‘Super for kids’: Dominic Perrottet launches NSW Kids Future Fund at state election campaign launch

Millions of Australian born children could be helped to pay for their first home under a bold new policy announced by Dominic Perrottet.

The NSW Kids Future Fund was the centerpiece of the Liberal Prime Minister’s election campaign launch on the Sunday before the March 25 election.

Dubbed ‘super for kids’, the cheeky election sweetener will offer all children aged 10 and over in NSW a Treasury-run savings fund at a seven per cent interest rate, which could help them for life.

Parents and a re-elected coalition would each deposit $400 a year until the child turns 18, with the scheme eventually being extended to newborns after a trial year.

The government claims the policy would see every NSW child with a bank balance of $28,500 by the time they turn 18 if parents contribute $400 a year, or up to $49,000 if they contribute $1,000 a year.

The policy comes at a time when cost of living pressures are mounting in Australia and younger generations feel locked out of the housing market in capital cities.

Under Mr Perrottet’s grand scheme, every child aged 10 and over in NSW would receive a savings fund run by the Treasury at a seven per cent interest rate. At age 18 it can be used for housing or education

Funds from the investment proposal may be used for residential property or residential land in NSW.

Alternatively, the money could also be spent on education costs, such as private tuition fees, textbooks, laptops, or learning costs.

The scheme has already been pitched to the electorate as the largest investment in financial security in NSW history, costing the government around $850m.

‘This investment will change the lives of millions of children across our state… This is a down payment to secure our children’s future dreams,’ said Mr. Perrottet.

He was joined by Liberal Party loyalists and key candidates in Sydney’s southwestern suburbs for the party’s official campaign launch on Sunday.

Claiming to be the underdog in the polls, the Prime Minister said it was his party’s responsible financial and economic management that would “keep NSW moving forward”.

“I know that all single parents here today and across the state share one thing in common and that is that from the moment our children are born we care about them and we would do anything to ensure they have a better chance than we do.” he said.

Mr. Perrottet also announced an additional $1.2 billion investment in public schools, creating a $19 billion pipeline for new and improved schools.

Federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton was notably absent from Sunday’s launch, but former Prime Minister John Howard, 83, attended and received a rousing standing ovation from the crowd.

Labor announced a plan on Sunday to ease the cost of rising electricity bills for small businesses and NSW families and households under a proposed $485m Energy Relief Fund.

The NSW Kids Future Fund, a brilliant but brash piece of election campaigning, was the centerpiece of the Liberal Party’s official campaign launch for the March 25 election on Sunday.

Under the coalition government, all children currently aged 10 and under by 2023 in NSW, and all newborns thereafter, will receive a fund with an initial investment of $400

Under the scheme, eligible NSW small businesses will receive $315 off their energy bill and, when matched with funds from the Commonwealth government rebate scheme, around 320,000 small businesses will get $630 off their bills.

The fund would also mean that NSW households affected by increases in energy prices would receive a $250 discount on their energy bill and, when combined with $250 from the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund , about 1.6 million eligible households will get a $500 discount on their bills.

Recent polls suggest that NSW Labor is poised to return to power for the first time since 2011.

The Resolve Political Monitor indicated a seven per cent shift to Labour, giving the party the 47 seats needed for a majority government.