NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has stepped up his attacks on the Labor Government by accusing Premier Chris Minns of sidestepping their focus on the health system in the Kiama electorate.

Speakman was joined by Shadow Health Minister Kellie Sloane and the Liberal Party's Kiama by-election candidate Serena Copley at Shoalhaven Hospital emergency department on Monday.

The trio slammed the government for the escalation in assaults against hospital workers, where specifically, the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District has seen a 62% increase in physical aggression incidents against health workers over four years.

Speakman advocated for hospital workers and their right to working in a safe environment.

“Violence in our hospitals has surged under Labor, no one should have to go to work fearing being kicked, spat on, or attacked with weapons, least of all our frontline workers,” Speakman said.

Sloane highlighted the work of the previous NSW Liberal government and called for action.

“In government, the NSW Liberals introduced laws equating assaults on health and emergency workers to assaults on police with penalties of up to seven years jail,” Sloane said.

“We’re demanding the NSW Government act and outline their plan to keep staff and patients safe.”

Copley sees the region as being neglected by Labor and this has had a flow-on effect.

“Families in our region are facing longer waits and fewer staff because health workers are being driven out of the system,” Copley said.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park was quick with his response to the Liberal attack.  

“Under the Liberals, we had cuts to staff, wage freezes, plans for privatisation and higher wait times,” Park said.

“Under Labor, we’ve commenced the trial of body worn cameras for security staff at hospitals.

“It’s part of a range of safety measures we’ve employed and recommendations of the Anderson Review that we’ve implemented.”

Speakman and Sloane were critical of the state the NSW hospital system finds itself in and what it means for the people of NSW.

“This is a direct result of Labor’s neglect of our health system, where it is becoming harder for people to have safe and timely access to health care,” Speakman said.

“What we do know is there is a crisis of morale in our health system in New South Wales, particularly in mental health.”

Sloane added: “Long waits in emergency departments and a broken mental health system are pushing hospitals to the brink.

In 2020, Peter Anderson led an extensive evaluation of hospital security and in 2021 he handed down 107 recommendations in his final report.

Culture was at the top of the list with “a culture of safety and security to be mandated and clearly understood across the NSW health system based on the maxim that ‘security is everybody’s responsibility’”.

This latest tirade from the Liberals in the Kiama by-election is part of a sustained attack on Labor’s handling of infrastructure within the electorate since being elected in 2023 and Speakman did not mince his words.

“Under our government, by the time we left office, we had doubled the annual expenditure on health operations,” Speakman said.

“The NSW Liberals had tripled the infrastructure spending. We had increased the number of nurses by 28% and we had increased the number of doctors and surgeons in public hospital by 54%.

“The NSW Liberal Party invested a record amount in the health system in New South Wales, not just the bricks and mortar, but in the personnel, the frontline workers as well.

“What you’ve seen under this government is falls in the amount of health infrastructure that’s being invested and two years in a row cutting the hospital health budget in real terms.”

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, said in the recent 2025-26 budget, the Minns Labor government does not want an Americanised healthcare system in NSW and has committed $12.4 billion on health infrastructure in NSW.