December 2025 – Page 5

Half-Yearly Review shows NSW economy is getting stronger

Today’s Half-Yearly Review confirms the NSW economy is continuing to strengthen, with the budget remaining on track to return to surplus in 2027-28.

NSW Treasury’s latest forecasts show:

The state is expected to post a $1.3 billion surplus in 2027-28, $200 million more than projected at the 2025-26 Budget.
Gross debt is projected to be $177.2 billion by June 2026, $1.5 billion lower than projected at the Budget.
Average expense growth is projected to be 2.6 per cent per annum over the forward estimates, down from the 6.5 per cent average expense growth each year between 2011-12 and 2022-23.
Real wages remain on track to grow each year over the forward estimates, despite inflationary pressures lingering in the Australian economy.

The Review reflects the Minns Labor Government’s disciplined strategy to turn around the large deficit it inherited in 2023. Since then the Government has:

Eliminated wasteful spending by implementing the most comprehensive expenditure review in decades.
Slashed interest expenses by $500 million per annum after cutting gross debt by $11 billion, compared to the Pre-Election Budget Update.
Cut spending on consultants and senior executives, using the savings to rebuild the state’s essential services.
Repaired the state’s broken insurance schemes by overhauling workers compensation and insourcing police death and disability protection.
Driven higher investment returns by creating OneFund, a framework which overhauls the state’s fund management strategy.

Today’s Review books the spending decisions the Government has taken since the 2025-26 Budget.

It includes the cost of offering ongoing cost-of-living relief to NSW motorists by making the $60 toll cap permanent, as well as the costs of terminating the Liberals’ disastrous privatisation of the Northern Beaches Hospital and returning it to public ownership.

The Half-Yearly Review is available here

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“NSW has had a horrible week. The state’s focus must remain on healing.

“Today’s Half-Yearly Review updates markets and the public about the state of the Government’s finances. It reports a slight improvement in the budget results, and accounts for our

decisions to make the toll cap permanent and return the Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership.”

Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said:

“Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by the horrific events of the past week.

“The budget forecasts are steady and consistent with the June Budget. It demonstrates the Government’s careful and disciplined approach to managing the public’s money.”

NSW opposition to re-introduce legislation to strengthen community safety and social cohesion

The NSW Opposition will next week move to re-introduce legislation designed to strengthen community safety, protect social cohesion and reinforce public confidence in the rule of law, and is calling on the Minns Labor Government to reconsider its current position and support their urgent passage through the Parliament.

Leader of the Opposition Kellie Sloane said the horrific terrorist attack underscored the need for proportionate, responsible action.

“Sunday’s attack was a profound shock to our State. It was an attack on innocent people in a public place, on the Jewish community, and on the values that bind NSW together,” Ms Sloane said.

“It has forced us to confront a hard truth, when hatred is allowed to grow unchecked, the consequences are real, immediate and devastating.”

“At a time of heightened social tension and rising antisemitism, bipartisan leadership on community safety is not optional, it is essential.”

“The NSW Opposition stands ready to act constructively and responsibly. That is why we will re-introduce these measures and urge the Government to use the recall of Parliament to support their urgent passage.”

The objectives of the Bills:

Crimes Amendment (Display of Nazi and Terrorist Symbols) Bill 2025

Addresses a clear gap in current NSW law by extending existing offences beyond Nazi symbols to cover a broader range of extremist and terrorist symbols.
Expands section 93ZA to include terrorist symbols, including symbols that a reasonable person would recognise as a terrorist symbol, which are not comprehensively captured under existing federal law.
Targets the use of symbols that are deployed to intimidate communities, glorify violence and normalise extremist ideologies.
Strengthens penalties to reflect the seriousness of the conduct, including higher 5 year maximum penalties, District not Local Court jurisdiction and the introduction of a standard 1.5 year imprisonment non-parole period.
Sends a clear and unambiguous deterrent message that extremist hate, intimidation and glorification of terrorism have no place in New South Wales.

Summary Offences Amendment (Public Assemblies) Bill 2025

Recalibrates the regulatory framework for public assemblies to better balance the right to protest with public order and the rights of the broader community.
Requires decision-makers to consider public amenity and social cohesion, economic impact, disruption to the community and the public cost associated with proposed protests.
Confers clearer powers on police and courts to assess and weigh these factors when determining whether a proposed assembly should proceed.
Is designed to operate consistently with the implied freedom of political communication.
Introduces measures to address repeat protests, the deliberate shielding of identity and the recovery of policing costs to deter intentional disruption and ensure accountability.
Preserves the right to lawful protest while discouraging conduct that imposes unreasonable costs or disruption on the wider community.

Shadow Attorney General, Alister Henskens said the package was targeted and proportionate to risks that are no longer theoretical.

“NSW should confront hatred early, enforce its laws firmly, and stand united in defence of our shared values,” Mr Henskens said.

“Previously the Government have voted against these sensible measures. Now is an opportunity for the Parliament to show bi-partisan support to strengthen community safety and social cohesion in NSW.”

Appeal to locate man missing from Cliftleigh

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a man missing from the state’s Hunter region.

Barry Parker, aged 78, was last seen on Busby Street, Cliftleigh, about 9.30pm yesterday (Thursday 18 December 2025).

Officers attached to Lake Macquarie Police District were notified and commenced inquiries into his whereabouts.

Police and family hold concerns for Barry’s welfare due to his age.

Barry is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 170cm – 175cm tall, of medium build, with grey hair and grey eyes.

He was last seen wearing a black shirt and navy-blue shorts.

Inquiries established Barry may be traveling to Queensland in a silver 2017 Honda SUV with NSW Registration DLE14Y.

Barry is believed to frequent Bolton Point, Cliftleigh areas.

Hate Speech: 24 Groups Call for Ban on ‘Toxic Masculinity’

Twenty-four organizations around the world are today calling for classification of the phrase, “toxic masculinity,” as hate speech. The organizations consider “toxic masculinity” to be a slur that is inaccurate, hurtful, and harmful. The groups are calling for print media, social media, and publications to eliminate use of this offensive phrase.

The 24 organizations are located in nine countries in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America – see listing, below.

Until the 1980s, masculinity was seen as a positive attribute: “active,” “dominant,” and “self-contained.” But over time, gender activists began to assign a variety of negative qualities to the ideal, such as “misogyny” and “homophobia” – attributes that conflate common normative characteristics with deviant traits.

Then in 2005, psychologist Terry Kupers issued a sweeping condemnation of “toxic masculinity,” which he characterized as the “constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence.” (1)

In response, British psychologist John Barry conducted a survey to ascertain how persons viewed the term, “toxic masculinity.” Large majorities of both men and women saw the phrase as insulting: Men: 88%; Women: 85%. (2)

A follow-up survey of over 4,000 men in the UK and Germany found that thinking masculinity is “bad for you” is significantly related to a person’s worse mental well-being (3).

Ignoring these insights, the United Nations jumped on the ideological bandwagon, issuing a guidance document in 2023, Men’s Accountability for Gender Equality. The UN report irrationally condemns “toxic masculinity” as a “key driver of violence against women and girls in all spheres of life.” (4)

The United Nations document does not cite a single scientific study to support this far-fetched conclusion. Indeed, scientists have that repeatedly documented the fact that domestic violence affects equal numbers of men and women around the world (5).

The female counterpart, “toxic femininity” is widely seen as unacceptable (6). Likewise, growing numbers of groups have called for viewing the phase, “toxic masculinity” as hateful and harmful:

GQ: “It’s Time to Retire the Term ‘Toxic Masculinity’” (7)
National Coalition for Men: “NCFM’s Position on Toxic Masculinity… Stop Male Bashing” (8)
The Atlantic: “The Problem With the Term ‘Toxic Masculinity’” (9)

The following organizations are now calling for elimination of the phrase, “toxic masculinity:”

Australia

Celebrating Masculinity
Men’s Rights Agency

Bermuda

Child Watch

England and Wales

APPG on Men and Boys’ Issues
False Allegations Support Organization
Marriage, Sex & Culture Group
Power and Control Wheel
UK Falsely Accused Steering Group

Israel

By Your Side
Fathers for Justice

Italy

Welcome Back Father

Malta

Maricamicallef.com

Netherlands

Father Knowledge Centre Netherlands
Platform for European Fathers

Scotland

Men Only
Men and Boys Initiative

United States

Colorado Resilience
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Men
Domestic Violence Wears Many Tags
Men Are Good
Parental Alienation Consortium
Parental Alienation Study Group
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE)
The Law Center

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — unites 222 member organizations from 42 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse policies are science-based, family-affirming, and gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

Links:

Man charged after elderly woman found dead – Port Stephens

A man has been charged with murder after an elderly woman was found dead at a home in Port Stephens.

About 12.30pm today (Thursday 18 December 2025), a 61-year-old man attended Newcastle Police Station in relation to an incident at a home in Fern Bay.

Officers attached to Port Stephens Hunter Police District attended a home in Taylor Road and found an 88-year-old woman deceased inside.

Police established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

A short time later, a 61-year-old man attended Newcastle Police Sation.

Following inquiries, detectives arrested the man, who is known to the woman.

He has now been charged with murder (DV) by detectives attached to Port Stephens Hunter Police District.

The 61-year-old man was refused bail and will appear at Newcastle Local Court tomorrow (Friday 19 December 2025).

World War II aircraft located in Papua New Guinea

After 82 years, the wreckage of a Royal Australian Air Force Beaufort aircraft lost during a World War II mission has been located in the rugged Baining Mountains of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea.

This discovery ends more than eight decades of uncertainty for families of the Australian crew who disappeared with the aircraft.

The crew of Beaufort A9-211 were:

Pilot: Flight Sergeant (FSGT) John Eardley Kenny
Navigator: FSGT Arthur John Davies
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: FSGT Thomas Burrowes
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: FSGT Murray Fairbairn

On 14 December 1943, Beaufort A9-211 from No.100 Squadron was undertaking a night mission when it reportedly encountered adverse weather conditions. Tragically, the aircraft never returned to base and was declared missing.

In 2021, Air Force was alerted to wreckage located in the Baining Mountains. Following extensive research and analysis, the wreckage was formally identified as Beaufort A9-211.

The Australian Government remains committed to the recovery, identification and burial of all personnel who died while serving – no matter how many years may pass.

Over the past decade, Air Force has identified seven missing aircraft, recovered remains of two aviators and accounted for 41 aviators deemed missing in action from World War II.

The search continues for the more than 3,140 missing aviators with no known grave, involving over 1,000 missing aircraft from World War II and the Korean War.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh:

“This aircraft discovery is significant and offers the chance to provide closure to families who have long wondered about the final resting place of loved ones.

“The Australian Government is committed to honouring the service and sacrifice of Australian military personnel from all theatres of war.

“It is a measure of who we are as a nation that we continue to strive to find, recover and identify our missing service personnel.

“We are grateful for the support and assistance provided by authorities in Papua New Guinea throughout this process, particularly the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery, without which the investigation could not have taken place.”

Mini budget sees massive negative gearing blowout, funds flow to fossil fuels

Today’s MYEFO has seen a massive blowout in the costs of maintaining Labor’s handouts.

Fossil fuel subsidies continue to grow, costing an unsustainable $44.3 billion over the estimates while gas companies will pay 23% less tax under the broken PRRT
Property investors are blowing a hole in the budget, with negative gearing soaring 18% year after year to total $29.2bn this financial year
For multi-millionaires, the Prime Minister’s revised super tax break for them has cost the budget $4.2 billion across the forward Estimates.

Meanwhile, the Treasurer has warned of “difficult decisions to come”, while boasting of banking all savings in this update, instead of funding services to bring down the cost of living and protect nature.

In the middle of a cost of living crisis, this shows the government continues to prioritise tax cuts for multimillionaires ahead of workers.

The government’s weak reforms to the gas tax have also failed, drawing $500m less than anticipated, as corporations continue to evade the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax. With a 23% drop in gas tax revenue, the downgrade is as substantial as that seen on tobacco excise.

The Greens have again reiterated that a 25% flat levy on gas exports would solve the government’s challenges of ensuring gas exporters don’t just ship it all overseas, leaving Australians with higher energy bills.

Senator Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens said:

“We’re in a cost of living crisis, but Labor continues to put handouts for wealthy property investors, fossil fuel subsidies and multimillionaires ahead of everyone else.

“This mini budget from Labor sees more money go towards wealthy property investors, while they’re taking less and less from multimillionaires and giant gas corporations.

“People with a dozen houses or $15 million in their super don’t need a helping hand from the government – but Labor’s continuing to put them ahead of everyone who works for a living.

“Millions of people are doing it tough trying to find a home and keep their heads above water, but Labor is still refusing to tax multimillionaires fairly, to help raise revenue to fund more for housing or essential services.”

Senator Nick McKim, Australian Greens economic spokesperson said:

“The increase in negative gearing is obscene and confirms that property speculators are the big winners from Labor’s so-called housing reforms.”

“Labor seems to have totally given up on demanding any tax from offshore oil and gas extraction.”

“This is a slap in the face to ordinary Australians who are working hard and paying tax.”

“There is so much more that could be done to make big corporations and the super wealthy pay their fair share of tax so we can invest in protecting nature and supporting the millions of Australians struggling to make ends meet.”

“Labor may have given up on a fairer economic system, but the Greens will not.”

Greens back Gun Safety Alliance Plan in NSW Parliament

The NSW Parliament will be recalled on Monday 22 December in the afternoon and Tuesday 23 December, the only items of business will be a condolence motion and legislation arising from the Bondi incident.

It is understood this includes stronger gun laws that will set the pace for national reform in the wake of the horrific antisemitic mass shooting in Bondi.

The Australian Gun Safety Alliance, made up of Australia’s leading public-health, community-safety and firearm-harm prevention organisations, have released a ten-point blueprint for gun reform.

Greens MP Sue Higginson has written to the Premier and to Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane offering to pass the reforms contained within the Alliance’s ten-point plan through NSW Parliament.

Greens MP and Spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said:

“The guns used to inflict the horrifying antisemitic killings and violence on Bondi beach should never have been in the hands of the hate fuelled depraved shooters and the fact that they were, is a failing of our gun laws and their implementation,

“The Premier has identified reforms to enable greater consideration of intelligence by police when licensing firearms. What he has not mentioned is that the Firearms Act already provides for consideration of criminal intelligence, but it has been limited in its application. Police need to be able to undertake and rely upon a broad range of intelligence from all intelligence agencies when we are talking about gun safety,

“The organisations working to curb gun violence have put forward an evidence-based plan to ensure some of the world’s tightest gun laws in the wake of this horror, and it’s time for us as lawmakers to unify around these reforms,

“Now is the time to heed the advice of experts, advocates and survivors and rule out recreational hunting as a genuine reason to own a firearm. We must not forget that we came very close in NSW this year to relaxing our laws around recreational hunting. It was the work of the experts and the community who stopped this,

“It’s essential that we outlaw political donations from the gun lobby. Public policymaking on an issue as serious as gun reform cannot be affixed to politics or political donations in any way,

“It is very concerning that the gun lobby and their allies are using racism to obfuscate the failures of gun control and laws in this moment, which is exactly what we see in America. Australia is not America and we cannot go down America’s path in our rhetoric or our law,

“The Greens stand willing to work with the Government and the Opposition to pass world-leading strong gun law reform through the NSW Parliament,

“In the wake of the Port Arthur Massacre we came together and walked in the right direction on gun restrictions, and now is the moment that all sides of politics must unify to walk in the right direction again,

“Of course we must also tackle antisemitism and extremism at its root, but the reality is that antisemites have used guns to murder innocent people. Removing those guns is the most immediate action we can take to curb violent extremism.”

Crackdowns on civil liberties are a step in the wrong direction

The NSW Greens have grave concerns about proposed new laws to allow police to refuse all peaceful assemblies during undefined periods of terrorism designations.

Greens MP and Spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said:

“In the aftermath of the horrific antisemitic Bondi Beach mass shooting, Australians have been called upon to unify, to wrap our arms around the Jewish community, and to check in on one another, and we must all heed those calls,”

“We have not been called upon to divide communities by infringing upon civil liberties. Peaceful assembly is a fundamental civil liberty and now is not the time to restrict our civil liberties. The Government should not do this,”

“If the Government is hell bent on doing this they must at the very least make such powers temporary, otherwise this move will be read in history as disingenuous opportunism,”

“There is such an important distinction to make between peaceful and nonviolent protests for peace, and gatherings with the express intention of hate speech, hate preaching, or violence. Police have so many tools at their disposal to address gatherings where hate speech may occur, and they should use those tools,”

“Now is the time for unity in the fight against all forms of hate and radicalisation. We need to make laws and take action based on evidence, reason and need,”

“Together with the Greens, the NSW Government has a chance to pass world-leading gun reform which will remove guns from extremists who would seek to harm the innocent. I think it’s such a shame to depart from that by assigning blame to peaceful protests in this moment,”

“I hold serious concerns that controversial changes to protest laws are counter-productive to the aims of genuine social cohesion right now. These laws, like other anti-protest laws before them, seem to me like they will face significant headwinds in the Courts due to their potential to infringe on our freedom of political communication within the Constitution,”

“Our protest laws are already some of the most restrictive in the world. Form 1 applications can be refused on the grounds of genuine risks to public safety,”

“There are no planned demonstrations right now, in fact many events including events calling for peace in Gaza have been postponed out of respect. I think the Premier’s assumption that a disrespectful demonstration could occur is out of step with the outpouring of respect, love and compassion we have seen from the people of New South Wales,”

“We are entirely committed to tackling antisemitism and racism wherever it occurs, limiting peaceful assembly is not how we do this,”

“For most of this year in the NSW Parliament the Greens have been opposing efforts to water down gun laws and calling for more investment in programs to counter violent extremism,”

“We have so much evidence about what solutions exist to tackle hate speech and violence and we should all be coming together to enact those solutions. It is such a shame to see a divisive response in these circumstances.”

Optus failures show telco must have its license reviewed

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson for communications and Chair of the Senate Inquiry into Triple 0 service outage:

“This is a damning report of the culture within Optus, their contractor Nokia and the entire Triple 0 system. It is deeply concerning to see laid bare how many mistakes were made along the way and how Optus did not have the processes in place to manage such a failure.

“Optus’ failures were systematic and widespread. Optus failed at every step – they failed to keep their customers safe and failed to ensure the public and government were informed. The company prioritised its own interests over the needs and concerns of its customers and stakeholders.

“For too long, Optus has put profits ahead of safety and its customers. The company must face serious consequences for its failure.

“The Government must now review Optus’ licence and licence conditions. Going soft on the telco is not an option.

“The Government must lead an urgent review into the camp-on provisions that also failed in this incident. It is simply not good enough to have calls taking 40-60 seconds to connect and this needs urgent action.

“The Triple 0 system is clearly not fit for purpose and requires a serious overhaul, to ensure it both works and is trusted by all Australians. Big telcos like Optus view the delivery of emergency service calls as a chore, not as an essential service.

“The ACMA has failed to hold these big companies to account. It’s an open secret that ACMA is a light touch on industry, putting public safety at risk. It’s time for a root and branch review and new leadership of the regulator.

“Optus and Singtel representatives will be called back before the Senate inquiry early 2026.”