The NSW Labor Party has moved to steal some momentum in the state election campaign by holding its first major campaign event in Liverpool this weekend, two weeks ahead of the Coalition's launch.The event will be held on Sunday morning at the Casula Powerhouse, where the Premier, Kristina Keneally, will deliver what is being described as "a western Sydney address" to 400 supporters and candidates.

"Premier Kristina Keneally will give a major speech to the Labor heartland [of] western Sydney," said the NSW Labor general secretary, Sam Dastyari.

"With 50 days to the state poll, the Premier will outline our vision for NSW and our practical plans to protect jobs and support families."

Mr Dastyari said Labor was planning "a traditional campaign; this will be a campaign for the hearts and minds of the battlers".

The Deputy Premier, Carmel Tebbutt and the party's new president, Michael Lee, will also speak.

It follows the Coalition's announcement yesterday that its campaign launch will be held at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith on February 20.

The Coalition had hoped to gain some campaign momentum by holding the launch so far out from the March 26 election.

Its campaign spokeswoman and opposition transport spokeswoman, Gladys Berejiklian, said the Coalition wanted to give voters as much time as possible to digest its policies.

"We are clearly sending a message to people who may have traditionally voted Labor," she said. "We will not ignore them or take them for granted as Labor has done, whether it be in Sydney's west, the Illawarra, the central coast, the Hunter and regional NSW."

The choice of location for the campaign events reflects the importance of western Sydney to both parties.

The Liberals hope to consolidate on the record 25 per cent swing voters delivered them in last year's Penrith byelection by taking more western Sydney seats from Labor.

Labor was encouraged that it managed to hold on to seats such as Lindsay and Greenway during the federal election, although there were significant swings against it. It hopes to repeat that at the state poll.

The NSW Nationals will hold their Sydney campaign launch tonight. Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner and Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell will address the event.

The question is, will NSW Labor have enough seats left after the election for a game of scrabble?

...........“After 16 years of Labor the best Kristina Keneally can offer is a reannounced apology and a promise on public transport Labor won't keep. Nothing has changed,” Ms Berejiklian said in a statement.

“Kristina Keneally's public transport promise can't be believed: Labor has increased public transport fares by 60 per cent over the last 16 years, while Sydney's inflation rate (CPI) has risen by just 37 per cent.

“Kristina Keneally's cost of living promises are equally unbelievable. It was Kristina Keneally that signed off on up to 42 per cent power price increases.”.......................

She's quite a decent looking chick in my opinion.
I like the Mid-western girls, they all look like her.

PREMIER Kristina Keneally has promised $913 million to combat cost of living pressures in her first major pitch of the NSW election.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/keneally-fare-cap-pitch-to-battlers/story-e6frewt0-1226000757637

NSW Labor will put the cost of living at the heart of its re-election campaign, promising to ease the impact of surging electricity prices with a $250 rebate on power bills and restrict increases in public transport fares and government charges............

.............''We lost our way because we were too focused on ourselves and not enough on what matters to families in this state. For that, I am sorry.''............

............Under the package the NSW energy rebate will be extended to households with a combined annual income of less than $150,000. They will receive a $250 rebate on their electricity or gas bill from July 1, 2012.................

..........The Coalition's campaign and transport spokeswoman, Gladys Berejiklian, said Labor's decisions such as the dumping of the Rozelle metro and the scrapping of the T-Card contract had contributed to the burden on taxpayers. ''Every time they have stuffed up they have asked the commuters to dig deeper, they have asked the taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets and, as a result, families are struggling,'' she said.

''Hardworking families have been asked to pay higher registration costs, higher transport fares, higher electricity bills because the Labor Party has squandered taxpayer dollars over the past 16 years.''

Ms Keneally's apology was ''meaningless'' she said. ''People are sick of the Labor Party saying sorry and then going back to their bad habits.''.........