Category Archives: New South Wales politics

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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Alleged domestic violence perpetrators to wear ankle bracelets under NSW bail reforms

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Corrective services will electronically monitor whereabouts of people released from custody while charged with serious offences

Alleged perpetrators charged with serious domestic violence offences in New South Wales will wear ankle bracelets and have their movements tracked around the clock if they are granted bail.

The NSW government announced the changes would take effect on Friday, and would involve corrective services electronically monitoring alleged perpetrators against geographic bail conditions using GPS technology.

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NSW police union pushes back at premier’s suggestion pro-Palestine protests divert resources from crime

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Police association boss says vast majority of officers at weekend rally were ‘doing user-pay or cancelled rest day’ shifts

The head of the New South Wales police union has denied any suggestion that patrolling weekly pro-Palestine protests is making it difficult to respond to or investigate crime across the state.

Kevin Morton’s comments came as the premier, Chris Minns, was forced to deny he had lost control of the Labor caucus after several of his MPs expressed alarm at his statement that police should be able to reject a protest permit based on the cost of patrolling it.

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‘People are dying’: rise of nitazenes should be treated as pandemic, injecting centre head says

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Exclusive: Dr Marianne Jauncey says NSW government must make ‘hard decisions’ to combat growing threat of synthetic opioids

The head doctor at Sydney’s medically supervised injecting centre has compared the rise of synthetic opioids to a pandemic and says she is worried the government isn’t willing to make the “hard decisions” necessary to prepare for it.

Dr Marianne Jauncey began raising the alarm about the increasing prevalence of nitazenes earlier this year but was concerned the Minns Labor government had been reluctant to act because it “still feels for many like an emerging news story”.

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‘It’s a deadly gamble’: NSW urged to act on ‘growing threat’ of nitazenes amid push for drug-checking services

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Exclusive: Legalise Cannabis party MP calls on government to recognise that powerful synthetic opioids ‘aren’t just another drug’

The New South Wales government will be asked to formally recognise the powerful synthetic opioids called nitazenes as a “growing threat” as it faces calls to introduce drug-checking services.

The Legalise Cannabis party MP, Jeremy Buckingham, will move a motion in state parliament on Wednesday night to acknowledge that nitazenes are an emerging problem, including for people who don’t typically take opioids.

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NSW to help renters avoid added app fees and make it easier to keep a pet

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Landlords will have to offer convenient ways to avoid extra charges when paying the rent

New South Wales renters will no longer be made to pay extra fees when they pay the rent and will have greater rights to keep a pet in a suite of reforms to be announced on Monday.

The state government plans to introduce legislation to modernise the state’s rental regulation into parliament in October.

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Greens MP to tour Sydney Jewish Museum and donate funds after offensive ‘tentacles’ trope

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Exclusive: Jenny Leong, who apologised after referencing antisemitic cartoon, was subject of human rights commission complaint

New South Wales Greens MP Jenny Leong will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum and has donated $4,000 after a complaint was lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission over comments she made about Jewish lobby groups last year.

Leong apologised and said she did not intend to reference an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as an octopus after footage emerged of comments she made at a Palestine Justice Movement forum in Sydney in December 2023.

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Mixed bag for Labor and the rise of the Libertarians: the key surprises in the NSW local elections

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ALP faces a variety of results in what premier Chris Minns calls a ‘massive wake-up call for the major parties’, and Liverpool mayor returns amid corruption inquiry

The counting of votes has resumed to determine the makeup of New South Wales’s 128 councils for the next four years.

The main story of the local government elections was the Liberal party’s disastrous failure to lodge the paperwork to nominate more than a third of its candidates.

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