Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) (15:41): — I speak on behalf of the Opposition to the Treasurer's ministerial statement.

Responsible economic management requires not to do economic damage in the first place—or as the Latin phrase says, primum non nocere: first do no harm.

I am delighted that the Treasurer has acknowledged the importance of South-West and Western Sydney in terms of its workforce and of course its engine room to ensure that New South Wales recovers properly.

But an economic recovery requires more than rehashed announcements and press releases, press conferences and prepared Ministerial statements.

If anyone is looking for economic solutions to get the economy back on track, they can start by re‑reading the speech of the Leader of the Opposition.

The economic solution, as we come back, starts with recognition and respect. The past three months of the pandemic have been particularly difficult in what was already a tumultuous time.

I am incredibly proud of the residents in my local government area [LGA] and many other LGAs in South-West and Western Sydney, where by early October the double dose rate of the COVID vaccine was more than 70 per cent and the single dose rate was more than 95 per cent. This is a remarkable achievement and reinforces South-West and Western Sydney as the engine room that has allowed all of us to achieve the freedoms that we have.

To achieve a fair and fast economic recovery, we must not have unfair, inconsistent and harsher restrictions as were imposed on the people of South-West and Western Sydney, which meant they suffered financially and socially more than other areas. When decisions are made that divide communities — decisions that are not based on sound scientific evidence or in many cases not even on reasonable logic — there are harmful social and economic consequences.

The people in my local community of Macquarie Fields, and no doubt in other contiguous South-West and Western Sydney electorates, had imposed on them harsh restrictions and measures that were not supported by science or logic. The restrictions were based purely on where and how people live. People's businesses, their work and their ability to go out and earn an income were affected in an unfair and inconsistent manner.

The economic engine room of New South Wales was chained to the floor by poor public health decisions with harmful economic consequences: curfews, highly restricted movement and one hour's exercise.

A few days before these restrictions were imposed, we were advised at a press conference that there was no substantial evidence to impose the restrictions. Suddenly, after a few press conferences, restrictions were inflicted on communities in South-Western and Western Sydney—the engine room of New South Wales. I did not realise that with Liberal Party economics you could do a randomised control trial that met scientific rigour in between daily press conferences.

And then, of course, not long after that the former Deputy Premier said publicly that curfews do not work and the decision was only made based on media inquiries. It seems only in the Liberal Party universe can such outcomes be achieved.

Someone should contact the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences committee to see how this works without unfair and inconsistent rules on a geographical basis producing different economic outcomes for those who were harshly locked down and those who were not. Dividing our community economically and socially based on media clips and journalists' daily questions is cynical at best. At worst it is actually quite cruel.

All Members would be well aware that a large number of authorised workers were from my area and other areas of Western Sydney. They turned up to work every day just to keep our economy going and to keep our community safe in our various health networks and health systems. They put themselves at great risk just to earn an honest living and to keep the economy going.

Data from Accenture and Illion shows that spending on eBay and Amazon increased by 310 per cent and 122 per cent respectively during this lockdown. That spending would then necessitate the delivery of goods and purchases from workers in the very areas that were locked down most harshly.

Get our economy moving by unfairly locking down those who work hard? Talk about an economic oxymoron; this just does not work and it was totally unfair. The unfair lockdown restrictions have significant economic consequences between the geographies of Sydney, and I believe that the very people who have kept our economy going were hurt the most.

Many local businesses and employees contacted my office during the lockdown period. It was very obvious to them that they were being targeted, despite the fact that they kept the economy going, by restrictions that were not imposed on other areas of Sydney.

Western Sydney and South-Western Sydney deserve the same level of social and economical freedom, but they were not given that freedom. We were the target of unfair and unsubstantiated restrictions, which had disastrous economic consequences.

Let us look at some facts about how those restrictions hurt people in South-Western and Western Sydney. Job advertisements were down by 60 per cent in parts of western and South-Western Sydney, while in the city the reduction was barely half of that.

Small businesses in the areas with hard lockdowns suffered trade losses of up to 70 per cent, while businesses in other areas — and good on them! — have increased trade by up to 33 per cent.

In those same locked-down areas over 30 per cent of businesses are receiving support via government grants or JobSaver, which shows that the economic consequences of lockdowns were extremely hard on people in South-Western and Western Sydney.

Nearly 18 per cent of jobs in South-Western and Western Sydney have been lost since the lockdown. Twenty per cent of adults are on the Disaster Support payments—more than double the percentage in other parts of Sydney.

In the Fairfield local government area one in seven people are on JobSeeker, which does not include disaster payments that were the highest in the State. Combining the number of people receiving JobSeeker with the number receiving disaster payments, it is possible that up to one in three people in parts of South-Western Sydney are receiving some sort of employment benefit.

These are the real economic consequences for people in South-Western and Western Sydney, who experienced unfair and unsubstantiated restrictions on their movement and on their economic activity. This, of course, has had significant consequences for the businesses that they have worked so hard to build over so many years—all for it to be chained to the floor and unable to open.

There are many ways to get our economy going, particularly in the areas that were most affected, but we can start with a bit of recognition and respect for the more than 1.3 million workers — and growing, as the Treasurer said — who account for 35 per cent of our economy.

That is what will allow our economy to bounce back better. We want to make sure that the stimulus supports, as outlined by the Leader of the Opposition this morning, should ensure that the recovery keeps going.

If we turn off the tap too quickly, it will create more damage and we will go down an economic spiral that will hurt the very communities that need economic support the most.