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More gunfire in Sydney’s suburbs

The Minns Labor Government must urgently strengthen its response to gun crime after a Lansvale home was reportedly sprayed with up to 12 bullets while three people were inside, leaving residents fearing shootings are becoming normal in their neighbourhood.

A 59-year-old woman, her son and his friend escaped injury when shots tore through the granny flat. Three teenagers have since been charged over their alleged involvement.

Shadow Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Anthony Roberts said a neighbour’s comment that hearing gunfire was no longer surprising should be a wake-up call for Labor.

“When a resident hears gunfire and says it seems normal now, that should ring alarm bells in the Premier’s office,” Mr Roberts said.

“No community should be expected to get used to bullets tearing through homes. Nobody should have to wonder whether their bedroom wall will protect them from the next shooting.

“Three people escaped injury, but their safety should never have depended on where those bullets landed.

“Our police responded quickly, arrested three teenagers and allegedly recovered a firearm. They deserve enormous credit, and a government that matches their efforts with stronger action to stop these weapons reaching our streets.”

Mr Roberts said the alleged involvement of teenagers also raises serious concerns.

“The alleged involvement of three teenagers is another disturbing reminder of the serious youth crime confronting NSW and the need for stronger action from the Minns Labor Government.”

“Families deserve to feel safe in their homes. They should never be told, through government complacency, that this is simply life in Sydney now.”

The NSW Liberals and Nationals’ policies include:

Increasing the maximum penalty for trafficking firearms or ammunition from 20 years to life imprisonment, with a standard non-parole period.
Mandatory jail time for anyone found carrying an illegal gun.
Strengthening Firearms Prohibition Orders to better disrupt serious offending.
Increasing specialist police resources, intelligence capabilities and operational support to target criminal networks and seize illegal firearms.
Doubling resources for the NSW Crime Commission to go after unexplained wealth.

Tangara trains off track

The Minns Labor Government’s signature Tangara refurbishment plan is woefully behind schedule, leaving commuters facing a significant reliability gap into the late 2020s and 2030s.

Analysis undertaken by the Opposition shows:

The refurbishment is up to three years behind schedule, three years into the program. Originally promised to be complete by 2027 now won’t occur until 2029 or 2030.
Despite claims the first refurbished Tangara has been servicing commuters since 4 September; it can be revealed it has only worked for five total days and has been withdrawn from service since 17 September for undisclosed reasons.
There are only four Tangara trains currently being worked on.
By March 2027, nearly three years since the original commitment, the Government only plans to have a total of four out of the 55 trains refurbished.

The delays to the refurbishment program follow questions about the timeline to deliver the new Tangara fleet in the Hunter.

Despite promises by Transport Secretary John Murray the new fleet will be ready by the ‘early 2030s’ comparison to other train programs reveal that commitment is highly unlikely to be met.

In answering questions in Parliament, Transport Minister John Graham was unable to confirm if the manufacturing jobs promised by the Hunter plan would be operating by the 2031 election.

Should the building of the new Tangara fleet face delays, under the Government’s plan it will take the Minns Government nearly 17 years to deliver one new train fleet from coming to office.

Shadow Minister for Transport Natalie Ward said the Tangara program was embarrassingly off track and questioned if the Government’s transport policy was about social media posts or commuters.

“Three years in and their signature program is three years behind schedule. It will take seven years in office to leave commuters with a refurbished train older than most of the people riding it,” Ms Ward said.

“For commuters this means reliability gaps and worse services on an older train. Nostalgia doesn’t get commuters to work on time or get people to use public transport – reliable modern services do.”

“The focus needs to be on commuters who want to get on trains and get to their destination on time.”

Urgent surgery referrals left unread

The Minns Labor Government must explain how urgent surgery referrals were left unread for months at Canterbury Hospital and urgently check referral systems across NSW hospitals to ensure other patients have not been overlooked.

Reports today reveal an unmonitored inbox contained more than 3,000 emails with 16 overdue patient referrals, including four urgent cases requiring surgery within 30 days and 12 semi-urgent cases requiring surgery within 90 days.

Shadow Minister for Health Sarah Mitchell said patients needed immediate care and assurance that referrals were being properly managed across the hospital system.

“Patients were waiting for surgery while their referrals sat unread in an inbox. This is a basic failure with potentially serious consequences,” Ms Mitchell said.

“The immediate question is whether anyone else is waiting for treatment because nobody has read their referral.”

“The Health Minister must urgently ensure referral systems are checked across NSW hospitals. Patients and their families need confidence that this failure is not happening elsewhere.”

Member for Oatley and Shadow Minister for South Western Sydney Mark Coure said the reports were deeply concerning for local families who rely on Canterbury Hospital.

“This also matters to families in my electorate, who are sometimes treated at Canterbury Hospital when St George Hospital is at capacity. We need answers about whether any local residents have been affected,” Mr Coure said.

“Our doctors and nurses work hard under enormous pressure. They need reliable systems and proper administrative support to ensure patients receive timely treatment.”

“Patients deserve more than an apology. They deserve answers, accountability and confidence that their referral will be received and acted on.”

Centenary of parliament sitting

To mark 100 years since our national parliament first met in Canberra, the 48th Australian Parliament will sit for a day at Old Parliament House in April next year.

The special sitting day will see Question Time, legislation and other statements return to the Chambers of Old Parliament House for the first time in decades.

In 1927, the “Provisional Parliament” was opened in Canberra and our national parliamentarians continued to meet in that building until 1988.

Learning from our democratic history and institutions is more important than ever.

In its role as the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House has continued to play a vital role in the civic education of Australians.

Arrangements are being advised and supported by the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Centenary of Parliament in Canberra, chaired by the Member for Newcastle and Deputy Speaker, Sharon Claydon MP, with Member for Riverina and former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack MP, as Deputy Chair.

I thank the Committee for their continued work to celebrate the Centenary and our democratic institutions.

Our unbroken democracy goes to the heart of who we are as a nation and why we continue to be a beacon to the rest of the world.

Minns Government’s new “Independent” Office of Animal Welfare subject to control and direction of Agriculture Minister

The Australian Alliance for Animals is calling for amendments to the Office of Animal Welfare Bill introduced in Parliament today, warning that ministerial control and weakened expert consultation requirements risk undermining the reform and setting the state back on animal welfare.
The Alliance said the Bill needed to be strengthened to enable the Minns Labor Government to deliver its key election commitment of establishing an Independent Office of Animal Welfare.
Under the proposed legislation, key functions of the office, including reviewing and advising on animal welfare matters, can only be exercised at the written request of the Minister for Agriculture.
Australian Alliance for Animals Policy Director, Dr Jed Goodfellow, said the Bill fails to match the Government’s promise of strengthening animal welfare and creating independent oversight.
“An independent office of animal welfare that is subject to the control and direction of the very Minister it is supposed to have independence from is nonsensical.”
“It defeats the entire purpose of the office and doesn’t pass the pub test.”
“An independent office must be able to examine animal welfare problems without first needing the Minister for Agriculture’s permission,” Dr Goodfellow said.
The Bill also removes the statutory requirement to consult the Animal Welfare Advisory Council, made up of independent experts in animal welfare and veterinary science, on regulations incorporating animal welfare guidelines.
“The Government says this reform will deliver independent advice, yet it removes an existing requirement to consult its expert animal welfare advisory council.”
“That weakens a safeguard for expert input when the Government should be strengthening it.”
Dr Goodfellow said amendments should allow the Office to initiate animal welfare reviews independently and preserve a statutory role for expert advisory input.
“Protecting animals is a shared community concern. Nearly 80% of Australians support an independent authority overseeing animal welfare policy.”
“Without these changes, the Government risks falling short of its promise to establish an independent office.”
“There is still an opportunity to get this right. We urge the Government to work with Parliament to strengthen the Bill and deliver the independence it promised.”

Further charges laid after ten people injured in crash near Newcastle

Further charges laid after ten people were allegedly struck by a vehicle in the state’s Hunter region earlier this month.

About 9.30am on Saturday 3 October 2026, emergency services were called to Newcastle Link Road, at the Transfield Drive roundabout, Wallsend, following reports a vehicle had allegedly struck multiple people.

The persons struck were part of a large crowd that were in attendance to support a local sporting team.

Officers attached to Newcastle City Police District attended, alongside Traffic and Highway Patrol officers and NSW Ambulance paramedics.

Ten people were injured and were treated on the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics, before being taken to John Hunter Hospital.

The driver – an 18-year-old P1 Provisional licence holder – was arrested and charged.

Following further investigations, the 18-year-old man has now been served with an additional eight offences including:

* Dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm – drive manner dangerous,

* Negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and

* Six counts of cause bodily harm by misconduct, in charge of motor vehicle.

The matter is next in Newcastle Local Court on Thursday (15 October 2026).

Greens push for economic security reforms for women

Australia must use every lever at its disposal to end femicide in this country, which is why the Greens are moving amendments that will stop government support from tying women to their current and former partners.

The Greens will move amendments that seek to abolish partner income testing from social security means-testing provisions and to prevent Family Tax Benefit debts from being raised against women who are owed unpaid child support.

Current tax laws presume that single parents have received all child support payments they are owed when managed privately, despite this being incorrect two thirds of the time. This can result in women being incorrectly assessed as owing tens of thousands of dollars in tax. Labor’s proposed changes tinker around the edges but won’t get to the heart of this injustice.

When a woman is killed in Australia every 11 days on average in acts of family and gender-based violence, the Government should be doing everything in its power to support victim-survivors. However, the current social security and child support legislation ties people to their partners and ex-partners, creating financial dependency and facilitating financial abuse even after separation.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman found that the government was recovering Family Tax Benefit debts from parents receiving child support, regardless of whether the parents have actually been paid the Child Support they are owed, creating a significant financial burden.

Government support must not tie people to their partners, and especially ex-partners who are abusing the system.

Greens spokesperson on Social Services, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“The little that social security payments provide is already incompatible with living a decent life, and for women hit with a Family Tax Benefit debt, the extra financial pressure is catastrophic.

“So-called social security reform announced by the Government continually pursues a debt recovery agenda. Social security is supposed to be exactly that: security.

“These debts push parents, especially single mother families, into distress and hardship. Poverty and homelessness already disproportionately impact women and children, and this can follow them through their lives.

“For single mothers and women experiencing domestic and family violence, the last thing they need is the Government placing conditions on receiving support that tie them to their current or former partners.

“The Greens want to ensure that single mothers are not subject to ongoing abuse or huge tax bills. That money should be going to their kids’ future and meeting the rising cost of living.

“The Greens’ amendments ensure that help will be there for all of us when we need it.”

Labor’s stacked AI committee delivers utterly captured message

The reports out of Labor’s AI Joint Committee today prove what the Greens have said: that this Labor controlled committee is a stitch up to appear to be doing something to address community concerns on AI while doing little to take on this US billionaire controlled industry.

Lines attributable to Greens Leader and AI Spokesperson Senator David Shoebridge:

“Labor created, controlled and is running this committee so it’s no surprise at all that the result reads like Labor’s own talking points.

“In setting up this committee it was made clear from the start that the Government would not allow me as the Greens AI spokesperson to have a seat. Hard questions and serious challenges to US big tech was never part of their plan.

“Captive committees doing pretend inquiries serve no one but a Government ducking for cover.

“The letter to the PM from this committee being edited by the PM’s office is a farce worthy of Utopia.

“I know copyright holders are deeply concerned about the foreshadowing in this report on the possible erosion of copyright. They are right to be concerned, it looks like there is nothing this Government isn’t willing to sell out to pander to billionaire big tech owners.

“We support moves towards public investment and ownership in data centres but the rules have to be fixed first so the taxpayer is funding ethical AI not just trashing the environment and our culture for someone else’s profits.

“We are now in the more than ridiculous situation that OpenAI breached a site holding Medicare data and while the investigation is on foot they have secured a recommendation for more funding.

“Sometimes you look back and have to be grateful, not being part of this Labor farce was a blessing after all.”

CHILD CARE PEDOPHILE ASHLEY GRIFFITH TO BE EXTRADITED TO NSW FOR PROSECUTION

The Greens NSW have welcomed the long overdue announcement that childcare pedophile Ashley Griffith will be extradited from Queensland, where he has been serving a life sentence, to NSW for prosecution.

Despite video evidence of his alleged abuse, his admission of guilt to abusing Queensland children, and police identifying nearly two dozen alleged NSW victims, Griffith has yet to face charges for 180 offences committed while employed at a Sydney daycare centre.

The Greens have been fighting, alongside family members of his victims, for Griffith’s extradition for many months. The Greens changed the law to enable legal action to be brought against childcare directors within two years of an abuser’s legal proceedings, rather than within two years of the offence, to enable further prosecutions to be able to result from Griffith’s offending, which would have otherwise passed their statute of limitations due to these delays in the justice system.

Quotes attributable to Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW MP and Chair of the NSW Parliamentary Education Committee:
“I am relieved to learn that Mr Griffith will finally face the courts and a reckoning for his heinous crimes here in NSW.

“The delay that has so far been experienced has only prolonged the heartache and suffering of his victims and their families, and has provided cover to those whose actions or failures to act helped these crimes to occur.

“We have been lobbying the Attorney General, Michael Daley, for his extradition to be expedited. I am glad that now, 7 months after I publicly raised it with the Attorney General, and longer still since the advocacy of myself and the Greens Member for Balmain, Kobi Shetty, began that he is finally going to face some small modicum of justice.

“No amount of time in a cell, no amount of books thrown, will undo the terrible impact of his offending. His prosecution is not a true resolution of anything, it’s simply a reminder of the grave responsibility we have to protect vulnerable children from those who mean them harm.

“We need to be doing everything in our power to prevent the conditions for such abuse from being able to reoccur. That happens by removing the commercial incentives from early childhood education and care, by increasing staffing ratios and by investing in skills and quality with a well paid and well trained workforce. Unfortunately, the reforms I have seen to date from state and federal governments fail to keep children safe, being more interested in punishment after the offence than creating the conditions where such offending is not possible.”

Greens to seek Senate inquiry into Labor’s watered-down trust reforms

The Greens will move for a Senate inquiry into the proposed reforms to the taxation of discretionary trusts, warning that Labor risks squandering an opportunity to make Australia’s tax system fairer.

“In classic Labor fashion, the government has managed to water down its own position before the legislation has even reached Parliament,” Australian Greens Economic Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“These reforms appeared to be mildly positive when they were first announced, but there is a real risk that Labor’s political cowardice is transforming them into yet another missed opportunity.

“Australia’s tax system is riddled with loopholes that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest 1%. Discretionary trusts are one of the ways wealthy people minimise their tax while workers pay more than their share.”

Labor’s original proposal to reform the tax treatment of discretionary trusts has been weakened by a series of subsequent concessions, raising questions about how effective the legislation will be in closing tax loopholes exploited by wealthy Australians.

A Senate inquiry will be able to examine the impact of Labor’s concessions, and whether the legislation goes far enough to address the rampant inequality in Australia’s tax system.

“We want to know exactly what the impacts are of Labor once again collapsing under pressure from vested interests,” Senator McKim said.

“The Greens want genuine tax reform that makes wealthy Australians pay their fair share. We won’t give Labor a free pass on legislation that falls short of that objective.”