Category Archives: New South Wales politics

Australia news live update: Labor ministry to be sworn in; Richard Marles admits no short-term solution on power prices

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Deputy PM says power prices a ‘real issue’ in cost-of-living crisis; new consent laws in effect in NSW; NSW plastic bag ban now in effect; ten women to be sworn into new cabinet, including Clare O’Neil as home affairs minister; Victoria records 17 Covid deaths, NSW records nine. Follow all the day’s developments

Richard Marles on power prices

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has imposed a price cap in Sydney, Brisbane and Victoria for the first time ever in response to record levels and a cold snap driving up gas use.

We have got a cost of living crisis in this country. That’s what has been left to us by the former government. And we have got a real issue with power prices. Again, that’s the legacy of having had a decade under the Liberals where they haven’t had a consistent energy policy. Where there has been no investment in getting renewable energy going and that’s now the challenge that we face.

It is not something we can solve overnight but ... there are some things that we can do sooner rather than later in terms of ... making childcare more affordable ... arguing for a wage increase for those on the minimum wage. There are issues here which are going to take longer but which we need to start addressing now ... around having a settled policy in relation to energy policy and getting our grid up to a modern standard where it can take on renewables which are cheaper.

I think all of us can see the impact plastic pollution is having on our environment. By stopping the supply of problematic plastic in the first place, we’re helping prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill.

No one told these small businesses that plastic bags are banned … now they’re sitting on thousands of dollars’ worth of bags they can’t use.

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Fights broke out as top-down approach to Lismore flood response failed, inquiry told

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Locals who were trying to help rescue residents and feed evacuees clashed with NSW agencies, community witnesses say

Lismore residents have told of fights breaking out between members of the public trying to help and officials attempting to implement a failed “top-down” approach during the height of the flood emergency.

Several community witnesses at a parliamentary inquiry into catastrophic flooding in the town told MPs on Tuesday they were completely disillusioned with Resilience NSW, the new agency established in 2020 to lead disaster and emergency efforts from prevention to recovery.

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Pork-barrelling should be banned and grant process overhauled, report for Icac says

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Law expert Prof Anne Twomey calls for grants to be made on merit and based on clear criteria

A report commissioned by the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption has called for pork-barrelling to be prohibited and instead grants should be made strictly on merit after assessments against clear criteria.

The report, by the University of Sydney constitutional law expert Prof Anne Twomey, says a major overhaul of the way government makes grants is needed to ensure they are awarded on merit and are no longer used for pork-barrelling in marginal seats.

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‘Deficiency’ in care for Broken Hill teen who was refused patient transfer to SA

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Coroner identifies unacceptable treatment in lead-up to death from multi-organ failure due to sepsis, calls for new interstate rules

Broken Hill teenager Alex Braes’s parents remember him as a ray of sunshine, a funny and smart young man ready to live a full life.

But the 18-year-old mechanic died with “tragic suddenness”, suffering multi-organ failure due to sepsis, one month after treatment for an infected ingrown toenail.

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Gladys Berejiklian could be a ‘great federal MP’, says NSW premier Dominic Perrottet

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NSW Liberals reportedly working on plan to have Berejiklian run for a federal seat in 2025

New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, says his predecessor would make a great federal member of parliament, amid reports about Gladys Berejiklian’s potential return to politics.

Referring to a News Corp report that the NSW Liberals were working on a plan to have Berejiklian run for a federal seat – possibly North Sydney – at the 2025 election, Perrottet said her abilities would translate well at the federal level.

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Father Bob Maguire adds to criticism of NSW government’s voluntary assisted dying laws

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Catholic Weekly called on to apologise over editorial comparing new rights to the Holocaust

The maverick Catholic figure Father Bob Maguire has criticised New South Wales’ premier and the state’s parliament for passing voluntary assisted dying laws, after a scathing editorial on the legislation was published in the Catholic Weekly.

On Friday Jewish groups put pressure on the newspaper, funded by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, to apologise and amend the piece, which compared the new laws with the Holocaust and criticised Dominic Perrottet’s leadership.

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Lawyers call on NSW premier to urgently review thousands of Covid fines

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Law Society argues many fines issued to vulnerable residents are invalid, unfair and could trap disadvantaged people in debt

The Law Society of New South Wales has called on the premier, Dominic Perrottet, to “urgently” review thousands of Covid fines issued to the state’s most vulnerable, warning many were invalid, unfair, and have caused the disadvantaged to amass “debt they are unable to pay”.

Earlier this year, the Guardian revealed that small towns with high Indigenous populations and western Sydney suburbs home to the city’s most socioeconomically disadvantaged residents bore the brunt of Covid fines during the ramp-up in enforcement in the Delta outbreak.

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New affirmative consent campaign tackles issue head-on, experts say

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‘Make No Doubt’ videos aim to provide young people with tools to give and ask for consent, launched one week before NSW law change

Party pashes, drunken encounters and booty-call texts – these are some of the scenarios featured in a campaign being rolled out on social media before new affirmative sexual consent laws coming into effect in New South Wales next week.

It is hoped the short, simple videos – depicting scenes that young people could find themselves in – will equip the target group of 16- to 24-year-olds with the tools to give and ask for consent, and respect when someone says “no”.

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Delayed response to drug use report due to ‘competing views’, NSW premier says

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Dominic Perrottet insists government will respond shortly to the ‘complicated issues’ raised by 2018 inquiry into ice addiction

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has conceded there are “competing views” in his cabinet over a landmark inquiry that recommended the complete decriminalisation of drug possession.

Perrottet said his government would respond “very shortly” to the findings of the special commission into ice addiction – commissioned in 2018 – after the Guardian revealed there was still no response to the report.

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NSW government told it cannot dock pay of MP charged with sexual abuse

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Former minister Gareth Ward, who has professed his innocence, has already been suspended from parliament

The New South Wales government has been told it cannot strip suspended MP Gareth Ward of his pay, staff or other entitlements without enacting new legislation, a step it should not take because it “may be vulnerable to legal challenge”.

Ward, the MP for Kiama, was suspended from the state’s parliament in March after he was charged over allegations of sexual abuse against a man and a 17-year-old boy. The suspension came after legal advice found the government could not expel Ward from the parliament.

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NSW government underspent on PPE and mental health, audit of $7.5bn Covid spending finds

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Auditor general says state agencies forked out close to $200m on faulty imported masks and ventilators

The New South Wales government underspent on personal protective equipment and mental health services and forked out close to $200m on faulty imported masks and ventilators as part of the state’s $7.5bn pandemic expenditure, a review has found.

The auditor general released a detailed report on Friday after examining the state’s spending from the first case detected in January 2020 to the middle of 2021.

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Assisted dying advocates shift focus to Australian government’s territory ban

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After NSW became the last state to pass euthanasia laws, advocates say they will fight to overturn ban preventing ACT and NT from passing their own laws

Advocates for voluntary assisted dying say they will turn their attention to the federal government to strike down restrictions which prevent the ACT and Northern Territory from passing laws allowing euthanasia.

The backlash comes as New South Wales became the last state to pass the laws. The historic voluntary assisted dying bill passed NSW parliament on Thursday after a months-long campaign.

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Fred Nile finds a new home among Seniors

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87-year-old NSW conservative joins the Seniors United party after his Christian Democratic party was deregistered

NSW parliament’s longest serving member, Fred Nile, has joined a new party after the Christian Democratic party he helped found was dissolved in March.

The controversial 87-year-old conservative, who insists he has no plans to retire, has joined the Seniors United party (SUP) of Australia.

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Emotions run high as showdown on NSW assisted dying bill approaches

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If passed, the state will be the last in Australia to allow terminally ill people to choose when they die

When she moved from Melbourne to Sydney, Siobhan O’Sullivan did not consider what it would mean for the way she died.

But since being diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer mid-2020, the 48-year-old thinks about that decision a lot.

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Surge in NSW flu cases sparks concern over hospital capacity with Covid numbers high

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State’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, urges people to get flu vaccinations as 2,000 cases reported in last week

Surging cases of the flu are putting extra demand on emergency departments around New South Wales, with major outbreaks in boarding houses contributing to a doubling in cases in a week.

According to NSW Health, 2,000 flu cases were reported in the week to 7 May – up from 1,024 the week before.

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Matt Kean warns of Trump-like shift in Liberal party if teal independents oust moderates

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In election pitch, NSW treasurer says party at risk of becoming like Republicans, with Putin sympathisers and anti-vaxxers

The New South Wales Liberal treasurer Matt Kean has warned of the dangers of a Trump-like shift to the right within the conservative party, as he pleaded with voters not to boot out moderate MPs in favour of teal independents on 21 May.

The plea was supported by the state’s premier, Dominic Perrottet, who said voters would regret stepping away from the party if independents won seats over moderate Liberals.

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Independent funding for NSW’s Icac rejected on ‘philosophical’ grounds

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Premier Dominic Perrottet says the executive should make funding decisions after rejecting new model

New South Wales’ premier, Dominic Perrottet, says he denied a request by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog for its funding to be made independent from government because of a “philosophical view” about the role of the executive.

On Tuesday Perrottet announced an overhaul of funding for the state’s key integrity bodies, including the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac), after long-running concerns about the role government ministers have in providing money to the agencies.

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Dominic Perrottet rules out Sydney congestion tax after confidential plans leaked

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Researchers say the major road transport reform should not be ruled out so quickly as city faces growing gridlock

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, says his government will not introduce a congestion charge but researchers are calling for the major road transport reform not to be ruled out so quickly.

“There is no plan for a congestion tax and and we can rule it out completely,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

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NSW grants review recommends against making pork-barrelling a criminal offence

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Productivity commissioner releases report following Icac hearings involving former premier Gladys Berejiklian

A review of the New South Wales government’s grants spend has recommended against making pork-barrelling a criminal offence, instead arguing grants administrators should document when ministers and politicians try to influence the grants process.

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, asked the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the productivity commissioner, Peter Achterstraat, to review grants in the state in November last year, after his predecessor, Gladys Berejiklian, gave evidence to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog that the government “threw money at seats to keep them” and grants were made to help win votes.

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Damning report on NSW regional health a test of Nationals’ power of persuasion

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John Barilaro and Barnaby Joyce were never shy in pleading the case for the regions. Can the party respond just as forcefully now?

Even their fiercest critics would likely concede that John Barilaro and Barnaby Joyce have been vocal and energetic advocates for regional Australia.

As the former deputy premier of New South Wales, Barilaro wore his ability to secure funds for regional parts of the state as a badge of honour, even when done in ways that have exposed him to criticism.

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