NSW Parliament This Week
The big news in NSW Parliament this week was the passing of legislation banning NSW’s greyhound racing industry, following a Four Corners investigation in 2015 and subsequent inquiry by former High Court Justice Michael McHugh AC QC.
After a long night of debate, the Government successfully passed the Greyhound Racing Prohibition Bill 2016 through the Legislative Assembly 48 votes to 35 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with the support of the Greens and Animal Justice Party. The legislation will come into force from 1 July 2017.
The industry ban, championed by Premier Mike Baird, was made in response to Commissioner McHugh’s highly critical independent report about the industry, which found almost 68,000 greyhounds have been killed since 2004, with other serious issues also being raised.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley strongly opposed the bill, and railed against the legislation for more than two hours in the chamber. Several Nationals MPs crossed the floor to vote against the industry ban, and Liberal MPs also abstained from voting on the bill.
On Tuesday, the Government was put under pressure to release a report that contained recommendations in relation to possible improvements to the compulsory land acquisitions process. The issue of compulsory acquisition of property has come under scrutiny as the Government proceeds with a series of projects including the Sydney CBD & South East Light Rail, NorthConnex, WestConnex and Sydney Metro. The Government has argued that any changes to the compulsory acquisition process could delay its infrastructure delivery schedule.
On Wednesday, the Government also released draft legislation for a state-wide container deposit scheme, in order to deliver on the Premier’s commitment to reduce litter by 40 per cent by 2020.
The draft legislation, put forward by Environment Minister Mark Speakman SC, proposes 10 cents be paid for every drink container returned to a depot or reverse vending machine, so long as the container carries a NSW CDS label and is between 150 millilitres and three litres. If containers are deposited in council-supplied home recycling bins, councils will be able to redeem the 10 cents.
The scheme, which is to be managed by a scheme co-ordinator and network operator, is slated to begin next July. The NSW Environment Protection Authority will host public consultation forums over the coming weeks, and the Government will receive public feedback on the draft legislation until 21 September 2016.
Next week, Budget Estimate hearings will take place, providing the opportunity for Members of Parliament to ask Ministers and senior public servants questions about their expenditure and the performance of their departments. For companies interested in particular areas of the NSW Government, these hearings are a useful time for working out where the Government’s priorities lie.
Please contact PremierState on (02) 9223 0311 or via email if you have any specific areas of interest in the Budget Estimates process that you would like assistance with.