5 August | NSW Sitting Period Review
The New South Wales Parliament has just concluded its latest sitting period. The first week back following the winter break saw development and housing regulations back in the spotlight as the NSW Government’s proposed policy to incentivise developers to reserve portions of projects for affordable housing by offering State Significant Development classification faced new hurdles.
This week also saw the Minns Government lose its first minister, Tim Crakanthorp. Crakanthorp was Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education as well as Minister for the Hunter. His sacking came as it was revealed he had failed to disclose significant family property holdings that could have directly benefited due to Cabinet decisions he was a part of. Premier Minns acted decisively and removed him from his Cabinet and referred the matter to ICAC.
Read below PremierNational’s insights into the week's key issues, as well as some important takeaways from the winter break, in our parliamentary wrap-up.
The Government will look to re-examine the proposed reforms to its policy of allowing developers to build larger and denser residential developments following poor feedback from industry leaders. Concerns had circulated that the policy would fail to incentivise enough developers to achieve the development outcomes the Government is seeking.
Planning Minister Paul Scully noted that discussions between Industry and Government were ongoing. Meanwhile, the Department of Planning and Environment will again undertake a consultation process.
On Wednesday evening, Minister for the Hunter and Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Tim Crakanthorp told parliament that he had mistakenly failed to disclose the existence of several properties owned by members of his family in the Newcastle area, which constitutes a breach of the ministerial code. This explantation has subsequently been called into question by comments of the Premier and news reports that he was repeatedly warned to declare the properties.
Political commentators noted Minns responded quickly by requesting Crakanthorp resign his ministries and issuing a referral to the ICAC. Crakanthorp will face expulsion from the Labor Party if the ICAC chooses to open an investigation into the matter, a shift which would leave the Government with 44 of the 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Up until the sacking of Tim Crakanthorp, all eyes and discussion were on Metro West and speculation that the new Minns Government would cancel the project due to significant cost blowouts.
The release of the Sydney Metro Review's Interim Report cited 'significant technical and budget risks' faced by the Sydney Southwest project. This created doubts on the viability of the Metro West, as existing projects revealed the implications of such projects on the budget.
This issue was the key focus of the Opposition during parliamentary question time this past week, with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey bombarded with questions surrounding the budget prediction for Metro West blowing out to $25 Billion dollars. The new cost predictions, along with the “$1 million per day bleeding out” from the Southwest project, as said by Daniel Mookhey, has raised serious doubts in the media that the project will continue. The Government has delayed decision making till at least October, leaving residents, developers and local councils uncertain about their long-term planning.
There is a sentiment amongst stakeholders that the Government does plan to proceed with the project but are attempting to manage expectations about delays and look into the viability of adding additional stops and/or extending the route to make it more feasible.
CASHLESS GAMING TRIAL
Premier Chris Minns announced the expansion of the government’s long-awaited cashless gaming trial in mid-July, which should now begin by November this year after a short delay. At the same time, he announced a new review of the ClubGrants scheme, which has largely been funded by proceeds from poker machines.
A report, compiled with the input of industry representatives and headed by the former Commissioner of the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, Michael Foggo, will be delivered to the government by the end of next year.
WAGE CAPS
The Premier also announced that the wages cap in NSW will be axed in September, ending a decade-long ceiling on pay rises for public sector workers.
The Government had to develop a new bargaining system to deliver wage increases to 400,000 workers, culminating in negotiations where the NSW public sector union agreed to a 4 per cent pay rise for more than 80,000 public servants.
Whilst this is below the March Consumer Price Index of 5.1 per cent, it is the largest pay raise for NSW public sector employees in 20 years. Sophie Cotsis, the Minister for Industrial Relations has declared that "The wages cap is dead".
HOUSING DENSITY
The New South Wales Government is moving forward with its Rezoning Pathways Pilot, which aims to expedite the construction of thousands of homes through streamlined processes. Despite concerns from councils and communities about potential sidelining. The pilot will see five large developments selected, promising a total of 5,803 homes, with a significant portion dedicated to social and affordable housing.
Most of these homes will be built in suburbs on the outskirts of Western Sydney, including 1,800 at Schofields and 1,585 in Glenmore Park.
The pilot program has sparked debates between community groups, councils, and developers, with varying opinions on its effectiveness and transparency.
