Labor Leader, Michael Daley, today announced a Labor government would waive the $58 fee for NSW birth certificates.
This will give around 100,000 babies and their parents a bit more to spend on the essentials.
If elected next March, a Daley Labor government would add one free standard birth certificate to other initiatives that help out with the rising cost of living.
After eight years of the Liberal Coalition Government, families are doing it tough. Power bills have risen by 59 per cent since 2011 and Western Sydney motorists using the M4 are paying more than $2,000 a year in tolls.
Mr Daley, a father of four, recognises that state governments can and should do what they can to help families balance the household budget.
The Parliamentary Budget Office forecasts 99,000 birth registrations for 2019/20, the year in which Labor will implement the policy.
Ditching the fee will help families of newborn children defray a small cost at one of the most costly and intense times of their lives.
It joins other Labor Lightening the Load policies such as:
- Cashback on the M4 for private vehicles to help pay for the unfair toll;
- Fare refunds for avoidable delays of more than 30 minutes on trains; and
- Free travel for school children.
The policy will cost $16.8 million over the forward estimates and has been verified by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office.
Mr Daley said; "This is a small step to helping parents of newborns. These parents have big expenses - prams, cots, clothes, nappies and car seats for starters. They don’t need to fork out $58 simply to provide a birth certificate for their little one.”
"I believe governments should be about making people's lives easier.
"We are not here to make a buck off you but to help you get ahead in life.
"I know that when Christina and I had our little ones every dollar and cent helped.
“Labor will do whatever it can to lighten the load.”
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