Albanese lets the cement dry on Labor’s housing crisis

Australians already know the Albanese government will fall far short of its promise to build 1.2 million homes over the next five years, and new ABS data released today has cemented this, revealing approvals for the construction of new dwellings dropped to a twelve-year-low in February.

Labor’s housing crisis is just getting worse. With 20,000 homes required per month to meet the 1.2 million homes promise, it’s clear the 12,520 construction approvals confirmed for February just won’t cut it.

There is already so much evidence that Labor will not meet its 1.2 million homes promise by a mile, with an estimated shortfall of more than 400,000 dwellings, yet the Prime Minister continues to blatantly lie to Australians.

With first-home buyers at their lowest levels in over a decade, rents up by 26 per cent since Labor came to office, an extra $2,000 per month on an average mortgage, and now, overseas arrivals running at four times the pace of new home builds – Australians are being locked out of the housing market.

The Prime Minister must now wave the white flag and admit he’s broken another election promise and given up on home ownership.

Gallagher asleep at the wheel on finance bungle

An independent review into the leak of sensitive data from the Department of Finance has found that Minister Gallagher’s department “appears to have twice breached the same confidentiality provisions that it now asks suppliers to abide by.”

The review, commissioned after two leaks of confidential and commercially sensitive supplier information under Labor within a three month period, found that “the two breaches taken together are also likely to meet the threshold for a significant non-compliance with the Finance law in relation to the general duties of officials under the PGPA Act.”

In relation to the second breach, in which information was sent to 239 suppliers, the Report states that 15 suppliers are yet to execute the Department’s Confidentiality Undertaking Deed Polls. The Report refers to Deed Polls as “a critical part of the containment strategy to ensure that the information contained in the Supplier Matrix was not further disclosed”.

Senator Hume called on Minister Gallagher to explain why a second breach could have occurred so soon after the first, and why her department did not consider whether a broader procedural or policy review was necessary after the first breach.

“Not only should this not have happened in the first place, but there remain 15 businesses that received the commercially sensitive information who have not returned the required paperwork to ensure the information leaked is protected.

“It has been more than a month since the second of two incredibly serious leaks of confidential and commercially sensitive information, and some recipients of this information have yet to provide the appropriate assurances to the Government. What is Katy Gallagher doing about this?

“Labor has been so focused on enforcing standards of behaviour on suppliers of services, but have now fallen short of their own standards twice. Yet again, it’s ‘do as I say’ not ‘do as I do’ from this Labor government,” she said.

“Minister Gallagher should focus on giving government suppliers certainty that confidential information leaked on her watch will not damage them commercially,” Senator Hume concluded.

Albanese government must release report on Optus outage

The Albanese Government must release a key report into the massive Optus outage which saw nearly 2700 calls fail to get through to the triple zero emergency line.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has been sitting on the Bean Review into the national Optus outage since 21 March.

A parliamentary inquiry into the Optus Network Outage has stalled while it waits for the Minister to release the report now on her desk.

As part of its terms of reference, the Senate inquiry is examining the steps taken by the Federal Government to ensure proper access to the triple zero service during the outage.

It was originally supposed to report to Parliament on 28 February, but that date was pushed back to 9 May while they waited for the Bean Review to be released so they could consider that report as part of its investigation.

The Committee is expected to recall Optus and call Telstra, ACMA and the department, particularly given new information about the scale of calls that didn’t get through to the triple zero service.

It is well past time for Minister Rowland to release the Bean Review.

Local artists create a feast for the senses at this year’s New Annual festival

City of Newcastle (CN) has awarded five local creative organisations close to $100,000 in funding to bring their unique ideas to life at this year’s New Annual festival.

A total of $94,500 was offered from CN’s “Made New” expressions of interest (EOI) commissioning process as part of a five-year plan to support the region’s arts industry.

Catapalt Dance perform Rhapsody at New AnnualCatapult Choreographic Hub perform Rhapsody as part of the New Annual Festival.

Design and fabrication workshop Built In-Kind will make its New Annual debut in 2024 as one of the successful program applicants. 

The group, which specialises in custom furniture and delivers education to women and diverse communities, will offer “The Memory Feast” workshops. Participants will create a sculptural ‘dining hall’ from recycled materials and finish with a dining experience that showcases local chefs, food, and wineries. 

Newcastle Youth Orchestra will debut “Mistborn Orchestral Suite” an immersive concert merging music, visuals, and dance to showcase compositions by local Indigenous composer Jacob Cummins. A participatory wayfinding art adventure through the city will be brought to life by Tantrum Youth Arts, and Newcastle-based dance company Catapult Choreographic Hub will commission a new contemporary dance work crafted by acclaimed First Nations choreographer Jasmin Sheppard and performed by a diverse ensemble of artists. 

The final recipient of this year’s “Made New” funding, Art Thinking, will create an immersive experience centred around a chair that interacts with users’ physical input to generate visuals on LED screens.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said that continuing to support such a high calibre of local creative talent was integral to New Annual’s success.

“City of Newcastle’s ‘Made New’ program will this year see almost $100,000 additional funding invested directly into local arts performances as part of the flagship festival,” Cr Nelmes said.

“Our commitment to fund local talent forms part of our five-year plan to support and grow our region’s arts industry while simultaneously attracting renowned artists that will help New Annual achieve national recognition.

“In addition, the festival will strengthen Newcastle’s position as a cultural tourism destination, which generates an economic boost for local businesses through hotel stays and increased visitor spending in the city.”

Chair of CN’s Community and Culture Advisory Committee Cr Carol Duncan said New Annual would continue to provide a high-profile vehicle for innovation, creativity, and entertainment in Newcastle.

“Local artists and performers accounted for more than 60 per cent of New Annual’s 2023 programming, and this year we expect the same,” Cr Duncan said.

“The expressions of interest for the 2024 ‘Made New’ funding were of a high standard, and I am thrilled that the five successful organisations will be featured in this year’s program.”

Featuring free, ticketed and family-friendly events, New Annual will run for 10 days during the Spring school holidays from 27 September to 6 October 2024, with the full program to be announced later this year. 

To keep up-to-date with the latest New Annual news and announcements, visit www.newannual.com

Sydney bus drivers to receive staff opal cards from today

New and current bus drivers right across Sydney will be receiving their staff Opal cards from today.

Delivering Opal cards to drivers across Sydney was a measure recommended by the Bus Industry Taskforce to encourage driver retention to help with the bus driver shortage.

Staff Opal cards were also part of the NSW Labor Government’s election commitments in order to help drivers with cost-of-living pressures and to give them the respect they deserve.

The Government and Transport for NSW have been working with the Bus Industry Taskforce, operators, and unions on other measures to alleviate the driver shortage and to deliver improvements to reliability and equity for bus across the state.

The Government continues to make it quicker, easier, and cheaper for drivers to get their bus driver authority, by waiving the $70 application fee for a further 12 months, in a bid to better support the industry and encourage more people into the drivers seat.

Transport for NSW is also working to improve the quality of facilities for bus drivers across Greater Sydney.

All 62 layover and interchange locations identified by drivers, unions and operators have been audited with some quick repairs already underway.

As part of our package to support bus drivers, $3.4 million is being invested into assessing and upgrading vital driver facilities such as meal rooms and bathrooms for drivers.

Bus drivers will also soon have access to new navigation technology, which will further improve service efficiency and make it easier for drivers to learn new routes.

Development for this new tool is currently underway, following recommendations in the first Bus Industry Taskforce report, handed down last year.

From Friday April 19, contracted bus operators will be able to download an application, to both iOS and Android tablets, which will allow drivers to navigate new or changed routes, with visual and voice guided instructions.

This means new drivers will be better supported as they learn their routes, it will also improve the reliability of the timetables and ensure passengers have fewer disruptions to services.

The driver assistance system will also:

  • Allow drivers to choose a specific route.
  • Select a trip start time.
  • Offer visual and voice direction to a bus stop.
  • Provide visual and time progress updates as the bus moves through the route.

This is all a part of the NSW Government’s promise to deliver better bus services across the state and to ensure that those services meet community expectations.

The Taskforce, established in May 2023 and chaired by John Lee, has focused on key areas in need of improvement, including the quality of bus services in relation to on-time running and reliability, as well as improving driver facilities, driver recruitment and retention.

The Taskforce will provide the NSW Government with its Final Report and recommendations in May.

Find out more about a career as a bus driver

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said:

“This is about showing appreciation and respect for our bus drivers. Drivers work long hours in difficult conditions, and they’ve had to deal with the fallout from privatization.

“We’re keeping our promise to bus drivers and letting them know that we deeply value the work that they do.

“When we jump in a car, most of us will put an address into our GPS, it’s second nature. Bus drivers should have the similar technology.

“Our bus drivers are navigating some of the busiest roads across the country and we want to arm them with any and all technology and knowledge we can.

“This new tool will help drivers get to know their route or step in and learn a new one easily, whilst also making trips more reliable and efficient for passengers, catching buses everyday.”

Upcoming ministerial leave arrangements

The Premier of NSW Chris Minns will be on leave from 13 April to 24 April (inclusive) 2024.

The Deputy Premier of NSW Prue Car will be on leave from 13 April to 24 April (inclusive) 2024.

The Premier will be taking leave with his family and will be overseas.

During this time, the Hon Penny Sharpe will be Acting Premier of NSW.

These acting arrangements are in accordance with the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW) and Premier’s Memorandum M2014-02 Ministerial Arrangements During Absences.

Further funding to support NSW saleyards transitioning to sheep and goat eID

The NSW Government has committed a further $1.4 million to support eligible saleyards in their preparations for Sheep & Goat electronic identification (eID).

The NSW Government previously announced a $38 million support package for producers, agents, saleyards and processors. This package supported the industry-wide transition and implementation of NSW’s robust biosecurity measures.

Round 1 of the NSW Sheep and Goat eID Infrastructure Rebate saw 30 applications received, and $5 million approved for saleyards, out of the Saleyards funding stream. This has supported the delivery of vital eID infrastructure that is right now being rolled out in saleyards across the state.

The NSW Government remains committed to working closely with saleyard operators and owners to facilitate a smooth transition towards eID implementation.

This additional funding will allow saleyards to ensure that their eID infrastructure is fit for purpose before the implementation of mandatory eID on January 1, 2025.

Our farmers’ export price premium is underpinned by our biosecurity standards. The rollout of sheep and goat eID will protect our export markets and our flocks.

The grant will open Monday, 29 April 2024 and closes Monday, 3 June 2024.

Previous saleyard applicants from the recent Sheep and Goat eID Infrastructure Rebate Scheme are encouraged to sign up to the Sheep and Goat eID newsletter to receive further updates.

For more information, visit the DPI website.

Key dates for mandatory eID for sheep and farmed goats in NSW

  • 30 June 2024
    • Mandatory processor eID scanning and upload.
  • 1 January 2025
    • Mandatory eID for all sheep and farmed goats born from this date, prior to leaving property of birth.
    • Mandatory eID scanning and upload by saleyards and depots.
    • Mandatory eID property-to-property transfers.
  • 1 January 2027
    • Mandatory eID for all sheep and farmed goats prior to leaving any property.

Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty said:

“The NSW Government knows sheep and farmed goat saleyards across the State will need to complete some significant improvements to infrastructure to be ready for mandatory eID from 1 January 2025.

“I’m pleased that a further rebate from our $38 million commitment to the sheep and goat industry can be utilised by saleyards to be prepared for this important milestone in NSW’s eID implementation plan.

“This additional program for eligible saleyards reflects how the government is continually collaborating with the industry to transition to mandatory eID in sheep and goats, we will continue to work closely with industry to achieve this supply chain transition.

“The NSW Government is committed to maintaining our strong biosecurity record, demonstrated by our financial support for sheep and farmed goat eID – the largest of any jurisdiction in Australia.”

Recovery centres open in the Illawarra to support flood-affected residents

Following the region’s early-April flooding event, the Australian and NSW Government’s disaster declaration has allowed Illawarra residents access to a range of special assistance measures.

Recovery Assistance Points (RAPs) are now in operation in Thirroul and Warrawong, which are packed with resources to help residents recover. The centres are managed by the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) which is leading the disaster recovery and has been on the ground this week working with councils and agencies to understand the local impact.

Residents can now attend a RAP to access mental health services, legal aid, community not-for-profits, and government representatives, including:

  • Service NSW, including Business Concierges (at Thirroul)
  • NSW Reconstruction Authority
  • Salvation Army
  • Insurance Council of Australia
  • Telephone interpreting services

The RA has already seen more than 100 people come through the doors and will assess whether there is a need for operations to be extended beyond this week.

The RAPs are located at: 

  • Thirroul District Community Centre & Library, 352-358 Lawrence Hargrave Drive
  • Warrawong Community Centre, 7-9 Greene Street.

They will be open during the following hours:

  • Friday, 10am to 4pm
  • Saturday, 9am to 1pm

Support is also available through Service NSW for those unable to visit in person, with Customer Care specialists available by phone on 13 77 88.

Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast Ryan Park said:

“This is an incredibly challenging time for communities in the Illawarra.

“It’s important we help residents get back on their feet as quickly as possible, and one way we can do that is through in-person support at Recovery Assistance Points.

“This is a time when we need to come together and support those who are doing it tough, so I’d encourage anyone who needs it to get out to one of our RAPs and get help.”

Member for Wollongong Paul Scully said:

“Many in our community would still remember the events of the 1998 floods which is why it’s so devastating to see flooding on this scale occurring today.

“As a government, we’ve worked quickly to get funding to local councils, but we also know face-to-face support is crucial for the community to recover.

“I encourage anyone impacted by the floods to visit our Recovery Assistance Points and I want to assure those affected that we are here to help manage the region’s recovery.”

Member for Heathcote Maryanne Stuart said:

“I encourage residents to attend the Recovery Centre to register any help they need. There are government services available to wrap around people and support them during this time.

“This is the start of the recovery process, for our residents and small businesses. We will be here to provide ongoing support.”

Waste Levy removed for another ten flood-hit areas

The NSW Government is extending the waste levy waiver to another ten areas to further support communities grappling with the aftermath of heavy rainfall and flooding.

Residents in an additional ten Local Government Areas can now dispose of flood-affected items at landfill sites without incurring the waste levy fee.

Lifting the fee aims to expedite the recovery process and ease financial burdens on impacted households and businesses.

The Natural Disaster Waste Levy Exemption has been granted to these additional Local Government Areas:

  • Blacktown
  • Byron
  • Central Coast
  • Clarence Valley
  • Dungog
  • Hornsby
  • Lake Macquarie
  • Maitland
  • Mid-Coast
  • The Hills

This extension takes the total number of eligible areas to 22.

The Blue Mountains, Camden, Liverpool, Penrith, Sutherland, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Hawkesbury, Wollongong, Shoalhaven, Shellharbour and Kiama have already received waivers.

Residents will not be charged the waste levy fee to get rid of flood-generated waste until 30 June 2024, though local landfill gate fees may apply.

The exemption coves waste on public and private land, including damaged building materials, furniture, carpet, gardening debris and any other flood-related products.

As clean-up efforts continue, the Environment Protection Authority could expand this assistance to help other communities rebuild and recover.

Industry and investment return to the centre of government

NSW Premier Chris Minns has today announced that industry, innovation, trade and investment functions will return to the centre of government through the transfer of Investment NSW to the Premier’s Department.

This front door of Government will make it easier for industry, investors, and entrepreneurs to participate in major government priorities and ensure seamless co-ordination across government.

It also brings management of unsolicited proposals back to central government.  

In addition, changes will be made to Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade, to provide a renewed focus on government priorities in the arts, hospitality, tourism and the night-time economy portfolios, as well as driving the implementation of key reforms, including the vibrancy reforms.

These changes will include a new name, the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport.

The changes will come into effect on July 1, 2024, subject to the approval of the Governor-in-Council:

  • Venues NSW, NSW Institute of Sport and the Office of Sport will be related agencies of the new Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport 
  • Investment NSW and the Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer to join the Premier’s Department
  • All remaining functions and entities that are currently part of or related to DEIT will become part of or related to the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said:  

“The changes announced today bring structure and better co-ordination to important portfolios which together ensure our trade and investment is at the centre of government.

“This is a government that is focused on opening up Sydney and NSW for business, boosting the economy and creating jobs in these important sectors.”

Minister for the Arts and Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham:  

“This new department structure will support the Government’s commitment to cultivating thriving creative industries and night-time economies across the state.

“The Department will oversee the state’s first arts, culture and creative industries policy. This is a key framework for investment in the creative industries and our vibrant cities agenda – creating more equitable places to work, live and play.

“Empowering our creative industries, unlocking our night-time economies and focusing on experience tourism will bring economic, social, and cultural benefit to communities across the state. This in turn creates greater employment across a range of sectors – and more economic activity across a greater proportion of the day.”

Minister for Sport Steve Kamper said:

“The NSW Labor Government has been clear on our goal to cement Sydney and NSW as the premier destination of the Asia Pacific.

“In bringing these agencies together we can line up sporting and entertainment offerings that drive economic outcomes for our local economy.

“Lifting the Concert Cap is a fantastic example of what is possible. This policy alone is set to deliver over $1 billion in local economic activity and increase Venues NSW revenue by as much as $210 million over the next 10 years, whilst also delivering opportunities for our local artists.”

Minister for Industry and Trade Anoulack Chanthivong said:

“There are significant benefits to bringing Investment NSW and the Chief Scientist into the centre of government. Industry, innovation and trade are critical to driving the creation of quality jobs and a more resilient state economy.

“I am focused on taking a coordinated, whole of government approach to working with industry and delivering on the NSW Government’s priorities.”