Category Archives: New South Wales politics

Police raid home of Sydney nurse taken to hospital after allegedly threatening Israeli patients on video

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Israeli influencer Max Veifer posts video on Instagram stating: ‘The police are asking me for the unedited version. I have nothing to hide. Here it is’

A Sydney nurse at the centre of a video chat showing two hospital workers allegedly making anti-Israel threats to an Israeli influencer has had their home raided after being taken to hospital due to “welfare concerns”, police say.

New South Wales police confirmed officers from Strike Force Pearl executed a search warrant at a home on Friday night, as part of an ongoing investigation.

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NSW Labor accused of trying to ‘redesign’ a mental health system with no psychiatrists

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Patient care compromised by closing beds and shifting workload to less qualified staff, motion claims

The New South Wales Labor government is seeking to “redesign” the state’s mental health system without psychiatrists, despite the risks to patient care, its political rivals claim.

In a NSW legislative council meeting on Wednesday, the shadow assistant minister Susan Carter and the Greens’ health spokesperson, Dr Amanda Cohn, lambasted the Minns government’s handling of psychiatrists’ mass resignations, with Carter accusing the responsible ministers of having “sought to redesign our mental health system to work without specialist psychiatrists”.

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Influencer to provide unedited video of nurses’ anti-Israeli threats as pair prevented from practising in Australia

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Mark Butler says pair have had their nurses’ registrations suspended following their ‘sickening comments’

New South Wales police have spoken to an Israeli influencer who they say has agreed to provide investigators with an unedited version of a video chat in which two Bankstown hospital nurses allegedly threatened Israeli patients.

The video attracted widespread political condemnation after it was published by the Israeli content creator Max Veifer and led to the male nurse issuing an apology. The video depicted an edited online conversation Veifer had with the two staff members on a video chat platform similar to Chatroulette.

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Proposed ban on protest outside places of worship could prevent town hall rallies, Sydney mayor warns

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Clover Moore says police would have power to block peaceful demonstrations and warns against eroding civil rights

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Sydney’s mayor has warned that new laws proposed by the New South Wales government would give police powers to block peaceful protests at town hall – a regular site for demonstrations in the city.

The laws, introduced to parliament on Tuesday and carrying a maximum of two years in prison, are the first tranche of a suite of measures aimed at stemming antisemitism after a series of arson attacks and graffiti on synagogues and in Sydney’s suburban streets in recent months.

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‘Harassing’ people outside places of worship could result in jail under proposed NSW law

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Premier Chris Minns flags new measures, which would make certain types of protests a criminal offence, in response to ‘racial hatred and antisemitism’

The New South Wales government has proposed legislation that could make certain types of protests outside places of worship a criminal offence amid growing fears about antisemitism.

The reforms are part of a broader measures in response to a wave of arson attacks and antisemitic vandalism over the past two months in Sydney.

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Jo Haylen had to go once it was clear chauffeur wasn’t justified for second Hunter Valley trip, premier says

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Chris Minns says while then-transport minister made some work calls during 2024 trip with husband, ‘it didn’t justify having a driver on the day’

The New South Wales premier says Jo Haylen had to go once a second Hunter Valley trip using a chauffeur-driven car was revealed – and it became obvious she was not “justified” in having a ministerial driver that day.

Chris Minns addressed the media on Wednesday for the first time after Haylen quit as transport minister on Tuesday over the use of taxpayer-funded cars for private purposes.

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Jo Haylen on notice over any more revelations after asking chauffeur to drive 446km for winery lunch

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Chris Minns says if more trips by transport minister came to light ‘it would weigh very heavily on me’ as premier announces ‘we are changing the rules’

The embattled New South Wales transport minister could be in hot water if further revelations emerge about her use of a ministerial car for private purposes, the premier has suggested.

It emerged on the weekend that Jo Haylen had asked her chauffeur to take her and some friends to a winery lunch on the Australia Day weekend. It involved a 13-hour 446km round trip for the driver, from Sydney to Haylen’s holiday house at Caves Beach and then a Hunter Valley winery and back.

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NSW minister apologises after asking chauffeur to drive 446km for Australia Day weekend lunch

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Transport minister Jo Haylen admits ‘I made the wrong decision’ after ministerial car booked out for 13 hours for Hunter Valley lunch at winery

The NSW transport minister, Jo Haylen, has apologised after using her ministerial driver to chauffeur her and some friends to and from a three-hour private lunch on the Australia Day weekend – at a cost of $750.

“I made the wrong decision,” Haylen said on Sunday when apologising and confirming she would repay the money for the 13-hour, 446km trip to the Hunter Valley.

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Threat of more Sydney train chaos lingers despite government’s pay deal hopes

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Prospect of further public transport disruption remains despite unions’ commitment to halt work bans

Hopes of an end to industrial action that has thrown Sydney’s train system into chaos may be dashed as the NSW government faces the prospect of pay negotiations with unions breaking down.

The Minns government had been optimistic that negotiations could deter further train disruptions, after six combined rail unions on Wednesday morning committed to halt work bans that have wrought havoc across Sydney’s transport network in recent months.

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More than 90% of people caught with small amounts of illicit drugs criminalised in NSW despite diversion reforms

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Exclusive: Police used discretion to divert just 6.9% of people caught with personal use quantities of drugs from criminal justice system, data shows

A New South Wales government program that gives police discretion to divert people found with small quantities of illicit drugs away from the courts has only been extended to 6.9% of people caught, including just 2.6% of those who are Indigenous.

The major reform by the Minns government came into effect in February this year and was flagged by the attorney general, Michael Daley, as a way to treat drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal one. Yet data obtained from NSW police under freedom of information shows the vast majority of those caught with illegal drugs continue to be criminalised.

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NSW government bid to prevent Rising Tide protest in Newcastle harbour invalid, court finds

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Four-day exclusion zone an improper use of Marine Safety Act, judge rules, despite ‘skilful’ submission from transport minister Jo Haylen

The New South Wales supreme court has set aside a Minns government decision to cut off access to Newcastle harbour to try to prevent a four-day climate protest.

The court found the notice was invalid after hearing an urgent application from climate activist organisation Rising Tide on Thursday.

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Sydney train strike: chaotic shutdown averted after 11th-hour crisis talks with union

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NSW government caves to rail union demands to prevent workers striking

A chaotic two-day shutdown of Sydney’s train network has been averted at the 11th hour after the state government caved to rail union demands to run 24-hour services to prevent workers striking.

However, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has warned that despite securing a two-week hiatus on industrial action amid tense negotiations with rail unions over a new pay deal, there is no guarantee that the threat of a city-wide rail shutdown will not recur in a fortnight.

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Tanya Plibersek was rebuked by NSW minister for decision to block $900m goldmine, documents reveal

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Courtney Houssos says proposed mine would create 860 jobs over its 15-year life and inject $67m annually into local economy

The New South Wales resources minister rebuked the federal environment minister over her decision to block the McPhillamys goldmine project and declared Indigenous heritage shouldn’t be protected at the expense of critical minerals investment, new documents have revealed.

Correspondence tabled in federal parliament shows NSW minister, Courtney Houssos, wrote to Tanya Plibersek in August, five days after Plibersek announced she had refused Regis Resources’ mining application because of the proposed location of a tailings dam and its possible impact on Indigenous heritage.

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2GB’s Ben Fordham pulls out of Liberal event, saying he didn’t realise it was fundraiser for party

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Nine radio star says he speaks to political organisations, Scouts, charities and preschools but draws the line at political promotion

Nine’s 2GB radio host Ben Fordham has pulled out of a Liberal party fundraiser in Kirribilli, saying he did not realise the event was raising money for the political party when he accepted the invitation to speak.

“Kirribilli Branch is honoured to be joined by Ben Fordham, Sydney’s No.1 radio presenter,” the invitation said. “Ben will provide a review of the major stories he has uncovered and covered this year and the very important election year on the horizon.”

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Australia news live: PwC reveals it sacked eight staff over data breaches; Perth man dies after being taken to police watch house

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Court to rule in Pauline Hanson-Mehreen Faruqi case

A federal court judge is ready to rule on whether Pauline Hanson made a racial slur when she told Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi to go back to Pakistan.

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NSW Labor accused of ‘pretty deliberate attempt’ to minimise impact of long-promised drug summit

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Once-in-a-generation summit set to commence in Griffith on 1 November amid concern over transparency and questions over commitment to meaningful change

New South Wales Labor has been accused of trying to minimise the impact of a once-in-a-generation drug reform summit amid last-minute changes and concern from experts over transparency.

The long-promised NSW drug summit begins on Friday in the regional city of Griffith before hearings in Lismore and Sydney.

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King Charles makes relaxed start to Australian tour but spends less than 10 minutes at lunch in his honour

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After a day of rest, monarch appears at Sydney lunch in his honour and gives hosts an hourglass while joking about swift passage of time

King Charles III did not linger long at the luncheon put on in his honour, at the second scheduled event of his short Australian visit. And his gift to the gathering was a reminder of the fleeting passage of time.

There was a menu fit for a king, and very Sydney: chargrilled asparagus and olive dust; marinated octopus and squid ink wafer; barramundi and duck confit.

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Teal independent says likely byelection win in Sydney was a ‘race to the top’ with Liberals

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Jacqui Scruby was on track to comfortably take Pittwater and said the results showed voters appreciated a ‘different way of doing politics’

Teal independent Jacqui Scruby, the likely winner of the NSW byelection in Pittwater, says the contest in the blue-ribbon seat has shown how strong candidates can encourage a “race to the top” in politics.

“It was a very competitive byelection,” Scruby said on Sunday.

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Teal independent Jacqui Scruby coasts to byelection win in Sydney Liberal heartland

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Scruby was backed by Climate 200 in the fight for the northern beaches seat

A Climate 200-backed independent is on track to secure a comfortable victory in the latest contest between the Liberal party and teal candidates.

The Liberals were defending three heartland seats in northern Sydney byelections on Saturday, and were on track to easily hold two of those as votes were counted on Saturday night.

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Minns backs LGBTQ+ reforms but students and teachers at religious schools could still face discrimination

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Independent Alex Greenwich says ‘heartbreaking’ to lose his proposed laws governing treatment of gay students and teachers but ‘it’s not over’

Transgender people in New South Wales could soon be able to change their sex on their birth certificates without getting surgery, but gay teachers will still be able to be fired from some schools after a watered-down proposal received the premier’s support.

The premier, Chris Minns, will this week ask the Labor caucus to back independent MP Alex Greenwich’s equality bill after a raft of amendments were made, including dropping changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act governing schools.

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