Category Archives: New South Wales politics

NSW, Victoria fires live: Australia bushfires cause tens of thousands to flee in mass evacuation – latest updates

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Victorian premier Daniel Andrews declares state of disaster for East Gippsland, urging people to flee bushfire zones, while Scott Morrison is abused by fire victims in Cobargo. Follow today’s live news and latest updates

Pity the poor #Australians, their country ablaze, and their rotten @ScottMorrisonMP saying, “This is not the time to talk about Climate Change. We have to grow our economy.” What an idiot. What good is an economy in an uninhabitable country? Lead, you fuckwit!!

Greg Mullins says he has never seen a bushfire situation this serious. He was in Batemans Bay on New Year’s Eve in charge of an RFS crew and, “I’m still shocked.”

This is what 29 other fire and emergency chiefs, former chiefs, and I, tried to warn the prime minister about back in April and May. And we weren’t listened to.

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NSW fires: Tahmoor coalmine evacuated as Green Wattle Creek blaze rages – as it happened

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All of New South Wales, South Australia, large parts of Queensland, and northern Victoria were under a total fire ban on Thursday amid extreme weather

We will leave our live coverage of the bushfire crisis here for tonight.

This is what happened today:

What a difference a day makes. These photos are from Lithgow.

Yesterday:

At my place yesterday or thereabouts. #NSWfires pic.twitter.com/eGmWFHI9k3

At my place right now. #NSWfires pic.twitter.com/OWLqefZ05T

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NSW fires: five bushfires merge north of Sydney – as it happened

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Gospers Mountain, Paddock Run and Little L Complex, Three Mile and Thompson Creek fires overlap, and there are now seven emergency warnings in NSW as fire conditions worsen along Australia’s New South Wales and Queensland coasts. This blog is now closed

We are going to wrap the live blog up here. As of almost 7.30pm AEDT there are still seven fires at emergency warning level across NSW.

They are:

Related: Australia fires: five blazes merge north of Sydney as conditions forecast to worsen

Some more photos from photographer Matthew Abbott out at Kulnura:

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NSW public servants at climate conference told not to discuss link with bushfires

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Exclusive: email from government directs attendees at conference on climate adaptation to stay quiet on bushfire-climate link

As bushfire conditions were declared “catastrophic” on Tuesday, New South Wales bureaucrats attending a conference on adaption to climate change were directed not discuss the link between climate change and bushfires.

Bureaucrats from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment were sent an email soon after the AdaptNSW 2019 Forum began, causing consternation among some attendees who saw it as tantamount to gagging them.

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Michael Lavarch to review NSW Labor after ‘shocking’ allegations at Icac

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Anthony Albanese and Jodi McKay announce the appointment of the Keating government attorney general

The former attorney general Michael Lavarch will lead a review into New South Wales Labor after the suspension of the general secretary Kaila Murnain over claims the party accepted $100,000 in banned developer donations from Huang Xiangmo.

The New South Wales Labor leader, Jodi McKay, and the federal leader, Anthony Albanese, announced the appointment on Sunday, promising to create structures to prevent a repeat of what McKay called “shocking and appalling” allegations at the anti-corruption watchdog.

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NSW hidden donations: opposition declares ‘crisis of confidence’ in planning system

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New South Wales Labor calls for more planning reforms after Guardian revelations about undisclosed political donations

The New South Wales opposition has warned of a “crisis of confidence” in the state’s planning system following revelations that 13 corporations hid their donations from the state’s planning authorities.

A Guardian investigation on Monday found some of Australia’s biggest companies – including Woolworths, Caltex, Origin Energy and AMP – had failed to declare sizeable donations to planning authorities while seeking to develop or approve property in the state.

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Barnaby Joyce and Tony Abbott decry ‘infanticide on demand’ at abortion rally

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Former PM and deputy PM deploy incendiary language to describe decriminalisation bill being considered by NSW parliament

The former prime minister and deputy prime minister of Australia have claimed at an anti-abortion rally in Sydney that a proposed decriminalisation bill has nothing to do with decriminalisation.

Tony Abbott described the bill as “infanticide on demand”, while Barnaby Joyce described it as “the slavery debate of our time” while also perpetuating a false claim about pro-choice protesters on Saturday.

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Former boss visited Icac witness’s home on day he was summonsed to deliver ‘festive greetings’

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Steve Tong says his name was falsely put on donation records by his superiors at Wu International

A key witness to an anti-corruption probe received a night-time home visit from his former boss to deliver “festive greetings” the same day he was summonsed to give evidence, despite the Chinese festival taking place two months earlier, an inquiry has heard.

Steve Tong, an engineer who says he has no interest in politics, has given evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption that his name was falsely put on donation records by his superiors at a property development firm, Wu International, which has links to the former state Labor MP Ernest Wong.

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NSW Liberal MPs threaten to move to crossbench over abortion bill

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If followed through, the move would push the Liberal party into minority government just months after the election

Two New South Wales Liberal party MPs have reportedly threatened to move to the crossbench if the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, refuses to cave to their demands for amendments on a bill to decriminalise abortion.

The conservative Liberal MPs Tanya Davies and Kevin Conolly have reportedly told Berejiklian they will no longer sit in the party room if amendments to the bill are not passed.

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Albanese says NSW Labor in ‘diabolical situation’ after Icac donation revelations

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‘I knew nothing about this,’ opposition leader says as he pledges a comprehensive review of the party’s structures

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, says Labor in New South Wales is in a “diabolical situation” as he braces for further revelations from the state’s corruption hearings and pledges a “comprehensive” review of the party’s structures.

Saying the work of Icac needed to proceed “unencumbered” over the next six weeks, Albanese said the party would overhaul its procedures in NSW to ensure the “damaging” alleged conduct could not be repeated.

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Sydney lord mayor calls snap Pyrmont planning review an ‘astounding betrayal of trust’

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Clover Moore warns NSW planning rules at stake after Berejiklian says suburb is ‘open for business and ready to be taken to the next level’

The lord mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has warned that “the entire credibility of the planning system” in New South Wales is at stake after the premier intervened to order a speedy review of planning controls in Pyrmont, where her own planning department has blocked the development of a 62-storey tower on top of Star casino.

The rejection of the Star proposal for the 237 metre tower, in the historic area zoned for eight storeys to the west of the CBD, has bitterly divided the state government and led to a ferocious campaign by Star, aided by the Daily Telegraph and radio talkback host Alan Jones.

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Gladys Berejiklian urged to rule out logging in Murray Valley national park

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Labor says deputy premier John Barilaro’s plan is outrageous while the Greens label it ‘criminal’

New South Wales Labor has demanded Gladys Berejiklian rule out Liberal party support for a Nationals bill that would open up the Murray Valley national park to logging.

The premier refused to comment on Thursday after the deputy premier, John Barilaro, vowed to de-gazette the park in the state’s Riverina region or reduce its size.

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Jodi McKay: new NSW Labor leader says she’s ‘more than a match’ for Gladys Berejiklian

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McKay says she can beat Gladys Berejiklian and education will be a ‘critical issue’ under her leadership

Newly elected New South Wales Labor leader Jodi McKay says she is “more than a match” for the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and she is not going to be pretend the two women are anything alike.

McKay’s election on Saturday was a landmark moment in NSW politics, making it the first time the premier and opposition leader have both been women.

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Jodi McKay elected New South Wales Labor leader after tense meeting

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McKay defeats Chris Minns, winning 63% of the vote of of 11,000 rank-and-file members

More than three months after New South Wales Labor’s bruising state election defeat, the party has regrouped to appoint Jodi McKay its new opposition leader.

State Labor MPs cast their secret votes for the contenders Chris Minns and Jodi McKay, both from the party’s right faction, at a tense meeting on Saturday.

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Recommendations from Opal Tower debacle not acted on

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Engineers say changes are years overdue and obvious before Opal or Mascot Towers evacuations

Australia’s engineers say the recommendations from Opal Tower have still not been acted on, as the Mascot Towers apartment buildings in Sydney continued to sink further into the ground this week.

An emergency report into the cracked Opal Tower was completed in February by prominent university deans of architecture after the brand-new building was dramatically evacuated in December.

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Lobbyist firm Barton Deakin says it ‘strongly supports’ introduction of watchdog

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Barton Deakin voices support for reforms designed to bolster transparency and integrity

One of Australia’s biggest lobbyist firms has said it “strongly supports” the introduction of an independent commissioner to investigate and oversee the sector.

The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently probing the weaknesses in the regime governing NSW lobbyists, and its chief commissioner, Peter Hall, has warned reforms are now “overdue”.

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Blue Mountains wilderness would be ‘permanently’ changed by raising dam wall, leak reveals

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Draft report says Warragamba dam changes would affect Aboriginal historical sites

A leaked draft report has predicted world heritage areas of the Blue Mountains would be “permanently” changed by a controversial New South Wales government plan to raise a dam wall.

The state government is proposing to raise the walls of the Warragamba Dam by 14 metres to mitigate the impact of floods – a move that environmental activists say would flood Unesco-protected bushland, and endanger 50 historic Indigenous sites.

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NSW government to pay $576m extra to Sydney light rail subcontractors

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Legal settlement reached after Acciona alleged it was misled over the complexity of the project and demanded $1.1bn

The consortium building Sydney’s eastern suburbs light rail project will receive up to $576m extra from the New South Wales government under a settlement deal which takes the total cost to $2.7bn.

The light rail linking the CBD to Randwick and Kingsford was originally meant to cost taxpayers $1.6bn.

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Gladys Berejiklian’s new cabinet lineup gives renewed focus to NSW regions

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Nationals MPs are given prominent roles in areas that hurt the Coalition at the election

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and her deputy, John Barilaro, have unveiled the new cabinet lineup, giving a renewed focus to the regions after the countryside swung away from the coalition at the state election.

But critics have been quick to point out there are fewer women with portfolios than there were before the reshuffle.

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NSW election: Gladys Berejiklian confident Coalition will win a majority

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Government clings to power despite big gains from minor parties and independents

Gladys Berejiklian has said she is confident the Coalition will return to government in New South Wales with a razor-thin majority as counting continues after Saturday’s state election.

The premier, who is the daughter of Armenian migrants, reiterated her objection to comments by the Labor leader, Michael Daley, about young Sydneysiders leaving the city and being replaced by “Asians”, which surfaced in the final week of the campaign, suggesting her background had helped her connect with voters.

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