Category Archives: New South Wales politics

NSW opposition calls for central register of sites under investigation amid asbestos crisis

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Environment spokesperson Kellie Sloane says park users should not hear about potential contamination through the media

The New South Wales opposition has called for a central register of all sites being investigated for possible asbestos contamination by the state’s environmental watchdog, including parks and schools.

Councils across Sydney have been assessing their parks and landscaping providers after the City of Sydney announced 32 sites were under investigation for possible contamination in addition to three where asbestos was found in mulch earlier in the week.

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NSW mega-councils to foot the bill if they want to reverse forced mergers

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Labor to create legal pathway for council demergers after forced amalgamations by former Coalition government

New South Wales mega-councils will be forced to pay for their own demergers, in a move likely to anger local governments that have long been advocating for the state government to stump up cash and allow forced amalgamations to be reversed.

The Minns government will on Tuesday introduce legislation to parliament to create a legal pathway to demergers for councils, including Sydney’s Inner West, that wish to split – but it has made it clear it won’t be footing the bill.

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Concerns a Sydney apartment complex is at risk of collapse downplayed by NSW watchdog and planning minister

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Building commissioner says he is confident defects at 900-apartment complex in Macquarie Park ‘will be rectified’, while minister says faults don’t pose a risk

The New South Wales building watchdog and the state’s planning minister have downplayed concerns over 900 apartments in Sydney’s north that were at risk of collapse after defects were discovered in the basements of the buildings.

The building commissioner, David Chandler, on Thursday said he was distressed that people who lived in the Macquarie Park building had been stressed by the news and he moved to assure the public there was “no risk to this building”.

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Explanation for asbestos in mulch at Sydney’s Rozelle parklands will ‘come out in due course’, supplier says

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Exclusive: Greenlife Resource Recovery co-director says company is cooperating with environmental watchdog’s garden mulch investigation

The construction boss who runs the company that supplied garden mulch containing asbestos to Sydney’s Rozelle parklands says an explanation for the contamination will “come out in due course” as the environmental watchdog continues its investigation.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) was on Monday analysing samples from in and around Rozelle parklands after testing found bonded asbestos in 14 locations in mulch provided by Greenlife Resource Recovery.

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NSW police fail to deliver mental health crisis review amid scrutiny over latest shooting death

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Exclusive: Review ordered by police commissioner Karen Webb after string of fatalities last year is more than two months overdue

New South Wales police have failed to hand a promised review of the way they respond to mental health crises to the government, as pressure again mounts on the force to enact reforms after the fatal shooting of a mentally unwell man.

Alexander Stuart Pinnock died on Wednesday after being shot at by multiple officers outside a medical clinic in Nowra on the south coast following an almost two-hour standoff that began when the 34-year-old pulled out a gun, police said.

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Mulch containing asbestos found at Rozelle parklands may have been used at other Sydney sites

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Testing reveals ‘low-risk’ contamination in samples taken from mulch near Rozelle playground, Transport for NSW says

An expansive park built above Rozelle’s multibillion-dollar spaghetti junction interchange has been closed after asbestos was found in garden mulch around a children’s playground – with the contractor involved confirming the mulch was also used elsewhere in Sydney.

An urgent audit was under way to determine what other sites could be affected by what the premier, Chris Minns, described as “a toxic substance”.

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NSW government fails to veto 15-minute parking scheme at exclusive beach despite pledge

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Roads minister John Graham now says the government is unable to act against the signs at Camp Cove that he previously said took 'the rest of us for mugs’

The New South Wales roads minister has failed to follow through on a pledge to veto controversial parking restrictions by a local council in Sydney, with beachgoers now limited to just 15 minutes to park, swim and return to their car.

In November, Woollahra Council – having learned the residents-only parking scheme that had been in place around Watsons Bay for 50 years was actually illegal – decided to implement 15-minute parking limits on the streets near Camp Cove beach.

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Chris Minns says police not to blame for Aboriginal imprisonment as country mayors push for crime inquiry

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Exclusive: ‘We can’t just put it all on the police’s shoulders’ says NSW premier as Aboriginal people make up 59% of juvenile detention population

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended the way police interact with young Aboriginal people and said the force is not to blame for disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.

Speaking in Bourke, in far western NSW, Minns also said he was reluctant to meet the demands of the Country Mayors Association, police union and some Nationals MPs to hold an inquiry into regional crime.

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NSW’s cashless gambling trial expands to include nearly 4,500 poker machines

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Program to start in 2024 with nine times more pokies than initially planned by Labor

Almost 4,500 poker machines across 24 local government areas will be included in the New South Wales government’s cashless gambling trial to begin early next year.

The expanded trial will take place across 28 clubs of varying sizes, with advocates hoping it leads to universal cashless gaming in NSW, after both major parties put forward gambling reform plans at the March election.

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Transurban hits back at claim it is ‘hiding in the shadows’ amid commuter anger over Sydney’s $3.9bn Rozelle interchange

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Exclusive: Private tolling giant defends itself against Inner West mayor’s accusation it is ‘staying stubbornly silent’ as road users vent frustration

Private tolling behemoth Transurban has spoken out amid community anger over the bungled opening of Sydney’s $3.9bn Rozelle interchange as it finds itself in a stoush with the Inner West council mayor over who should fix the mess.

Transurban used its first public comments since the “spaghetti junction” opened on 19 November to defend its conduct in the wake of widespread commuter frustration, particularly among people who live on the Balmain peninsula.

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Vacant property taxes, levies and caps on the table as NSW Labor reviews Airbnbs and short-term rentals

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Exclusive: Minns government to place every aspect of housing ‘under the microscope’ as it confronts rental crisis

Vacant property taxes, levies and annual caps will be considered when the New South Wales government reviews regulation of short-term rentals including Airbnbs over the next six months.

The housing minister, Rose Jackson, who will lead the review, hoped to find ways to move some holiday rentals and unoccupied properties on to the longer-term rental market as the Minns government confronts the state’s chronic housing crisis.

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Peter V’Landys accuses politicians of ‘outright lies’ as plan to extend Racing NSW chair Russell Balding’s tenure fails

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Racing body will need to scramble to replace chair after Coalition and crossbench team up to try to strengthen oversight

The Racing NSW chief executive, Peter V’Landys, has accused politicians of spreading “outright lies” and “mainly wrong diatribes” during the parliamentary debate that ultimately resulted in the loss of his chairman.

One of the most powerful men in Australian sport, V’Landys is overseen by the Racing NSW board. He has held the position of chief executive for nearly 20 years, 12 of those with Russell Balding as chair.

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Stage set for national cabinet clash over GST – as it happened

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The NSW Australian Paramedics Association will take part in a 12-hour strike today, from 7am to 7pm, despite the threat of legal action.

Members will still attend emergency “lights and sirens” jobs as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

We want to assure the public that emergencies will still be attended to, with our focus intensifying on life-threatening cases.

Our decision to limit responses to non-emergency jobs enhances our capacity to manage critical cases.

Facing potential legal repercussions and a substantial fine of up to $20,000 per day, our commitment remains firm.

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‘De facto wages cap by stealth’: NSW Greens seek to change Labor’s workplace bill

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New law would restore sweeping powers to the Industrial Relations Commission, including giving it the ability to act like a court

The New South Wales government has been accused of imposing a “de facto wages cap by stealth” as it seeks to rush through industrial relations legislation during parliament’s final sitting week of the year.

Labor’s plan would restore sweeping powers to the Industrial Relations Commission, including the ability to act like a court, which the former Coalition government removed in 2011.

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What’s Dutton’s strategy for picking the NSW Senate spot winner? Back both frontrunners

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Leading moderate Andrew Constance is up against rightwinger Zed Seselja to fill the Liberals’ seat – but a dark horse could spoil the party

The Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, wants to back a winner. Even if it means endorsing two candidates in the New South Wales Senate race.

Dutton has backed the former ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja for the spot that was opened up by Marise Payne’s resignation, with Seselja the hope of the party’s hard right.

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NSW premier defends police conduct after dozens arrested at pro-Palestine rally in Sydney

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Chris Minns says police acted ‘responsibly’ despite condemnation from civil liberties groups

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has rejected accusations police were heavy-handed when they arrested people at a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Tuesday night.

NSW police arrested and charged 23 people who attended the protest at Port Botany directed at the unloading of a ship owned by Israeli company ZIM, which has supported the Israeli government in its fight with Hamas in Gaza.

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‘Grave concerns’: backlash over NSW government’s controversial push to extend racing boss’s tenure

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Minns government faces legal and political fight as it attempts to pass laws to give Racing NSW chair unprecedented 14-year term

New South Wales crossbench MPs are fighting to amend controversial legislation that would extend the tenure of Racing NSW’s chairman for a third time and grant him an unprecedented 14-year term.

The Minns government is trying to rush through legislation in the final parliamentary sitting fortnight of the year to grant Russell Balding another two-year term at the helm of the powerful racing regulator’s board before his position expires on 18 December.

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BoM provides El Niño update – as it happened

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Birmingham says China ‘doesn’t appear to be acknowledging the facts’

Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham is speaking with ABC RN and is asked about sonar pulses from a Chinese warship that left one Australian naval diver injured.

The Australian navy and Australian defence force operates always with professionalism, and I’m confident that Australia’s version of events is a credible.

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Rift widens between NSW and federal Labor as Chris Minns demands state’s ‘fair share’

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Ahead of national cabinet, NSW premier waits for answers from Albanese government on protest policing and infrastructure funding

Tensions between the New South Wales and federal Labor governments are rising ahead of the final planned national cabinet of the year, with the state’s premier, Chris Minns, insisting he was not “whingeing” as he demanded more funding for police and infrastructure.

Minns said the federal government had so far failed to respond to his request for help paying the bill for policing the frequent protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, or for the “disappointing” infrastructure cuts unveiled last week.

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Australia news live: school strike for climate protests draw huge crowds in Melbourne and Sydney; Albanese says Apec leaders ‘very interested’ in Tuvalu deal

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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says

Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:

If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.

At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.

I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.

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