17 FEB 2017 – NSW Parliament - Wrap Up
A new Premier, a new cabinet and a new year. Yes, we can still say that—the Legislative Assembly sat for the first time in 2017 this week. Of course, this is not to suggest there has been no activity at Parliament House since last year. A change in Premier and major cabinet reshuffle saw to that.
Former Premier Mike Baird understood his departure provided the Government with room to reset the political agenda, and his successor, Premier Gladys Berejiklian, used this first sitting week of 2017 to make the most of the opportunity.
The Government looked to be in total control of the political narrative, with new takes on a number of high profile policies. Most impressive was the fact that we really only saw one major issue be discussed each day—council amalgamations on Tuesday, housing affordability on Wednesday, and greyhound racing on Thursday—enabling the Government to communicate its policies without distraction. Other governments around the world would do well to take a leaf out of NSW's book.
Here's how the week in Parliament panned out...
"Order! This is not a fight club. Does the member for Maroubra want boxing gloves as well?" — Speaker Shelley Hancock
The 2017 sitting year began with two MPs handing in official letters of resignation, including former Premier Mike Baird and Labor Member for Gosford Kathy Smith. A third letter of resignation is also expected to be handed in soon, from former Minister for Health Jillian Skinner. By-elections will be held in each departing member's electorate in the coming weeks.
The big news on Tuesday was the Premier's announcement about the Government's revamped council amalgamation agenda. What has been something of a vexed issue for the Coalition so far became ammunition for the Premier, who used her time on the floor to attack the Opposition both for its lack of a clear policy on the matter, and to point out that it undertook two rounds of regional amalgamations when it was in government itself.
A less high profile highlight of the day was National Party MP Adrian Piccoli's poetic farewell to the education portfolio:
"Every child's education at school is an original 13-year work of art. It is the careful combination of thousands of tiny brush strokes that turn into a masterpiece. Over the past six fantastic years, I hope I have added a few brush strokes of my own."
Fortunately for the students of NSW, they have an equally sage new Minister for Education in the form of Member for Pittwater Rob Stokes.
"What a great year this is going to be for the Berejiklian-Barilaro Government. I will not attempt to spell it, but the alliteration sounds good." — Treasurer Dominic Perrottet
The major theme on Wednesday was housing affordability.
In the morning, the Premier announced that the former governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, will provide input to a cross-government working group tasked with advising the Government about options for improving housing affordability in the state. The group will be comprised of senior representatives from the Planning, Premier & Cabinet and Treasury departments. It is anticipated that it will provide its recommendations to parliament ahead of the 2017-18 Budget in the middle of the year.
Interestingly, Mr Stevens has publicly advocated for the abolition of negative gearing in the past, an option that the Premier recently stated she is unlikely to pursue. The Premier's preferred approach so far has been to increase housing supply, a sentiment also shared by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. On that front, the Opposition was repeatedly reminded in question time of the housing policy of its former leader Bob Carr, who infamously said, "Sydney is full".
On Thursday, the NSW Greyhound Racing Industry Reform Panel handed down its final report to the Government about potential new animal welfare and governance arrangements for the sport.
Key recommendations made by the Panel to Minister for Racing Paul Toole included:
the separation of commercial and regulatory functions in the industry, with a new Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission to be responsible for enforcing relevant laws, while Greyhound Racing NSW would continue to have financial responsibility for the sport
mandatory life bans for greyhound owners found to be engaging in live baiting practices
whole-of-lifecycle tracking for greyhounds bred for racing.
Minister Toole committed to passing legislation to enact the Panel's recommendations by July this year. There is still a question as to whether the new Commission is to be funded by the Government or the industry itself.
One matter that flew under the radar on Thursday morning was the introduction of a bill by Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres to streamline the governance of stadia in NSW. Any organisations that provide catering or ticketing services, or that might be interested in sponsoring a stadium, would do well to keep an eye on this amendment...
Today might not be a sitting day, but we would be remiss not to mention a major announcement made by the Premier, Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Andrew Constance, and member for Parramatta Geoff Lee earlier this morning.
The trio revealed the Government's preferred route for the first stage of the Parramatta Light Rail project to be a 12 kilometre line between Carlingford, Parramatta and Westmead, which could be completed as soon as 2023. A second line between Camellia and Strathfield (via Homebush) would also be built as part of stage two.
The Government has already set aside $1 billion for the project, and is currently receiving community feedback ahead of the route's planned finalisation mid-year.
On another note, PremierState's sister firm CapitalHill has recently been informed about a change to the sitting calendar for the Federal Parliament in October. An updated version of CapitalHill's 2017 sitting calendar for governments in Australia can be found at the link below.