Category Archives: New South Wales politics

Byron Bay faces housing crisis as short-term rentals such as Airbnb surge, residents say

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The thriving tourism industry is ‘undermining the fabric of our society’, one local tells public hearing into proposed cap

Byron Bay residents have voiced their outrage at the impact short-term rentals have had on the region, with some claiming the area has been invaded.

The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission held its first day of a public hearing into a proposal by the local council to drop the number of days available for short-term rentals from 180 to 90 a year.

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NSW Labor pledges $1bn state-owned investment company for renewable projects if elected

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‘Privatisation does not work. It has been a disaster for New South Wales and under Labor it stops,’ leader Chris Minns says

A New South Wales Labor government would create a $1bn state-owned energy security company to drive investment in renewable energy projects and lower prices in the state, the party’s leader, Chris Minns, has said.

On Sunday, Labor will pledge to establish a NSW “energy security corporation”, an investment vehicle for renewable energy projects in the state, should the party win the 24 March state election.

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NSW Liberals disendorse Peter Poulos ahead of election over explicit photo sharing scandal

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The premier, Dominic Perrottet, had said he was appalled and disgusted by the situation

The New South Wales Liberals have cut the upper house government MP Peter Poulos from their election ticket, five weeks out from the election, after the premier called on his party to act over an explicit photo scandal.

Poulos had resigned on Friday from his parliamentary secretary role after apologising for emailing explicit images of a female rival five years ago.

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Labor candidate Terry Campese quits NSW election race amid media reports about his behaviour

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Former NRL star pulls out on the same day that NSW Greens unveiled policy to lower voting age to 16

The former Canberra Raiders captain Terry Campese has pulled out as Labor’s candidate for the New South Wales seat of Monaro after a series of reports into his behaviour.

The charity founder and former rugby league player was an outside chance of taking the seat at the March state election – Monaro was formerly held by former Nationals leader John Barilaro from 2011 until his retirement in 2021.

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‘I really was broken’: survivor welcomes Dominic Perrottet agreeing to ban gay conversion practices

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NSW premier gives bill ‘in-principle’ support as independent Alex Greenwich hails a ‘good day for our state’

Growing up as a teenager in the suburbs of Sydney, Chris Csabs was led to believe he needed to be “fixed”.

“I was gay and had grown up steeped in an ideology that told me that God had not made me that way. That there was a negative cause to my homosexuality,” he said.

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Matt Kean backs push to outlaw gay conversion practices in NSW

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Leading Coalition moderate says he supports the concept but is waiting to see Alex Greenwich’s bill

The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, says he “wholeheartedly” supports a push to outlaw gay conversion practices in the state, despite the premier, Dominic Perrottet, refusing to say whether he would support a ban.

As Sydney prepares to play host to the WorldPride festival beginning this week, the powerful crossbench MP Alex Greenwich has made a ban on the practice a condition of his support in the event of a hung parliament after the March state election.

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Dominic Perrottet’s brother sought $50,000 donation to unseat federal Liberal MP Alex Hawke, inquiry told

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Businessman tells NSW inquiry he was approached by Jean-Claude Perrottet because of his previous support for Malcolm Turnbull

A Sydney engineer with links to a former prime minister says the New South Wales premier’s brother approached him for a $50,000 donation in a bid to unseat a federal MP.

Businessman Frits Mare told a NSW parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that Jean-Claude Perrottet, along with the Hills shire councillor Christian Ellis, asked for a $50,000 contribution from him in 2019 to unseat Alex Hawke.

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‘Rorting’ claims over bushfire grants rejected by NSW premier

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Federal emergency management minister Murray Watt criticises state cabinet over relief program

Dominic Perrottet has defended his role in the New South Wales government’s allocation of Black Summer recovery grants after the federal emergency management minister, Murray Watt, accused him of being part of a “rorting” process that saw money funnelled away from Labor electorates.

The allegations were made after a national emergency management agency official told Senate estimates this week that they understood the grants went to the NSW cabinet’s expenditure review committee (ECR) before being finalised.

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NSW parliamentary inquiry to use firm to track down key witnesses, including two of Dominic Perrottet’s brothers

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Committee examining allegations of ‘impropriety’ against a Sydney council and developers will take the unusual step of using a private contractor to serve summons

A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry examining allegations of “impropriety” against a suburban Sydney council and property developers says it will hire private contractors to track down key witnesses who are “failing to cooperate” with the inquiry, including two of Dominic Perrottet’s brothers, in an extraordinary bid to force them to answer questions at a public hearing.

On Tuesday an upper house committee examining the “role and influence of developers and their interactions with councillors and members of parliament” at the Hills Shire council took the unusual step of saying it would contract a private firm to issue Charles and Jean-Claude Perrottet with formal summons to appear.

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‘Silent epidemic’: almost two-thirds of Sydney’s gambling losses occur in city’s west

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Cost-of-living pressures, disadvantage and ‘oversaturation’ of machines in the region leading to higher levels of gambling-related harm, researchers say

Almost two-thirds of Sydney’s gambling losses come from western Sydney, with advocates concerned the cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating problem gambling in the region.

A research paper from Western Sydney University, which has called gambling-related harm a “silent epidemic”, also says three LGAs in western Sydney account for a third of Sydney’s total gambling losses.

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Dominic Perrottet defends appointment of Liberal donor brother of Angus Taylor to NSW body

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Exclusive: Party treasurer Charlie Taylor has attended fundraisers hosted by the minister who appointed him

Dominic Perrottet has defended his government’s appointment of a senior Liberal official – who made thousands of dollars in political donations to the party – as the chair of a New South Wales productivity council set up to provide independent advice on innovation.

In January the state’s innovation minister, Alistair Henskens, appointed Charlie Taylor to chair the state’s Innovation and Productivity Council (IPC).

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Labor must meet ‘fundamental test’ of character on poker machine reform, Andrew Wilkie says

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Party is under pressure on gambling measures after NSW Coalition announced cashless gaming scheme

The federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie has declared gambling reform as a “fundamental test” of character for Labor as pressure mounts on the party at the state and federal level to follow the New South Wales Coalition in committing to action on poker machines.

This came after the Perrottet government unveiled a $344m plan to switch the state to cashless poker machines over the next five years – a move that has been resisted by the state’s Labor leader, Chris Minns, who has only committed to a limited trial.

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Greens vow action as huge rent hikes see adults forced to move back in with parents

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Exclusive: Party seeking rent freezes, new body to set controls on prices and end to no-grounds evictions

Jeremy Bryant wasn’t expecting to be moving back in with his parents just a few weeks after turning 30.

But that’s where the successful musician and university student now finds himself, along with his little brother, after the rent on their Redfern home was raised by $110 a week.

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‘Pretty damn good’: Tim Costello backs Perrottet government plan for cashless poker machine card

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Gamblers will be able to set their own loss limits, which will only be able to be changed once a week

New South Wales pubs and clubs will be given five years to introduce cashless gaming systems across all poker machines, with gamblers able to set their own loss limits, under a $344m plan developed by the state government.

The state’s premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced the package on Monday after months of public debate and major pushback from some of his Coalition colleagues.

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NSW Liberals promise households $250 in electricity bill support if re-elected

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Dominic Perrottet says homes will be able to receive the rebate if they compare energy providers

New South Wales residents will receive a $250 rebate for comparing energy providers and plans, in the latest Coalition election promise ahead of next month’s state election.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said households would be able to access the one-off cost-of-living payment by comparing energy plans using a tool on the Service NSW website.

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The John Barilaro factor: former NSW deputy premier becomes focal point in state campaign

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New auditor general report highlights Barilaro’s office created rules for a grants program that saw Labor electorates miss out entirely

For a couple of days this week, Dominic Perrottet was riding high.

The ClubsNSW boss, Josh Landis, whose campaign against the premier’s proposed cashless gaming scheme was fuelling division within the coalition, was sacked, creating some clear air for Perrottet amid a volatile state election campaign.

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Teals and other NSW independents seek to kill controversial Pep-11 gas permit

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Exclusive: Candidates hoping to hold the balance of power to push for state-level development bans

The “kingmaker” Sydney MP, Alex Greenwich, and a coalition of independent political hopefuls will attempt to kill the controversial Pep-11 gas exploration licence by banning development of the area through a change in New South Wales law.

The six independents, who could hold the balance of power in under two months, will on Saturday unveil a bill that would amend the State Planning Act to ban certain types of development on land and at sea, negating possible future federal approval.

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John Barilaro: NSW government hands report into office’s intervention in bushfire grants to Icac

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Auditor general’s scathing findings provided to watchdog ‘for their information’ after Labor threat

The New South Wales government has handed a scathing auditor general’s report into the $100m black summer bushfire recovery grants to the state’s corruption watchdog, amid calls for John Barilaro to explain his office’s involvement in the scheme.

A spokesperson for the premier, Dominic Perrottet, said the report had been passed to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) “for their information” after the opposition leader, Chris Minns, issued an ultimatum for Barilaro to offer an explanation.

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John Barilaro’s assault charge dismissed by NSW magistrate on mental health grounds

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Former deputy premier had pleaded not guilty to assaulting a camera operator in Manly last July

A magistrate has dismissed an assault charge against former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro on mental health grounds.

Barilaro pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting a camera operator and damaging their property outside a Manly restaurant in July 2022.

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NSW Coalition pledges feasibility study for specialist domestic violence courts

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Labor opposition says move a decade overdue, with similar courts already operating in Queensland and overseas

The New South Wales Coalition will consider establishing standalone domestic violence courts, which Labor says are almost a decade overdue.

Domestic violence cases would be heard by dedicated magistrates and potentially later in specialised court buildings under the Coalition’s election pledge.

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