20 May 2017 – NSW Parliament Wrap Up

The Government used the only non-sitting week of May as an opportunity to slow things down, with less announcements made than in weeks gone by. Indeed, apart from appointing two new magistrates, no announcements were made at all on Wednesday! This meant we had to get creative when looking for things to report, turning to an unlikely source…

On another note, veteran Nationals MLC Duncan Gay announced his retirement from politics on Thursday. Mr Gay first entered parliament in 1988, serving as the Minister for Roads from 2011 until earlier this year. His last day in the Legislative Council will be June 22.

Here’s how the week panned out…

Design concept for the final stage of WestConnex revealed
Designs for the third stage of WestConnex were unveiled on Monday, revealing plans for a tunnel beneath the inner west suburbs of Leichhardt and Rozelle. The first two stages of WestConnex saw the M4 and M5 motorways extended to Haberfield and St Peters. The third and final stage, creatively named ‘M4-M5 Link’, will connect these two motorways via twin tunnels beneath Leichhardt, with a spur passing out towards the Anzac Bridge at Rozelle. This spur could eventually connect to a new Western Harbour Tunnel as well as the Beaches Link project. Pending planning approval, construction on the M4-M5 Link will begin next year.

Inner west bus services to be privatised
On Monday, Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced that he will put one of Sydney’s worst performing bus regions out to tender next year. Bus Region 6, which covers the inner west, is one of only four regions still serviced by the State Transit Authority (STA). It is also the worst performing region in Sydney’s bus network, with 12,000 complaints made in the past 12 months (compared to a 17,780 complaints across the 11 regions that have already been privatised). A tender for the operation of services in Bus Region 6 will be released in July, ahead of the STA’s contract expiring next year.

Campbell’s Stores to receive $32 million upgrade
Later in the day, Minister for Finance, Services & Property Victor Dominello approved plans for a $32 million upgrade of the heritage Campbell’s Stores site at The Rocks. Private hospitality company Tallawoladah (try saying that ten times) received a 55-year lease of the site in exchange for agreeing to fund its restoration, which will incorporate 12 new tenancies.

Attorney General brands Shire babies
Since entering parliament in 2011, Attorney General Mark Speakman has made his sporting allegiances well known. As the Member for Cronulla, he is an ardent fan of his local NRL team, once singing the club’s theme song in the Legislative Council (see 4:40). On Monday, the Attorney General did his best to develop a new generation of Cronulla fans, presenting three Shire babies with Sharks-themed birth certificates. Apparently, the NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages has been selling NRL-themed certificates since 2016. You can take the baby out of the Shire, but you can’t take the Shire out of the baby…

North west housing strategy revealed
On Tuesday, Minister for Planning & Housing Anthony Roberts revealed a blueprint for future housing delivery in Sydney’s north west. Between now and 2022, 18,000 new homes will be built in the ‘North West Priority Growth Area’, which takes in the suburbs of Box Hill, Marsden Park, Schofields and Riverstone. By 2027, that number will increase to 33,000. Assuming most homes have more than one inhabitant, this means the North West Priority Growth Area could become home to an estimated 90,000 new residents over the next 10 years.

Minister for Women holds first gender equality workshop
Also on Tuesday, Minister for Women Tanya Davies kick-started a new consultation series offering women the chance to discuss gender issues in NSW. Topics considered at the meeting included the wage gap, access to health services, leadership barriers and cultural issues. Eight consultations will be held over the next two months, ahead of the preparation of a formal NSW strategy for women later this year.

Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill
Finally, it was announced on Tuesday that a draft bill making medically assisted euthanasia legal will soon be released for public consultation. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill—which has been drafted by a parliamentary working group comprised of Coalition, Greens, independent and Labor MPs—would make euthanasia available to any person over the age of 25 expecting to die within 12 months or who is experiencing severe pain or physical incapacity. A number of safeguards have been built into the bill, including mandatory psychiatric assessment and a 48-hour cooling off period between making a decision and dying. The bill will face a conscience vote before being introduced to parliament for debate.

NSW Labor endorses Federal Snowy Hydro scheme
The Government’s silence on Wednesday gave NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley a rare chance to step into the limelight. Mr Foley announced that his party would support the Federal Government’s Snowy 2.0 scheme on the condition that all funds raised are allocated for projects in regional NSW. To deliver Snowy 2.0, the Federal Government will need to acquire ownership of Snowy Hydro Limited, a move that could deliver NSW up to $5 billion. The Opposition Leader’s announcement is actually quite clever; Labor is looking to pick up a number of regional seats at the 2019 election, so announcements like this will go a long way towards building support.

Defence NSW Director appointed
On Thursday, Minister for Industry Niall Blair appointed former Navy Commander Commodore Peter Scott CSC, RANR as the Director of Defence NSW, a new section of the Department of Industry. In his new role, Commodore Scott will work closely with the Australian Defence Force and industry stakeholders to implement the recently released NSW Defence and Industry Strategy, which seeks to improve the state's defence sector competitiveness.

Unemployment rate reaches record low
Also on Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that the unemployment rate in NSW dropped to 4.7 per cent in April, its lowest level since 2012. This means NSW has had the least unemployment in Australia for 23 consecutive months, and by quite some margin too – Tasmania, which came in second place, reported an unemployment rate of 5.9 per cent (close to the national average), while South Australia’s climbed to 7.3 per cent. Some commentators suggested that 4.7 per cent is just about the lowest NSW can hope to ever achieve. Job done?

NSW National Party conference in Broken Hill
On Friday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian travelled out to Broken Hill to address the annual National Party state conference, the first time a Liberal Premier has done so in 25 years. As part of her address, the Premier announced that a $500 million, 270 kilometre pipeline between the Murray River and Broken Hill will be constructed in order to secure the town’s water security by 2018. Four consortia have already been invited to submit bids to construct, operate and maintain the pipeline. As Deputy Prime Minister and federal Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce mused, “Frogs live in water, so I’m pretty sure a big dam is going to make them happy.”

Waterloo identified as a new State Significant Precinct
Back in Sydney, the week ended with Waterloo being nominated as a new State Significant Precinct. This means future planning decisions in the suburb will be assessed by the Department of Planning and Environment in collaboration with the City of Sydney Council, to ensure there is an adequate supply of new social, affordable and private housing in the future. There are only a few State Significant Precincts in Sydney, including North Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, the Bays Precinct and Riverwood Estate.