Children in New South Wales are the big winners in a budget full of election sweeteners.

Parents will be able to use a $100 voucher to help pay for extracurricular classes from next year.

The “creative kids” rebate will apply to music lessons, language classes art and drama along with coding courses.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian tells Ben Fordham the rebate is necessary to ensure all kids, especially those from “difficult backgrounds”, have the same opportunities.

“Not every child has the opportunity to access those things.

“We want out kids to be active and healthy and we also want them to have the best chance at being their best.”

New South Wales will also become the first state to offer universal preschool for three-year-olds at a cost of $200 million to the government, saving families about $825 a year.

$3 billion has been put in a reserve fund for the high-speed West Metro rail line, planned to run underground Parramatta to Sydney’s CBD.

The Premier tells Ben she’s confident construction will start in the next term.

“I say to people, look at our record and give that we’ve delivered all that we have you can feel confident that whatever we say we’re going to do in the future, will happen.”

Listen to the full interview below

Western Sydney Business Chamber Director David Borger says the West Metro “is going to do great things”.

He tells Ben places like Sydney Olympic Park are “stranded” and the current line “doesn’t work that effectively”.

“It’ll be great for Parramatta where the western line is just chock-a-block.”

Mr Borger says it’s also necessary to bring more jobs to Western Sydney.

“We need to get more jobs in Western Sydney, close to where people live, and one way of doing that is better connect places like Parramatta to the CBD.”

Listen to the full interview with David Border below

Related

https://www.2gb.com/nsw-state-budget-government-promises-to-ease-cost-of-living-sees-3-9-billion-surplus/