Category Archives: Dominic Perrottet

NSW Labor pledges measures for public transport, toll relief and preschools in state budget reply

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Opposition denies claims of running a ‘low-level scare campaign’ on Perrottet government’s proposed land tax implementation

Public transport built in NSW, toll relief and 100 new public preschools will centre the state opposition’s budget reply speech, as the NSW treasurer, Matt Kean, continues selling his “reform” agendaahead the state’s March polling date.

Chris Minns, the NSW opposition leader, will on Thursday unveil a number of pledges but will stop short of presenting his entire pitch to the voting public, with his plans for home ownership remaining under wraps despite an earlier attack on the government’s planned stamp duty reform for first home buyers.

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Public service shake-up continues with four new secretaries for government departments – as it happened

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Dominic Perrottet called on to halt Barilaro appointment pending inquiry; at least 63 Covid deaths recorded nationwide. This blog is now closed

NSW teacher strike ‘about politics, not pay’, Kean says

Matt Kean has hit out at plans by public and Catholic school teachers to strike next Friday after receiving a 3% pay rise offer, well below the rate of inflation.

Our 3% pay increase is far more than the Labor government’s 1.5% pay increase for public servants down in Victoria.

So the same unions complaining about our generous pay rise up here in NSW and protesting aren’t marching in the streets down in Victoria.

A senior woman, a senior public servant with knowledge of financial markets and trade particularly with the United States was offered the job, it was rescinded by the New South Wales government.

We don’t know by whom. And then John Barilaro mysteriously was given it just last week.

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Public servant who reported to John Barilaro was on interview panel for lucrative New York trade job

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Exclusive: Investment NSW chief executive did not have ‘conflict of interest’, agency says after former deputy premier’s appointment to $500,000-a-year role

A senior public servant who reported directly to John Barilaro before his resignation from parliament was on the interview panel who gave the former deputy New South Wales premier a $500,000-a-year trade commissioner job, but the agency involved says there was no conflict of interest.

Amy Brown, the chief executive of Investment NSW, was one of four bureaucrats who interviewed Barilaro for the New York-based trade commissioner job.

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John Barilaro received plum New York trade job after senior public servant had already been offered it

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Gladys Berejiklian told Jenny West she had the job in August but that offer was later rescinded and the role readvertised

The New South Wales government offered a plum trade commissioner job to a senior public servant with a stellar résumé, only to rescind the offer and later appoint the former deputy premier John Barilaro after readvertising the $500,000-a-year role.

Barliaro’s New York appointment was not signed off by cabinet, even though it had overseen a series of identical appointments to other cities.

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NSW teachers will strike next week over the government’s 3% pay rise offer

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NSW Teachers Federation president says Dominic Perrottet ‘did nothing’ to improve ‘uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads’

Public and Catholic school teachers in New South Wales will strike next week after the state government handed down its budget on Tuesday including the already announced 3% lift to the public wage cap, which the NSW Teachers Federation and the Independent Education Union say will act as a cut to real wages.

Unions representing other public sectors will meet over the coming week to decide on next steps once they have had a chance to examine the budget papers, which union bosses claimed lack detail.

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Circular Quay to get ‘high line’ walkway amid redevelopment of Sydney gateway

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NSW government allocates $216m for further design work, but Labor suggests announcement is just another ‘grandiose promise’

Sydney’s Circular Quay will get a dramatic new look, with a New York-style “high line” walkway featuring in a long-term plan to overhaul the iconic harbourside gate to the city.

The design includes a public green space, new ferry wharves and a high line walkway along the Cahill Expressway overlooking Sydney Harbour under the NSW government’s vision.

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New South Wales to trial $780m shared equity scheme for first homebuyers

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State government to fund 40% of purchase for single parents, older singles, nurses, police and teachers

The New South Wales government has announced a shared equity trial to help single parents, older singles, nurses, police and teachers to buy their first home.

The $780m shared equity scheme was announced by the state government on Sunday ahead of its state budget on Tuesday, which will include a broader $2.8bn package to address the housing crisis.

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Dan and Dom: the two premiers leading a vibe shift in Australian politics

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Differences between Daniel Andrews and Dominic Perrottet are part of their successful relationship

Victoria and New South Wales’ premiers, Daniel Andrews and Dominic Perrottet, couldn’t be more different: one is a progressive from Labor’s socialist left faction and the other a conservative from the Liberal party’s right.

But together, they represent a political vibe shift – a sense that long-term ambitions for their states can be achieved, with cooperation paramount.

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What will the teal wave mean for Victorian and NSW state elections?

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Swings at federal election hint at shifts that could be replicated in state polls due in November and March

With the federal poll decided, upcoming elections in Australia’s two biggest states will be the next electoral test for our country’s political parties. The dramatic swing to independents raises interesting questions about what might happen in Victoria in November and New South Wales in March.

It’s important to note that federal election results are not predictive of what happens in state elections, or vice versa. Indeed, there is a history of state and federal elections held in quick succession producing quite different results. The 1992 Victorian state election swept Jeff Kennett to power, less than six months before the state voted strongly for the Keating Labor government in 1993.

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Labor says Dutton ‘desperate’ to distract from defence failures – as it happened

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Nadesalingam family arrive back home to Biloela; New Zealand ‘heartened’ by Albanese government’s climate stance; Australia records at least 40 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Jacinda Ardern will be raising Australia’s controversial deportation policy in today’s meeting. Asked if she has knowledge of whether the government is prepared to “water it down a little bit”, she replies:

Just to be clear, the issue we have is not with deportation. We deport as well. If a New Zealander comes to Australia and commits a crime, send them home ... but when someone comes here and essentially, hasn’t even really had any connection with New Zealand at all ... have all their connections in Australia and are essentially Australian, sending them back to New Zealand, that’s where we’ve had the grievance.

I’ve heard the prime minister prior to winning the election speak to his acknowledgement that that is the part of the policy that we’ve taken issue with. Even that acknowledgement says to me he’s hearing us, he knows it’s a problem.

It’s been a bugbear for us for a long time so I would like to see movement on it.

We talked about music on occasion but I’m not sure I would’ve picked necessarily the right music if I think I was given that task.

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Gladys Berejiklian could be a ‘great federal MP’, says NSW premier Dominic Perrottet

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NSW Liberals reportedly working on plan to have Berejiklian run for a federal seat in 2025

New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, says his predecessor would make a great federal member of parliament, amid reports about Gladys Berejiklian’s potential return to politics.

Referring to a News Corp report that the NSW Liberals were working on a plan to have Berejiklian run for a federal seat – possibly North Sydney – at the 2025 election, Perrottet said her abilities would translate well at the federal level.

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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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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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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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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 appeal court to decide fate of federal intervention in Liberal preselection stoush

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Court ruling could unwind Morrison’s ‘captain’s picks’ forcing Liberals to hold rushed votes to select candidates ahead of May election

The federal Liberal party’s ability to appoint candidates for key NSW seats including two ministers and a sitting MP hangs in the balance, with the state’s court of appeal reserving its decision in a long-running preselection dispute.

Sydney businessman Matthew Camenzuli, a member of the Liberal state executive, is seeking to overturn the preselections of the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, in Mitchell, the environment minister, Sussan Ley, in Farrer, and North Sydney MP, Trent Zimmerman.

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Against the foil of the Morrison government, Dominic Perrottet’s flood response has been pragmatic

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The NSW government knows the more it is held up against the Coalition in Canberra, the better it looks despite its own shortcomings

It’s hard to imagine many inside the New South Wales government were particularly upset with veteran Nationals backbencher Geoff Provest when he aimed both barrels at the prime minister over his response to the state’s flood disaster this week.

Hardly the state government’s most prominent attack dog, Provest did not miss in his assessment of Scott Morrison after his north coast electorate of Tweed was inexplicably excluded from extra disaster funding announced by the prime minister last week.

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