Category Archives: New South Wales election 2023

NSW Labor’s moves on poker machine reform renew pressure on Dominic Perrottet, experts say

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Call for detail on proposed cashless gaming scheme as questions raised about opposition’s pledge

Labor’s pledge to ban political donations from pubs and clubs in New South Wales while also introducing a 500-machine trial of cashless pokies has heaped pressure back on the Coalition government to announce details of its plan to overhaul gambling in the state.

Despite anti-gambling advocates and crossbench MPs arguing a new suite of policies announced by Labor on Monday does not go far enough, they have also called for the state’s premier, Dominic Perrottet, to follow suit.

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Knives out: a raucous party, a Nazi uniform and a Liberal Party mystery

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While questions remain after Dominic Perrottet’s Nazi uniform admission, the internal anger at the premier is real and multifaceted

It’s the biggest mystery in New South Wales politics: who was behind the rumours of a damaging photograph of Dominic Perrottet that began circulating in the weeks before he revealed that he wore a Nazi uniform at his 21st birthday party?

When it comes to uncovering the culprit, one Liberal party source said: “It’s a bit like that movie Knives Out – there are about 20 people who it could’ve been and they all had a motive.”

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Why now? Inside Dominic Perrottet’s plea for voters’ forgiveness over his Nazi outfit

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Analysis: Someone in the NSW premier’s own corner seems determined that he should pay for his 21st birthday mistake

In his maiden speech to parliament 11 years ago, the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, shared an anecdote from his childhood, in which he explained his “love of politics” began from a young age.

In the speech, Perrottet said that from the age of 10 he and his siblings were “required to present an article on current affairs to the family” at the dinner table.

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Competing NSW housing policies could put ‘inflationary’ pressure on prices, economists warn

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Experts say Labor’s stamp duty exemptions and Coalition’s land tax policy will likely benefit sellers most

The much-vaunted housing relief packages proposed by Labor and the Coalition in New South Wales are both “much ado about nothing”, experts say, warning they are likely to put upward pressure on prices as Sydney’s over-heated property market begins to cool.

Labor fired the starter’s gun on state election season on Monday, putting a plan to increase stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers facing cost-of-living pressures in western Sydney at the centre of its bid to win government after a decade in opposition.

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NSW Labor counters Perrottet’s land tax with vow to scrap stamp duty for some first home buyers

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Properties worth up to $800,000 will incur no tax and a concession rate will apply to those up to $1m if opposition wins election, Chris Minns says

New South Wales Labor has pledged to eliminate stamp duty for first home buyers purchasing properties worth up to $800,000 if it wins the March state election, in a bid to counter the Perrottet government’s recent tax reforms.

Labor’s proposal, announced on Monday, would also apply a concession rate to homebuyers paying between $800,000 and $1m for their first property.

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NSW forests could become net carbon emitters in coming decades, report finds

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Declining soil organic carbon could undermine state’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050

Forests in New South Wales could become net carbon emitters in coming decades, undermining state government efforts to reach net zero emissions, according to a report by one of its own agencies.

The Natural Resources Commission has warned the Perrottet government the carbon benefits the state’s forests provide are degrading and will continue to degrade without “major intervention”.

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Teal-style independent Helen Conway to run for North Shore in NSW election

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Former corporate lawyer is backed by same group that supported Kylea Tink’s successful federal campaign

A former corporate lawyer who spent years at the helm of the federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency will challenge Liberal MP Felicity Wilson in the seat of North Shore at the New South Wales election in March.

Helen Conway will on Tuesday be announced as an independent candidate in the blue ribbon seat, with the backing of a “teal” community group – North Sydney’s Independent – that launched Kylea Tink’s successful federal campaign.

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Voters will reject Liberals if they don’t have enough female candidates, Matt Kean says

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NSW treasurer savaged his party’s preselection processes and warned that the community expects more diversity in its parliaments

The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, has savaged his own party’s preselection processes and membership, warning the Liberals risk losing voters at the March election if they fail to put up enough female candidates.

Kean, the party’s deputy leader, said he had been “devastated” that the state’s most senior Liberal woman, Natalie Ward, was not preselected in the ultra-safe seat of Davidson and had been beaten by a former staffer, despite having the premier’s support.

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Renters in NSW would be able to transfer bond between properties under Labor election proposal

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State opposition leader Chris Minns also pushes for tighter rules around evicting tenants without reasonable grounds

Almost a million renters in New South Wales would be able to transfer their bond from one property to the next and couldn’t be kicked out of their homes without reasonable grounds given, under a plan proposed by state Labor.

The pledge ahead of the 2023 election comes amid soaring rents in Sydney and rising accommodation costs in regional areas, with NSW’s median rent increasing from $386 to $420 a week between 2016 and 2021.

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NSW Liberal MPs face potential preselection battles amid a frontbench exodus

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Possible challengers from within the party are emerging in Holsworthy and Camden ahead of March election

The New South Wales government faces the possibility of losing two sitting Liberal MPs in bitter preselection contests as it deals with an ever-growing list of senior ministers departing at the next election.

Melanie Gibbons and Peter Sidgreaves, the MPs for Holsworthy and Camden, are each facing potential challengers from within the Liberal party ahead of the March poll, and could be set to join the growing list of government MPs heading for the exit doors.

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Labor candidate overlooked for Kristina Keneally touted for NSW state seat

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Tu Le says she supports ‘rank-and-file’ vote but doesn’t control decisions made by party bosses

The candidate controversially overlooked by Labor for Kristina Keneally in Fowler at the last federal election has denied being involved in a “stitch up” for a state seat in western Sydney, saying she “doesn’t control” what head office decides.

The Guardian understands senior Labor figures have been testing local support for Tu Le, the Vietnamese-Australian lawyer who was controversially pushed aside to allow Keneally to run in Fowler in May, to run in either Cabramatta or Fairfield at the New South Wales election in March.

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Dominic Perrottet denies teal threat is behind NSW ministers’ bid to move to lower house

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Pollster and federal independent both say the Liberal government should be concerned about shift towards teals

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has denied his party is mounting a coordinated defence against teal independents by installing high profile Liberal women as candidates in at-risk seats.

Two female upper house ministers have announced their hope to run in the lower house, including the metropolitan roads minister, Natalie Ward, who on Tuesday announced her intention to run in Davidson.

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