Mike Baird has officially launched the Liberals’ NSW campaign with a focus on health and jobs.

The premier arrived to a rock star reception in Sydney on Sunday, flanked by his wife and children and welcomed by Liberal luminaries John Howard and Nick Greiner.

Parliamentary colleagues, including Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian and Nationals leader Troy Grant, offered glowing tributes to the “honest” politician who “has got all of our backs”.

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Mr Baird’s predecessor Barry O’Farrell – who stepped down last year after a turn in the Independent Commission Against Corruption witness box – was there, as was his “friend” Prime Minister Tony Abbott, though neither was invited to speak.

“Can you feel it?” Mr Baird asked the roomful of supporters, clad in blue T-shirts.

“Everywhere you look you can feel the buzz of an economy that’s on the move.”

He promised to create 150,000 additional jobs, partly by extending the $5000 payroll tax rebate for another four years.

Mr Baird also announced a raft of health initiatives, including slashed prescription bills for the seriously ill, and an early roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

And he restated the case for his poles-and-wires plan: “In a nutshell, we’ll lease some existing assets, use the proceeds to invest in new assets, and at the end of the day, we will own both”.

Mr Baird is seeking a mandate for the electricity network lease plan, which he says will unlock $20 billion for NSW infrastructure, but the electorate has been slow to warm to the proposal.

The premier has only another six days to convince voters to stay with the Coalition and spent much of his time on Sunday reminding voters of the ALP’s legacy over the 16 years to 2009.

“Labor had six transport ministers, who had nine transport plans and announced 12 different rail lines, and they failed to deliver a single one,” he told the event in Sydney.

“The only thing they didn’t promise, but delivered anyway, were new taxes…they spread CSG licences around the state like confetti, and instead of focusing on you, the community, they focused on themselves, on doing the numbers for the next execution as ordered up by Sussex Street and the unions.”

There was a standing ovation and shouts of “four more years” as Mr Baird exited the stage.

– AAP