For NSW voters divorcing Labor will be the easy part

A fundamental question which NSW voters will be asking themselves after they tip Labor out of Government in next weekend's State election is: Now what?

And the answer to what should be a relatively straightforward question does not immediately spring to mind. This is because the Coalition Opposition parties, led by Liberal Barry O'Farrell, have adopted a small target, risk averse, strategy over the long haul to polling day.

As a result a general feeling of community relief at finally terminating Labor's 16 year which has ended up plunging the State into a management crisis could well be tinged with apprehension at the shape of things to come.

When the conservatives under Prime Minister, John Howard, were thrown out of office in 2007 the policy choices were clear. Labor, under Kevin Rudd, was offering a younger more vibrant team to replace an aging leader who had lost touch with community aspirations. Labor's ability, with the help of a well heeled union movement, to drive a stake through the Coalition's heart on the debacle of Work Choices said it all. It was, simply, time for a change and the electorate felt comfortable enough, with a booming economy and full employment, to take the risk.

That the economic situation quickly deteriorated under the global financial crisis and the Labor Government set about triggering a whole series of costly policy disasters which brought down Rudd along the way is another matter altogether.

The choice confronting the NSW electorate is totally different. It is similar to the one faced by the hapless Victorian community in 1992 after years of appalling administration by successive Labor leaders.

They had a pretty good idea about what was in store when they swept the bombastic, larger than life Liberal leader Jeff Kennett into power. And he did not let them down taking office with all guns blazing.

Kennett immediately began a rapid and sweeping restructuring of the public sector on a scale never seen before in Australian politics. Within 18 months he had cut spending by 10 per cent, slashed the size of the public service , imposed a $100 a year levy on all households and overhauled the state's local government system scrapping nearly 380 councils in the process.

During his long march to power O'Farrell has always been quick to slap down suggestions that he is acting in a policy void. Indeed he has showered the route to the Treasury benches with policy statements that have fallen like confetti. But maybe this is a big part of the problem. For example how many have resonated with the voters?

They certainly know what Labor is doing wrong, particularly in areas such as transport, hospitals, education and power costs. And the Opposition has lost no opportunity to remind the electorate of Labor's track record of mismanagement--if they needed any reminding.

But anecdotally the question which keeps surfacing is : This is all very well. But what does O'Farrell stand for? The answer, in a nutshell, is: Better Government.

One would hope so because it is hard to see how things could get much worse. Winning next Saturday will guarantee the Coalition four years in power. But it will take at least a second term to start reaping the benefits of the arduous rebuilding process that is necessary in NSW to get it back on its feet.

Sydney with a population of five million, a beautiful harbour, Opera House and international airport only minutes from the city is, or should be, the gateway to Australia. But it has a reputation for being unsafe after dark with what amounts to no go zones extending into the CBD and a public transport system that is shoddy and unreliable.

O'Farrell has promised to build a new multi-million dollar convention centre at Darling Harbour. But this alone won't attract major events. Kennett quickly worked this out and stole the Grand Prix from Adelaide setting it up in Albert Park in the heart of Melbourne. This took a lot of guts and met with fierce opposition but it worked and helped reverse a tourist drain.

And if he wants to be taken seriously O'Farrell, once premier, is going to have to confront the Sydney City Council which has wasted millions of ratepayers' dollars turning its streets into bicycle priority paths not only at the expense of motor vehicles but also pedestrians.

Significantly, with Labor's popularity continuing to dive in the public opinion polls O'Farrell found it necessary to engage in some last minute gimmickry by signing a " contract" with the people of NSW to deliver all his election promises. " If we don't perform they can hold us to account at the next election," he declared stating the obvious.

Liberal strategists have been at pains to play down suggestions that the Coalition will end up with too much power and a blank cheque from the voters. And in brief TV advertisement focussed on the unholy mess caused by the Keneally Government's bargain basement sale of the State's power assets and the added burden which this will place on household running costs O'Farrell declared that he would act immediately to " fix Labor's mess."

The speed with which he can implement his agenda will depend on the balance of power in the Upper House Legislative Council. But this has been a challenge which many political leaders have had to face up to and the size of O'Farrell's win in the Legislative Assembly together with the public mood for reform will arm him with convincing weapons in this fight.

Meanwhile as the conservatives are gearing themselves to tackle the issue of being perceived to have too much power (and don't forget politics is more about perception than reality) Labor is having to come to grips with the real prospect of having little or no parliamentary power.

Faced with a similar fate after electoral hidings in the 1975 and 1977 federal elections militant unions suggested it may be time for the industrial wing of the Labor movement to effectively become the de facto opposition.

If former Trades Hall boss John Robertson succeeds in moving from the Upper House to the Legislative Assembly by winning the traditionally safe ALP western Sydney suburban seat of Blacktown, which is looking increasingly tenuous on the latest polling , this sort of scenario could, in effect, become a reality should he replace Keneally as party leader.

Whatever the case, the task for Labor after next weekend is to start rebuilding its credibility with the electorate. In what has traditionally been a Labor governed state this may not be as difficult as it may seem particularly as most of those who are associated with the party's mismanagement of the state have moved, or been moved, on.