The State Election is important. Here’s why.

For university students, busy with their studies and trying to make a living, politics can seem like a deeply unfamiliar world. With the state election just around the corner, this is an opportunity for us to reflect on what we envision for our state, and society as a whole. Even for those who have no faith in the two-party system, it is an opportunity to look at what mainstream politics fails to achieve, and fight for more.

The Coalition has been in power for over a decade, and we have seen the effects of austerity pervade all parts of New South Wales. Figures from March last year show that one-third of Sydney trains are late, hospital patients are having to wait 36 hours to be admitted into hospitals, and student-to-teacher ratios are amongst the worst in the country at 14.2. Thougwh COVID has placed an added strain on our public institutions, it has exposed the flaws in the existing systems, and the lack of support crippling the people who run our state.

When they came into power in 2011, the Coalition government introduced a public sector wage cap at 2.5%, tying public sector workers to static pay rises under the guise of fiscal responsibility. Though the Perrottet government has since increased the cap to 3%, with a potential 0.5% increase in 2023-2024, this is plainly inadequate under record inflation rates, currently sitting at almost 8%.

industrial action by public sector workers who have been neglected and underappreciated through these restrictive policies. Teachers protested against unmanageable workloads due to staff shortages. Teachers have cited overwhelming class sizes and many hours outside of school hours to stay on top of work. Healthcare workers went on four rounds of strikes to demand better working conditions after keeping the