Category Archives: New South Wales politics

‘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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NSW plan to offer emissions offsets with car registration sends wrong message, critics say

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Government told to focus on boosting uptake of electric vehicles, public transport, cycling and walking rather than offset ‘gimmick’

Drivers in New South Wales will be offered the chance to buy carbon offsets when they renew their car registration in a step critics have described as a “gimmick” that could undermine efforts to cut transport emissions.

The NSW treasurer and energy minister, Matt Kean, announced the scheme on Friday saying it would give people “looking for practical ways to take action on climate change” more ways to cut their emissions.

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‘Tolls discriminate’: western Sydney residents face $60 a day levy to drive into CBD

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Driving into central Sydney from city’s west costs almost twice as much as commuting from east and south of the city

Ammar’s daily commute from Bankstown to Barangaroo in Sydney’s CBD can cost him almost $60 a day, an amount he describes as “ridiculous”.

“It feels like we are paying a tax for living in western Sydney – and … the further out west you are, the more you pay.”

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NSW Greens to push for dedicated First Nations seats in parliament, truth-telling and treaty processes

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Lidia Thorpe and upper house candidate Lynda-June Coe to announce party’s treaty policy in Redfern on Tuesday

Dedicated seats for First Nations people in the New South Wales parliament and truth-telling and treaty processes will be called for as part of the state Greens’ pitch to voters ahead of the March election.

The federal senator Lidia Thorpe – who has described the proposed voice to parliament as a “waste” – will stand alongside NSW upper house candidate Lynda-June Coe as they announce the party’s treaty policy in Redfern on Tuesday.

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NSW hotline for women to ask about partners’ past convictions could give false sense of security, critics warn

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No new evidence scheme enhances victim-survivor safety and that resources wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere, experts say

Women at risk of domestic violence could be lulled into a false sense of security by a reheated New South Wales government scheme that would allow people to look up their partner’s offending history, a leading expert has said.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said on Monday the Right to Ask scheme would keep women safer by allowing police to release information to them about their partner’s domestic violence convictions, over the phone or through an online portal.

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Women in NSW could check partners’ past domestic violence convictions under Coalition plan

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Premier says proposed Right to Ask scheme ‘all about ensuring that women across NSW are safe’

Residents of NSW would be able to find out if their partner has a history of domestic violence by checking with police, under a scheme proposed by the Coalition.

The NSW government revealed on Monday it would allow people in a relationship to access the domestic violence offending history of their partner if it wins the March state election.

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Labor well ahead of Dominic Perrottet’s Coalition in latest NSW election poll

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YouGov poll shows opposition would easily win a majority, with strong backing from young voters

A new poll shows Labor would comfortably defeat the Coalition at the New South Wales state election if the vote was held today.

The YouGov poll, published in the Sunday Telegraph, shows the Coalition well behind in both first preference and two-party preferred standings.

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NSW Coalition split on cashless gaming as independent warns against regional exemptions

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Premier Dominic Perrottet rules out different rules for clubs and pubs in the bush, in contrast to deputy premier Paul Toole

The New South Wales Coalition appears split on the future of cashless gaming in the state once again after the Liberal premier, Dominic Perrottet, denied the government was considering a carve-out for regional pubs and clubs as part of the scheme.

The denial was made less than 24 hours after the leader of the Nationals and deputy premier, Paul Toole, said the option was part of “ongoing conversations”.

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NSW environment watchdog to require big polluters to show how they will hit net zero and then nudge them to improve

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The state’s EPA is unveiling what it calls Australia’s ‘most comprehensive plan’ to cut carbon emissions

New South Wales’s environmental watchdog has released what it calls Australia’s “most comprehensive plan” to regulate carbon emissions, requiring firms to show how they will hit net zero by 2050 and nudging them to improve resilience in a warming world.

The Climate Change Policy and Action Plan 2023-26, released on Friday by the Environment Protection Authority, will identify what progress is already under way by companies now covered by pollution licences and encourage them to improve.

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‘Undermine our road safety’: promised rewards for ‘safe’ NSW drivers criticised by experts

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Labor and the Coalition promise to ease penalties for ‘low-level’ offences if they win the state election

Election promises by the New South Wales government and the Labor opposition to reward “safe” drivers have been met with scepticism by industry experts, with one accusing both sides of buying votes and failing to advance road safety.

The Coalition on Wednesday promised that drivers with a three-year clean driving record would be able to avoid fines for low-level offending, including low-range speeding, disobeying some signs and driving in a bus lane, if re-elected.

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NSW treasurer refuses to say if $1,000 a day pokies spending cap is too high as he ridicules Labor policy

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Key independent MP calls for a $100 daily limit as Coalition comes under pressure to release details of its cashless gaming card

The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, has refused to say whether he believes a $1,000 a day spending limit on poker machines is too high, as the Coalition government faces increasing pressure to release details of its highly anticipated cashless gaming card.

The powerful crossbench MP Alex Greenwich has urged the Coalition to follow its colleagues in Tasmania by setting a $100 daily limit on pokies, saying a cap was “crucial” for cashless gaming to work at reducing gambling addiction in the state.

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NSW Labor’s moves on poker machine reform renew pressure on Dominic Perrottet, experts say

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Call for detail on proposed cashless gaming scheme as questions raised about opposition’s pledge

Labor’s pledge to ban political donations from pubs and clubs in New South Wales while also introducing a 500-machine trial of cashless pokies has heaped pressure back on the Coalition government to announce details of its plan to overhaul gambling in the state.

Despite anti-gambling advocates and crossbench MPs arguing a new suite of policies announced by Labor on Monday does not go far enough, they have also called for the state’s premier, Dominic Perrottet, to follow suit.

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Bushfire in Adelaide Hills; PM says ‘we’ve got the balance right’ on climate policy changes – as it happened

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Firefighters prepared for a long night battling an out-of-control blaze near Montacute in the Adelaide Hills. This blog is now closed

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has responded to the admission of the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, that he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party.

At a press conference just finished in Townsville, Albanese said had been in PNG but had seen the statements from the NSW premier.

I have observed his statements. That’s a matter for him, and then for others who’ll make judgments based upon the premier’s explanation.

These banknotes were sent to our Majura Forensic Facility to undergo specialist fingerprint development in a purpose built machine.

This is an extremely powerful and sensitive process where precious metals such as gold can actually enhance the fingerprints of individuals that have touched the exhibits, such as banknotes.

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Knives out: a raucous party, a Nazi uniform and a Liberal Party mystery

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While questions remain after Dominic Perrottet’s Nazi uniform admission, the internal anger at the premier is real and multifaceted

It’s the biggest mystery in New South Wales politics: who was behind the rumours of a damaging photograph of Dominic Perrottet that began circulating in the weeks before he revealed that he wore a Nazi uniform at his 21st birthday party?

When it comes to uncovering the culprit, one Liberal party source said: “It’s a bit like that movie Knives Out – there are about 20 people who it could’ve been and they all had a motive.”

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