Category Archives: New South Wales politics

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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NSW health system failing rural and regional residents, report finds

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Issues include understaffing, poor access to services and discrimination towards First Nations people seeking medical help

People in rural New South Wales have “significantly poorer health outcomes” due to a system that is “failing” them, according to a scathing report handed to the state government on Thursday.

The report included 44 recommendations to fix the healthcare system in rural, regional and remote areas which it found was “in crisis”.

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Teachers to strike despite plea from NSW government to delay industrial action

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NSW public school teachers will walk off the job for the second time in five months on Wednesday

Teachers in New South Wales will go ahead with a planned strike on Wednesday despite an 11th-hour plea from the government for the union to delay action until after the June budget.

Teachers will walk off the job for the second time in five months, amid long-running concerns over wages and conditions. It is the latest in a series of strikes in the state’s public service, with train drivers, nurses and paramedics recently taking such industrial action.

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AMA welcomes proposed $460m mental health facility in Sydney despite questions over staffing

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New centre in city’s west will bridge ‘really big’ gap between public and private care and must have ongoing funding, medical association says

Plans for a $460m integrated mental health facility in Sydney’s west have been welcomed as a step in the right direction in addressing the “enormous” need for better and fairer care across the state.

But the Australian Medical Association New South Wales head, Dr Danielle McMullen, said the “million-dollar question” was how the complex at Westmead would be staffed, amid ongoing issues of doctor and nurse furloughing and burnout.

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Independent MP drops threat to withdraw supply to Perrottet’s minority government

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Sydney MP Alex Greenwich says he will continue work with NSW government after meeting with premier and transgender advocates

Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich has dropped a threat to withdraw supply from the New South Wales government, which is dependent on the crossbench for support.

Greenwich had threatened to leave the minority government out in the cold as a public debate over transgender people’s participation in sport dragged on.

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NSW MP Alex Greenwich threatens to withdraw supply from Perrottet government over ‘attacks’ on trans kids

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Sydney independent says he can’t have a ‘cooperative relationship’ with the NSW minority government if the premier continues comments

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, will meet with an independent MP who has threatened to withdraw supply and confidence from the minority government, following comments about the participation of transgender kids in sport.

The Sydney MP, Alex Greenwich – one of a handful of lower house crossbenchers the Coalition relies on to govern – said he could not have a “cooperative relationship” with the government if the premier continued to make “attacks” on the LGBTQ+ community.

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NSW Nationals candidate tells congregation of her aim to ‘bring God’s kingdom’ to politics

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Kimberly Hone previously posted on social media that ‘one way to avoid domestic violence is to marry well’

The National party’s candidate for the marginal northern New South Wales seat of Richmond told worshippers at a Pentecostal church that her “ultimate goal” in politics was to “bring God’s kingdom to the political arena”.

The comments by the endorsed Nationals candidate, Kimberly Hone, have emerged alongside a series of old social media posts described by her opponents as “repulsive”, and include a post from 2017 that says “one way to avoid domestic violence is to marry well” with a broken Facebook link.

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Epidemiologists split over easing of Covid restrictions in NSW and Victoria

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While business groups celebrate change to isolation rules, some experts remain cautious

The easing of Covid restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales has been welcomed by industry groups, despite concerns from some epidemiologists that it sends the wrong message at a time daily infections remain high.

From Friday, people in both states who live with Covid-19 cases or are deemed close contacts will no longer have to quarantine for seven days, provided they have no symptoms.

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