Cost of Living

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-106751

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Cost of Living

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (14:59:51):

I address a question to the Minister for Customer Service. Will the Minister update the House on how the Government is reducing the cost of living for citizens across the State?

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Prospect to order for the first time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO (RydeMinister for Customer Service) (15:00:06):

— I thank the member for Oatley for his question and acknowledge the great work he is doing. He is definitely the best member for Oatley we have ever seen. I say "buon venuti" to all the Italian students from the Italian Bilingual School. I acknowledge that this House appreciates the great work that the Berejiklian-Barilaro Government is doing to drive down the cost-of-living pressures that families across New South Wales are experiencing. Through Service NSW, there are more than 70 rebates and savings together in one location including: CTP refunds, Active Kids, Creative Kids, energy rebates, toll relief and the list goes on. In the past year alone, 1.4 million people have accessed the cost of living Savings Finder tool online.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Canterbury to order for the second time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

The people of New South Wales have saved over $900 million.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Canterbury to order for the third time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

That is almost $1 billion.

The SPEAKER:

I direct the member for Canterbury to remove herself from the Chamber for a period of one hour.

Pursuant to sessional order the member for Canterbury left the Chamber at 15:01

[.]

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

Through our Energy Switch program, more than 57,000 electricity bill comparisons have been made and more than 7,500 households initiated a change of electricity provider. The average annual saving for a switch is $443. Over $150 million in savings have been accessed through the Active Kids and Creative Kids programs, and over 600,000 people in New South Wales have downloaded the FuelCheck app—I love my FuelCheck app—since October 2017. FuelCheck is one of my babies and I absolutely love it. The people of New South Wales love it. FuelCheck has 4.75 stars in the app and within the app 95 per cent of people have given the thumbs up. The NRMA has said that you can save up to $10 a week, $500 a year. This fantastic cost of living service helps the people of New South Wales understand what they are eligible for. It is a real game changer. Over the past year 26,500 people have had a one-on-one appointment saving, on average, $550.

Mr Mark Coure:

How much?

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

Five hundred and fifty dollars. I know, it is a lot of money. That is a lot of kiwi fruit. The member for Oatley will be pleased to know that the Hurstville service centre has hosted 650 cost of living service appointments, saving his constituents over $270,000. It is a lot of money. Everyone loves it. It is no surprise that the customer satisfaction for cost of living is 99 per cent—almost perfection. Back to the member's question, I know it is an important question: Are there any alternatives?

An Opposition member interjected

[.]

Actually, it is true there are no other alternatives.

Mr Greg Warren:

Point of order: My point of order is Standing Order 130. The Minister has an intention to debate this matter, which is not only unruly but also out of order.

The SPEAKER:

There is no point of order. I thought you had a better one than that. The Minister has the call.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

There is no debate because both sides of the House actually agree they love the cost of living service. Even those opposite love cost of living. The member for Wallsend posted something about cost of living and she said, in capitals, "Please like and share".

Ms Jodie Harrison:

Point of order—

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

Many people have asked me about the Berejiklian-Barilaro Government's—

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Ms Jodie Harrison:

My point of order is that the question was specifically about what the Government is doing in relation to the cost of living across the State.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister is being relevant.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:Extension of time

The member for Wallsend has an active Facebook page. []

I congratulate the member, she has 353 likes, loves and wows. She has 138 comments and 379 shares.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Kogarah to order for the first time. I call the member for Kogarah to order for the second time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

The member for Wallsend continues to promote our Government's initiatives.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Campbelltown to order for the first time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

It will be very hard to displace her. The member for Wallsend is not alone; the member for Gosford says in a post—

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Kogarah to order for the third time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:

—"Breaking news, our brand new Berejiklian-Barilaro Government Service NSW centre in Deepwater Plaza, Woy Woy, will open this Friday 2 August". Again 355 likes, loves and wows.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Gosford to order for the first time. I call the member for Gosford to order for the second time.

Mr VICTOR DOMINELLO:Time expired

Forty shares. The member for Gosford has done a great job. All I am suggesting is that she do more of it. If she promotes what we are doing she will have more likes, loves and wows. She is not alone. There are so many, I do not know whether I can get through them. I will mention one. There is one I actually like. I will leave some for later on. I like the member for Cessnock; he is a decent bloke. He went to the effort of paying for an ad to promote Active Kids vouchers and voting for my community. He says in his ad, "Did you know that all New South Wales schools enrolled children are eligible for the Berejiklian-Barilaro Government's active kids voucher". Thank you very much for all the great work you are doing. [.]