The premier, Nathan Rees, was attacked about his approval of the V8 Supercar race at Olympic Park when he hosted his first cabinet community forum last night but he was unapologetic.

"I don't care whether its Bledisloe Cup, Mardi Gras, V8s, writers festivals," he said, "if it's about attracting people to Sydney and demonstrating and showcasing Sydney to the rest of Australia and around the world I think we have to spend a bob to make a bob."

The premier also came under fire for the number of government cars parked outside the venue, the Dame Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith.

"I've never seen that many chauffeur-driven cars in one place at one time as I did tonight," one participant said.

But the new premier seemed to convince participants that his government was about deeds and distancing itself from the spin-doctoring that characterised the Carr-Iemma years.

To emphasise he was a man of action, the premier hosted the forum from the floor rather than from the head of the table and eschewed the jacket to reveal his rolled-up sleeves.

"It was refreshing to hear an admission of error and it was a good way of getting community feedback," said Ed McKenzie, the president of the Blue Mountains Community Association.

"To hear the premier say [the Labor government] have stuffed up and that we could do better, that's a bit of a shock."

The premier worked the floor with the confidence of a game show host and when one audience member accused the cabinet of lacking representatives from western Sydney he ran down the table pointing out his ministers from the area with the exuberance of Tony Barber.

Participants also quizzed the premier about extended licencing hours of pubs and clubs in western Sydney and the resulting problems from alcohol abuse and gambling.

"The Carr government has a lot to answer," a 70-year-old Penrith resident said. "The worse legislation I believe in my lifetime, either federal or state or either side of government, is when we put poker macines into hotels."