Category Archives: Chris Minns

Chris Minns to reveal NSW plans to bolster housing construction

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‘You can’t build new homes without roads, parks and schools to match, and the community shouldn’t have to wait for them,’ premier says

Developers in New South Wales will be able to choose between paying a levy of $12,000 per lot, or building infrastructure such as roads and parks themselves as an “in kind payment” in a further push to speed up the construction of new housing in the state.

The changes will be revealed on Thursday by the premier, Chris Minns, before next week’s state budget.

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Minns government backs bill promoting hunting in NSW’s state forests and crown land

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Critics say history shows recreational shooting is not as effective as evidence-based baiting and aerial shooting programs

In a back-to-the-future move, the Minns Labor government has backed a Shooters and Fishers party bill that will promote hunting in state forests and crown lands in NSW and recognise “conservation hunting” as a legitimate tool to control feral animals.

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has thrown his support behind a proposed Conservation Hunting Council, to the horror of environmental groups which warn of a repeat of the now-defunct Game Council.

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Should Sydney’s light rail carriages be modified after second death in two years?

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Police believe man was crossing track between two carriages when struck, sparking safety debate

For the second time in two years, a pedestrian has died after being struck by a tram on Sydney’s light rail.

New South Wales police said they found a man under a tram carriage in Surry Hills on Thursday afternoon. Paramedics treated him at the scene, but he died.

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Setback for Minns government as controversial workers’ compensation bill sent to inquiry

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Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, who opposed the inquiry, said NSW’s compensation scheme was running a $5m deficit every day

A controversial bill to curtail workers’ compensation claims for psychological injuries incurred by New South Wales workers will be sent to a parliamentary inquiry, after crossbenchers and the Coalition banded together to force the inquiry.

The independent Mark Latham moved for a relatively swift inquiry, with the date of reporting to be set by the chair of the inquiry, once the scope of evidence is known.

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Chris Minns warns of $2bn budget hole if bill curtailing psychological injury claims fails

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Opposition opposes premier’s bill to raise impairment threshold to 30% as Labor forced to woo crossbenchers for support

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has warned a failure to pass his controversial workers compensation legislation would blow a $2bn hole in the state budget as Labor seeks to woo a coalition of conservative crossbenchers to pass the bill.

In parliament, the premier said if the changes to curtail psychological injury claims did not go through, an additional $2bn would be required from NSW taxpayers to fund the public service portion of the scheme.

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Blow to Minns as turf club votes down plan to sell Sydney racecourse to NSW to build 25,000 homes

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Premier says he is ‘disappointed’ after Rosehill decision and ‘it feels like a golden opportunity has slipped through our fingers’

The Minns government has had a major hole punched in its strategy to boost housing in Sydney after the Australian Turf Club members voted not to sell Rosehill racecourse, earmarked for a major housing development.

The New South Wales government had offered $5bn for the site, and proposed it would accommodate 25,000 new homes and a proposed Metro stop.

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Endangered greater gliders recorded in proposed great koala national park in NSW as logging continues

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Conservation groups call for immediate action to protect wildlife as two-year wait for Labor’s promised creation of park continues

Government surveys have found tens of thousands of endangered greater gliders could be living within the proposed area for a great koala national park in New South Wales, prompting new calls for the area to be quickly protected from logging.

Data from aerial drone and ground-based surveys at 169 sites within the proposed park were used to model the likely presence of Australia’s largest gliding possum across the entire 176,000 hectares the NSW government is considering for protection.

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Sydney caravan incident sparks inquiry into ‘who knew what and when’ before rushed hate speech laws

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Investigation will not examine whether laws should be repealed, despite crossbench members’ concerns they may have been ‘misled’

The New South Wales parliament will hold an upper house inquiry into “who knew what and when” about the caravan that was found laden with explosives on the outskirts of Sydney ahead of controversial legislation passing parliament.

The motion for the inquiry – which was moved by independent MP Rod Roberts and supported by the opposition, the Greens, and two members of the crossbench – passed on Wednesday.

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NSW Labor divided over Chris Minns’ plan to extend controversial youth bail laws

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Exclusive: MLC Stephen Lawrence tells party room government is putting state on ‘slippery slope’ to more punitive approach

The New South Wales premier is facing growing internal dissent over his plan to extend controversial youth bail laws, with one MP telling caucus the laws had put the government on a “slippery slope”.

Sources say Labor MLC Stephen Lawrence – a former barrister and one-time mayor of Dubbo – argued during a February meeting that the government was on a path whereby it could adopt further punitive approaches because the laws introduced a year ago weren’t working.

If crime wasn’t going down there could be calls for even tougher measures, leading to a dangerous downward spiral, Lawrence suggested.

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Twelve soldiers remain in Lismore hospital after army trucks rolled in northern NSW

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Two personnel in serious condition after accident near city lashed by torrential rain brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Twelve soldiers remain in hospital – two in a serious condition – after two army trucks carrying troops rolled on a country road near Lismore on Saturday evening as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred lashed the northern New South Wales coast and southern Queensland.

Thirty-two defence personnel were involved in the crash – members of the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment, part of the 7th Brigade based at Gallipoli Barracks in northern Brisbane – just after 5pm on Tregeagle Road, 9km south-west of Lismore.

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Tropical Cyclone Alfred live updates: wind and rain intensify as category 2 storm nears south-east Queensland and northern NSW

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BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Saturday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today

Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as cyclone bears down

We have a news story this morning about the impact the cyclone is already having on life in Queensland.

Fallen trees and giant stands of bamboo blocked the single road to our farm until the army and council brought heavy machinery to clear a path some time after.

We were without running water or power for days, maybe weeks, the packing shed a makeshift kitchen where we ate meals cooked off a gas barbecue and drank instant coffee made with rainwater and UHT milk to the hum of a generator.

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Cyclone Alfred live updates: BoM tracking map forecast shows category 2 storm hitting Brisbane and south-east Qld; landfall in Queensland and NSW delayed as storm slows – latest news

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BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Friday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today

Speaking of preparations, adjunct senior lecturer at the Centre for Disaster Studies at James Cook University Yetta Gurtner gives advice here:

Chalmers confident insurance companies ‘know their responsibilities’

I’m confident they know their responsibilities and obligations to people.

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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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Caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney allegedly intended for antisemitic attack

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NSW police investigating after explosives found in Dural with premier Chris Minns warning incident could have led to ‘mass casualty event’

More than 100 counter-terrorism police are investigating after a caravan was found laden with explosives at a residential property in greater Sydney with indications the explosives would be used in an antisemitic attack.

Police said they had found the caravan on a property in Dural, on the outskirts of Sydney on 19 January after a report was made.

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Australia news live: PM ridicules Sussan Ley’s ‘Mars’ analogy and calls out Grace Tame’s ‘disrespectful’ T-shirt

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Albanese calls Ley’s comparison of First Fleet to SpaceX ‘very strange’. Follow today’s news live

For people with disability, the end of 2024 was a rollercoaster.

New legislation for the National Disability Insurance Scheme started coming into effect in October, with new lists of what can and cannot be funded, changes to early intervention requirements and more, already altering the way 646,000 people receive support from the $35bn program.

I’m just so appalled by it. I can’t believe someone should be so heartless that they could do this.

It’s also about, I guess, community standards. Look, it’s a big city. There’s some bad people that live in it. I am appalled by this. I just can’t believe someone would be so heartless to do it in such a special part of the city. We deliberately put the police memorial in the middle of Sydney in the Domain. It’s not parked away in the back lots somewhere, because it needs to be said that if someone loses their life serving the people of NSW, they won’t be forgotten.

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Counter-terrorism police take up investigation of swastika attack at Sydney synagogue

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Vandals also started a fire in Newtown that could have had deadly consequences, commissioner says

Counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation of a swastika vandalism attack at a Sydney synagogue as the police commissioner and premier call on the public to help catch the perpetrators.

Jewish leaders condemned the latest antisemitic attack, in which red swastikas were spray-painted across the front wall of Newtown synagogue in Sydney’s inner west by a male and female about 4.30am on Saturday.

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IVF clinics brace for Christmas rush after sudden rebate change in NSW

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‘Abrupt’ announcement will affect many women who have been planning their conception journeys to begin in early 2025, provider says

IVF providers are bracing for an influx of patients scrambling to access fertility treatments over the Christmas break after the New South Wales government said it would cut a rebate for fertility treatments for many patients from February.

The $2,000 rebate, an Australian-first program, was available to all NSW women accessing fertility services for the first time to cover some out-of-pocket expenses. It was introduced in 2022 by the former Coalition government.

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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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