Teacher pay first priority for NSW deputy premier

NSW teachers will begin renegotiating pay and conditions with the new Labor government as the incoming education minister says current workloads are "crippling" educators.

Work would soon begin with teachers over pay and workload issues, deputy Labor leader and Education Minister Prue Car told reporters on Thursday.

"We will be working obviously to negotiate the teachers' pay and conditions, cutting workload down substantially, which is a crippling burden on our teachers," Ms Car said from Penrith Public School.

"So much of why we were elected on Saturday was to ensure that we actually take care of our teachers.

"That is priority number one for the new Labor government and myself as Minister for Education."

After months of strikes and industrial action last year, NSW public school teachers were handed a pay decision by the Industrial Relations Commission of 2.5 per cent backdated over 2022 and three per cent over 2023.

The pay rise, bound by a public sector wage cap, was called insulting by the head of the NSW Teachers Federation, Angelo Gavrielatos. The new government has committed to scrapping the former government's cap on public sector wages.

Ms Car also said the government would keep its election promise to fund Foodbank's School Breakfast 4 Health with an additional $8 million over the next four years, supplying 1.5 million students with breakfast across 1000 schools.

A mobile phone ban in all public schools would also progress, Ms Car said.

Ms Car, former premier Dominic Perrottet and leader of the Nationals Paul Toole are travelling to the mid north coast for the funeral of former Myall Lakes MP Stephen Bromhead, held at Tuncurry Rugby Fields.

Mr Bromhead died of cancer earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Labor appears unlikely to form majority government with the party sitting on 45 seats and remaining behind in three of the remaining four seats still in doubt.

Labor needs two more seats to reach the 47 needed to form a majority government. The party remains ahead in Ryde but trails in Goulburn, Holsworthy and Terrigal.

Ms Car dismissed suggestions the party would struggle to govern if it could not reach a majority position.

"Clearly, what happened on Saturday is that the people of NSW voted for a fresh start for the state and delivered a number of seats to Labor, so we are able to form government," Ms Car said.

Three independent MPs have also offered confidence and supply to the incoming government.

Premier Chris Minns voiced concerns about how long the count was taking, although he stopped short of criticising the state's electoral commission.

"For many people, they'd be frustrated with the count particularly if you're one of those seats that haven't been determined yet. 

"You need to know who your local member of parliament is," he said.

The premier said any decisions about future ministerial portfolios would be taken once the final composition of the lower house is completed.

Labor is on track to land eight seats in the upper house, while the coalition looks likely to secure between six and seven seats.