Category Archives: New South Wales politics

Knock down a few, build one: in NSW that counts as a gain for councils’ housing targets

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Exclusive: Metrics reflect gross addition to supply, even as unit blocks in affluent Sydney suburbs are being replaced by luxury single properties

Luxury homes built on the site of former unit blocks in Sydney are counting towards council targets for new dwellings, even where they have reduced the available housing stock by displacing multiple properties.

A swathe of interwar apartment buildings in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and inner city face the wrecking ball, to be replaced with modern residences, as Guardian Australia revealed on Wednesday.

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Josh Murray made donation to NSW transport minister’s campaign before she appointed him as secretary

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Emails released to parliament show former Labor staffer made $500 donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before party won election

The New South Wales transport secretary, Josh Murray, made a donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before she picked the former Labor staffer to lead her department.

Limited details of the $500 donation were contained in emails that were released to parliament between members of Haylen’s team discussing talking points related to the appointment of the secretary.

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New Icac powers spark concerns as NSW opposition flags move to stop ‘reckless’ change

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Complaints from Liberals and some crossbench MPs come after watchdog asked to use illegally obtained recordings in ongoing investigation

Special powers handed to the New South Wales corruption watchdog to use illegally obtained recordings have been described as “concerning”, with the opposition and members of the crossbench vowing to try to stop them from proceeding.

The government granted the powers to the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Wednesday to assist it with an ongoing investigation in response to a request from its chief commissioner, John Hatzistergos.

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Icac given power to use illegally obtained recordings in NSW corruption investigations

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State government grants new power to assist watchdog after request from chief commissioner John Hatzistergos

The New South Wales corruption watchdog has been granted the power to use in its investigations recordings that have been obtained illegally by third parties.

The state government on Wednesday gave the Independent Commission Against Corruption the new power to assist it with an ongoing investigation after a request from its chief commissioner, John Hatzistergos.

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NSW government department ‘refusing’ to publish community feedback on shark nets

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Greens MP says it is ‘unacceptable’ that results not made public as Minns government faces calls to abandon nets

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has kept hidden the results of surveys it conducted to gauge community opinion on shark nets, as the government forges ahead with the controversial deterrence strategy.

The department has not published the surveys for the past two years and has not released the results to two upper house MPs, environmentalists and Sydney’s Randwick council despite their requests for them.

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NSW court ruling will make it almost impossible to contest drug-driving charges, legal experts claim

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Judge says decision involving a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine pivoted on presence of drug rather than his credibility

Legal experts have argued a New South Wales district court judgment will make it almost impossible for people facing drug-driving charges to defend themselves, no matter the circumstances.

The decision, handed down on 26 July, involved a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine at a roadside drug test.

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Chief of NSW’s largest council wants developer tax to build swimming pools and libraries

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Blacktown’s Kerry Robinson warns rates would need to rise by 40% to pay for community facilities for more than 250,000 expected new residents

The chief executive of New South Wales’ largest council is calling for a new tax on developers to pay for social infrastructure such as swimming pools, warning the alternative would be to raise rates in urban fringe communities by 40%.

The Blacktown city council chief executive officer, Kerry Robinson, said his council had “no funding source” for libraries or community meeting places to accommodate the more than 250,000 people who are expected to move into the sprawling local government area in western Sydney over the next two decades.

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NSW minister concedes social housing situation ‘desperate’ as waitlist for most in need doubles in a decade

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Exclusive: Rose Jackson announces monthly release of social housing data, with first tranche showing ‘priority’ applications soaring

New South Wales’s priority social housing waitlist has doubled in less than a decade and surged by 1,000 to 7,573 over the past year, as wait times continue to rise across the state.

New data from the department of communities and justice, to be released on Friday, will reveal the extent of a crisis that the housing minister, Rose Jackson, has conceded is “desperate” and “confronting”.

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Tim Crakanthorp’s chief of staff reported his boss’s failure to disclose property holdings

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Guardian Australia understands the Newcastle MP’s chief of staff, Elliot Stein, raised concerns with the premier, Chris Minns

Former New South Wales Labor minister Tim Crakanthorp’s own chief of staff reported that his boss had failed to disclose “substantial” holdings in his family’s Newcastle property empire, leading to Crakanthorp’s sacking from the cabinet and referral to the corruption watchdog this week.

Guardian Australia understands the Newcastle MP’s chief of staff, Elliot Stein, raised concerns with the premier, Chris Minns, after telling Crakanthorp he needed to disclose additional properties owned by his father-in-law and wife. There is no suggestion of wrongoing by them.

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Multibillion-dollar Newcastle redevelopment under review after NSW minister sacked

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Cabinet office to review projects in region after premier told parliament he had concerns Tim Crakanthorp may have acted for ‘private interests’

A multibillion-dollar redevelopment of a Newcastle suburb will form part of an urgent review being undertaken by the New South Wales government after the premier raised concerns the sacked cabinet minister Tim Crakanthorp may have acted for “private interests”.

The Newcastle MP was stripped of his ministries and referred to the state’s corruption watchdog after Chris Minns was told about multiple previously undisclosed properties owned by Crakanthorp’s wife and family across the Hunter.

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NSW drivers using medicinal cannabis would be shielded from DUI charges under MP’s proposed reforms

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Legalise Cannabis party’s Jeremy Buckingham says risk of losing driver’s licence under current drug-driving laws acts as disincentive for patients

New South Wales drivers who use medicinal cannabis and return a positive result at a roadside drug test would be spared prosecution under new laws being put forward by the upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham.

It is illegal in NSW to drive with any amount of THC, a psychoactive component of cannabis, in your body even if you have a prescription. THC can show up in roadside drug tests days after the initial period of impairment has worn off.

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NSW won’t ban gas in new homes as premier declares ‘I don’t need another complication’

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Chris Minns rules out following Victoria in banning new gas connections, saying state has enough serious energy challenges

Homes in New South Wales will continue being built with gas connections after the premier, Chris Minns, ruled out a Victorian-style ban on new connections, saying the state already had enough energy supply issues.

The definitive comments came after the state’s energy minister, Penny Sharpe, on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility of the state following Victoria.

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‘Get it back on track’: NSW minister calls for voice yes campaign reset while praising Matt Kean’s support

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Exclusive: David Harris says ‘cheap politics’ has skewered the debate but expects support to rise before the vote

The campaign for the Indigenous voice to parliament needs a reset in New South Wales, according to the state’s Aboriginal affairs minister David Harris, as polling shows support in the state is slipping.

But Harris praised the efforts of former treasurer and senior Liberal MP Matt Kean for his support for the yes campaign.

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Former Liberal MP denounces radio station after being named as complainant behind harassment allegations

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Lucy Wicks has asked for privacy after Sydney radio station 2GB named her as the person who made a complaint against NSW MP Taylor Martin

Former federal MP Lucy Wicks has criticised Sydney radio station 2GB for naming her as the Liberal figure behind a formal complaint against a state MP that included allegations of harassment through “demeaning, degrading, and abusive texts”.

Wicks released a statement on her social media on Monday asking for privacy, saying she had been left “distressed” after learning the host of the station’s breakfast program, Ben Fordham, had named her as the person behind the complaint against Taylor Martin made last week.

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‘Teal-style’ search: NSW Liberals look beyond membership in bid to unseat Zali Steggall

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Party members in Warringah encouraged to nominate possible candidates via expressions of interest form

The Liberal party has launched a “teal-style” search beyond their own membership in a bid to find someone who could oust independent MP Zali Steggall from the former blue-ribbon seat of Warringah.

More than a year before an election could possibly be called, branch members were this week sent an email from the local federal electorate convention (FEC), asking for nominations from within the community – no matter their party status. This comes after federal leader Peter Dutton urged branches to begin their preselection processes.

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PwC-backed mental health platform was scrapped after $33m government trial launched without open tender

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Experts call for transparency over Project Synergy grant awarded to Innowell, whose platform is no longer used by the federal health department

A PwC-backed startup received tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through a closed, non-competitive grant to develop a digital mental health platform, which was almost scrapped due to health workers finding it an administrative burden.

Policy experts and transparency watchdogs have raised alarm about the grant and called on the federal government to explain why the money was not allocated through an open and competitive process to ensure value for money.

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NSW delays decision about future of country’s biggest power station until after energy security review

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Owner Origin Energy say ‘nothing has changed’ on plan to shut the coal-fired Eraring plant no sooner than August 2025

The New South Wales government says it will hold off any decision about the future of the country’s largest power station until at least next month, after it receives a “health check” on the state’s energy security.

Origin Energy, owner of the 2880MW Eraring plant near Lake Macquarie, also said on Friday that “nothing had changed” on the plan to shut the coal-fired power station no sooner than August 2025.

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Head of NSW cashless gambling panel wants trial extended to thousands more pokie machines

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Michael Foggo says more venues would provide better data and that he hoped to report back that the scheme reduces harm

The head of a panel to oversee a New South Wales trial of cashless gambling on 500 poker machines would like to see it expanded to include at least 2,500 more to enable “proper research analysis” of the scheme.

Michael Foggo, a former liquor, gaming and racing commissioner, said he also hopes to report to the state government next year that “cashless gaming works”.

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NSW appoints former gaming commissioner to lead panel into cashless gambling trial

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Michael Foggo to help oversee the delayed pilot program, now expected to begin before November

Former New South Wales Liquor, Gaming and Racing commissioner Michael Foggo will lead a panel of 16 to design and oversee the state’s government’s delayed cashless gambling trial, which is now expected to begin before November.

The appointments will be made today by the premier, Chris Minns, who will also announce a departmental review of the ClubGrants scheme that critics have argued is used by some clubs to funnel money back towards themselves with little transparency or oversight.

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Clare Nowland: family sues NSW government after 95-year-old allegedly Tasered in nursing home

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Exclusive: civil proceedings against the state were initially filed while aged care resident was still fighting for her life in hospital

The family of 95-year-old Clare Nowland, who died in May after being allegedly Tasered by police in an aged care home, is suing the New South Wales government.

The civil case against the state was listed to appear for the first time before a court in Bega in south-east NSW on Tuesday morning.

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