Category Archives: New South Wales politics

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Multibillion-dollar Newcastle redevelopment under review after NSW minister sacked

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Senator ‘working on’ settlement referral – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Some more detail here on the new national anti-corruption watchdog from AAP.

The integrity commission’s job is to stamp out corrupt conduct by commonwealth officials – including ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, public servants, and government contractors.

The thing I would be really careful about it would be weaponising things before elections.

Continue reading...

Daryl Maguire’s lawyers accuse media of stalking, unsafe U-turns and spooking horses

Posted on by

Oddly worded statement attacks unnamed outlets for alleged behaviour after Icac findings against former MP and his former partner Gladys Berejiklian

Lawyers for Daryl Maguire have attacked journalists for their alleged behaviour since damning corruption findings were made against the former Wagga Wagga MP last week, issuing a strangely worded statement accusing unnamed “media” of “unsafe u turns”, spooking “valuable horses” and trespassing on government-owned rail corridors, among other things.

Maguire’s lawyers also praise their client’s efforts to secure money for Wagga, including his pursuit of grants and hospital funding that were at the centre of Icac’s corruption investigation.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian teens ‘inundated’ with gambling ads with YouTube most common platform, report states

Posted on by

At-risk children between 12 and 17 reported seeing promotions from a wide range of sources including their homes, school and social media

Young people are being “inundated” with gambling ads in their everyday lives, particularly sports betting ads and social casino games, amid unprecedented levels of exposure for at-risk adolescents.

Children between 12 and 17 who are at risk of becoming problem gamblers reported a wide range of sources that promote gambling, including in their home, school, social, digital and media environments.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Federal budget on track to smash surplus forecasts as cash balance hits $19bn – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Melbourne hit by magnitude 4.6 earthquake

Melburnians were shaken by a magnitude 4.6 earthquake at 1.32am.

Continue reading...

Icac found Gladys Berejiklian engaged in corrupt conduct. So why won’t she be prosecuted?

Posted on by

Her former boyfriend Daryl Maguire may face charges, but proving criminal activity by the former premier would be difficult

On Thursday, the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption dealt a blow to the legacy of former premier Gladys Berejiklian in ruling she engaged in serious corrupt conduct while in office.

Icac’s Operation Keppel also found her ex-boyfriend and former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire, as well as two other individuals, engaged in corrupt conduct and is seeking advice on whether any prosecution should be commenced against the three.

Continue reading...

Gladys Berejiklian Icac report live updates: Chris Minns says findings took ‘way too long’ as Matt Kean criticises ‘ridiculous display’ – latest news

Posted on by

Icac finds former premier and Daryl Maguire engaged in ‘serious corrupt conduct’, but says it does not want the DPP to consider prosecuting Berejiklian. Follow live updates

We are waiting on the publication of the Icac report. But it appears the Icac website has crashed under the load.

Stay with us. We will bring you the findings as soon as we possibly can.

Continue reading...