It's been a long time since the Illawarra has been represented by someone as senior as Ryan Park now is in the NSW Government.
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The former Dapto boy and PE teacher was sworn in as health minister on Tuesday, as part of an interim ministry for the new government.
At a ceremony at Government House, Premier Chris Minns was sworn in as the 47th premier of NSW alongside treasurer Daniel Mookhey and ministers Prue Car (education), Jo Haylen (transport), John Graham (roads), Penny Sharpe (environment) and Michael Daley (Attorney-General).
Mr Park was also sworn in to be the minister for regional health, mental health and the Illawarra and South Coast.
Labor has restored the position of Illawarra minister since it was axed in favour of a parliamentary secretary position by the Coalition.
During the interim period - which will last until all votes are counted and other ministers can be sworn in during the coming weeks, Mr Park will also take responsibility for police, counter terrorism, corrections, juvenile justice, local government and medical research.
After the ceremony, Mr Minns said he was humbled by the trust put in Labor by NSW residents.
"The work starts right away," he said.
"There's not a moment to lose in delivering on our plans, particularly for essential workers and essential services in health and education."
The last NSW minister to come from the Illawarra was former Liberal MP Gareth Ward, who was Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services until he had to step down the from the party and role when sexual assault allegations - which he has pleaded not guilty to - emerged in May 2021.
But the last person from the region to serve in the senior ministry like Mr Park was his Keira predecessor David Campbell, who was minister for transport and roads until he resigned in 2010.
Speaking to the Mercury in the lead up to the election about his hopes and challenges as he takes on one of the toughest jobs in parliament, Mr Park said he was impatient to get started on reforming the health system,
He said his first focus would be on staffing, after Labor pledged to remove the public sector wages cap and implement mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in some hospital wards, starting with the ED.
"I know it's a massive challenge, but if we climb this mountain and we get there then what a privilege it is to have the ability to influence arguably one of the most important areas in public policy," he said.
"There's only been 43 health ministers in NSW history, so if I get that privilege, I will be looking it not as daunting, but an opportunity.
"Healthcare workers who have been in the system for decades are telling me they've not seen it like this, but we can't say that this is too hard, we have to say 'how can we do things better?'"