Local Voices Matter: NSW Community Cabinet in Camden

Premier and cabinet come to town

The state cabinet comes to town for the first time to chat to the public and listen to their concerns. The local community enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to engage with their state representatives and participate in a vibrant, active democracy.

On Tuesday, at the newly opened Camden Civic Centre, the NSW Minns Government held a community cabinet forum. There were two sessions, firstly, invited members of the community were allowed to raise their concerns with ministers in The Ferguson Room, and after at 11am there was a public forum in the main auditorium, The Macarthur Room.

 Local MP Sally Quinnell welcomed the premier and cabinet’s visit to Camden, saying, “Our community is changing rapidly, and it’s vital that our voices are heard on the issues that matter — from housing and infrastructure to schools, health and local services.”   (Laul 2025).

What is a community cabinet?

 According to the NSW Government website, ‘Help Shape Your Community For the Better’, a community cabinet gives

  members of the community an opportunity to engage with the NSW Premier and Cabinet Ministers about key local priorities and issues that concern them most.

The visits to locations across NSW provide the state’s key decision makers with important insights into local areas so that the NSW Government, in partnership with the community, can find better ways to deliver key services.  (Premier’s Department 2023)

The state government states that community cabinet meetings have been held at ‘Penrith, East Hills, Orange, Riverstone, Broken Hill, the Central Coast, the South Coast, and The Tweed’. (Premier’s Department 2023)

The Camden Community Cabinet is the fourth in 2025 and the ninth since the Government took office. (Laul 2025)

Camden Community Cabinet addresses

At the Camden Civic Centre, doors opened at 10.15 am, and after a security check, members of the public were allowed to enter the main auditorium.

A light morning tea was provided for the assembly, and the proceedings began at 11:00 a.m. and concluded around 12:30 p.m., running slightly over time.

Before the forum commenced, Premier Minns mingled with the audience and introduced himself to individuals.

The Community Forum was introduced by the Member for Camden, Sally Quinnell.

Quinell’s opening remarks were followed by a welcome to country by Aunty Glenda Chalker, followed by a choral musical item from the Elderslie High School choral group. Then the premier came to the rostrum and addressed about 400 people in the assembly without notes.

NSW Premier Minns

The Premier spoke about the heavy lifting that the Camden LGA had done with respect to Sydney’s urban growth over the last decade, with the number of new arrivals to the area. He maintained that this was not fair to the local community and that other parts of Sydney needed to do more and take their share of the burden.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the premier said,

Sydney’s east and north need to ‘pay up’, making up for years of lower population growth while outer suburbs took more than their share. (Karp, P. (2025)

The AFR maintained that Minns ‘gave prepared remarks selling his housing  and argued that the eastern and northern suburbs need

to pay a bit of catch up for the 10 years of … under-investment in new homes in those communities.(Karp, P. (2025)

Minns restated more than once that his government was not prepared to sell off public assets to fund infrastructure projects. He maintained that private monopolies created by the sale of power generation and distribution by the previous government have only meant higher prices for consumers.

The premier blamed infrastructure delays on a lack of funding, citing the “completely unfair” distribution of GST to Victoria and Western Australia by the Australian Government. While NSW got 83 cents in the dollar, Victoria received $1.07, and ‘wealthy states like WA received even more’.

Minns was reluctant to make announcements he felt that his government could not keep on transport infrastructure, when previous Labor Government had not kept their promises. 

He stated that one of the best policy achievements of his government was the ban on phones in public schools, and the audience responded with applause.

Public forum 

Following the premier’s speech, a Q&A session took place, during which questions were asked from the floor.   Questions were unfiltered and answered either by the Premier or the relevant minister.

There was a broad range of questions from the floor covering topics that included Working With Children Check, child protection, fire ants, domestic violence, the Metro, Camden’s heritage, insurance, road safety, refugees and multiculturalism, Sydney Orbital and compulsory land acquisition, road congestion, nurse practitioners, neurodiverse children, planning, transport infrastructure, local bus route coverage, and others.

Reflection

Cynics might say the premier was merely reiterating prepared speaking points at the forum, and it was somewhat uninspiring. And they are probably right up to a point.

The AFR journalist certainly would agree with them and maintained that the forums are

a roadshow to suburbs and regions outside the Sydney CBD that may help decide the next state election. (Karp, P. (2025).

The forums are a shrewd political move by the Minns Labour Government, helping to build trust and contribute to community inclusion within the political process.

Advocates of community cabinet forums would probably agree. They maintain that their advantages include direct public access to politicians, ensuring local voices are heard, assisting in shaping government policy decisions, improving local service delivery, building trust and accountability and others.

The general mood of the assembly after the Q&A was one of ‘at least we have been heard’.

It is refreshing to see that we are not yet in a situation like the USA, where politicians are shielded from the public by bulletproof glass.

The fact that the premier and cabinet visited Camden, the ninth community cabinet since taking office, was an achievement.

The forum was an example of a robust democracy in action, and, on balance, the benefits of the forum far outweighed any negatives.  

References

Karp, P. (2025). NSW Premier Chris Minns tells western Sydney audience his housing push will share new developments across Sydney. [online] Australian Financial Review. Available at: https://www.afr.com/politics/minns-to-western-sydney-its-time-eastern-suburbs-soaked-up-housing-20251104-p5n7p1 [Accessed 4 Nov. 2025].

Laul, B. (2025). The cabinet is coming to Camden with Premier Minns. [online] Good Morning Macarthur. Available at: https://www.goodmorningmacarthur.com/the-cabinet-is-coming-to-camden-with-premier-minns/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2025].

Premier’s Department (2023). Community Cabinet. [online] NSW Government. Available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/engage-us/community-cabinet [Accessed 4 Nov. 2025].