

Makarrata Commission to oversee a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations people , with truth-telling about the past .

The reason a Voice to Parliament is so important is because it will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a chance to have a say on the laws and policies that affect them . It would be about providing advice for the government of the day .

The previous government failed to make any real progress on the Uluru Statement from the Heart .

They ran a consultation process about

a Voice , but banned people from talking about the constitution – when that is the one of the key things the Uluru Statement asked for .

Labor is taking a different approach . We will listen to First Nations people and work across the Parliament . We aren ’ t going to waste any time , but we are going to bring people together , listen and build consensus .

When former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam returned land to the Gurindju people in 1975 , that was a step .

When Former Prime Minister Paul Keating admitted “ we committed the

murders ” in his Redfern speech in 1992 , that was a step .

When Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generation in 2008 , that was a step . And First Nations People have led the way , which is why this year ’ s NAIDOC Week celebrates the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have driven and led change in Australia over generations — they have been the heroes and champions of change , of equal rights and even basic human rights .

Adopting the Uluru Statement from the Heart will be the next step Australia can take on our journey of reconciliation .