Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison will defend her seat in the NSW election

Ms Aitchison, who was first elected in 2015, has been selected as the NSW Labor Party's candidate for Maitland.

Her top priorities, she said, are the same ones she fights for "each and every day" - more staff in hospitals, more paramedics, more teachers and other education staff, reducing homelessness, better funding for our roads, better public transport services and better disaster preparedness and management.

"Every single day I have complaints from people who are sitting and waiting in the emergency department at Maitland Hospital," she said.

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"One lady contacted me the other day because her mother had been waiting over 54 hours for treatment across both Maitland Hospital and the John Hunter.

"A man contacted me a few days ago to tell me his son had been waiting for emergency surgery on a catastrophic break to his ankle in Maitland Hospital for five days.

"Our health system is broken. There are just not enough staff in the hospital, and it is putting lives at risk."

For schools, Ms Aitchison said Labor will convert 10,000 casual teaching positions to permanent, reduce the administrative load on teachers and ban mobile phones in schools.

For roads, Ms Aitchison said she is pleased to have secured state government funding for Thornton's current road upgrades, but that "it shouldn't have taken this long".

Ms Aitchison said while being on the opposition benches she has stood up and delivered a number of significant projects and policies for our community over the past eight years.

"It's been confirmed that the Liberals and Nationals were only going to ever spend $200 million on the new Maitland Hospital, but we fought side by side with the community and we now have a $500 million hospital," she said.

"That is why last year I started my petition to get more staff into our hospital, and why Labor has committed to safe staffing in the hospital and will increase the number of nurses by 1200.

"We have a plan for 500 more regional paramedics. And we will implement in full all of the 44 recommendations of the Regional Health Inquiry."

Labor has announced a new High School will be built at Huntlee if elected, which Ms Aitchison said will reduce the load on Rutherford Technology High School and provide another option for those in Lochinvar and to the west.

"From opposition I've fought and won the battle for major upgrades and expansions at four of our local schools," she said.

Labor has also announced a $1.1 billion package of road capital upgrades over the next three years across the state.

Labor has also announced a $9 million plan to safeguard regional and community media across NSW.

An elected Minns Labor government will commit an additional $3 million in government advertising for regional print media.

"Not only will Labor match the coalition's commitment to provide $3 million to the Regional Media Fund for the round of grants currently underway, we will also fund a second round of the same value to be rolled out in late 2023 to early 2024," Ms Aitchison said.

"Personally, I continue to support our local newspaper by advertising on a fortnightly basis, and I know that many of my Labor colleagues also do this in their own local communities."