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From Trundle to Tambar Springs, and Broken Hill to Bourke, the NSW Government has provided almost 300 quality new homes in regional communities that need them most, helping ease staffing pressures and support essential services across NSW.

Housing is the number one issue for the people of New South Wales, which is why the Minns Labor Government is building more homes to buy and rent right across the state.

The $165 million Key Worker Housing (KWH) Program is delivering vital accommodation for teachers and police officers in more than 90 regional towns, including some of the most remote areas in the state.

Working in partnership with the Department of Education and the NSW Police Force, Homes NSW is delivering 221 teacher homes and 69 police homes, with more than 80 per cent of the homes already complete.

By partnering with local builders and suppliers, the program has injected more than $55 million into regional economies across the state.

Innovation has also been at the forefront of the program, with Homes NSW using Modern Methods of Construction to build 58 of the 290 homes, helping deliver teacher and police housing faster and more efficiently in some of NSW’s most remote and hard-to-reach communities.

With the final projects in the program now underway, Homes NSW has begun consulting with key agencies and Government departments to identify future housing needs and ensure communities continue to have the housing infrastructure needed to attract and retain essential workers.

This work complements the Minns Labor Government’s historic $6.6 billion Building Homes for NSW program, which is delivering 8,400 new public homes, 21,000 affordable and market homes, and upgrades to 30,000 existing social housing properties across NSW.

Deputy Premier of New South Wales and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“Ensuring public schools in regional communities have the teachers they need is essential to providing students with the high-quality education they deserve, right where they live.

“Supporting teachers in regional NSW wasn’t a priority for the Nationals and Liberals, whose hands-off approach to regional education left communities playing catch-up.

“The Minns Labor Government is reversing that approach and building modern, affordable homes to help reduce teacher vacancies across regional NSW.”

Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:

“NSW Police officers do an incredible job serving regional communities, and they deserve access to safe, secure and affordable housing wherever they are posted.

“When we invest in housing for police officers, we’re investing in safer communities. This program is helping regional towns attract and keep the officers who work every day to keep local people safe.

“This is just one of the ways we are helping to rebuild the NSW Police across regional areas; our investments in housing, coupled with our ‘Be a cop in your hometown’ initiative are helping to make Regional NSW safer by ensuring more boots on the ground.”

Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said:

“This program not only houses essential police and teachers but injects millions of dollars into regional economies with funds flowing to local builders and suppliers.

“The use of new innovative methods to get the housing delivered quicker and more cost effectively demonstrates our regional businesses and workers are highly skilled and driving solutions for our statewide housing issues.”

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson said:   

“Regional communities are struggling to attract and retain essential workers, and housing is a big part of the challenge. You can’t recruit police officers and teachers if there’s nowhere for them to live. That’s why this program is so important.

“To deliver 290 homes teacher and police homes across regional NSW in just over four years, including in some of the most remote parts of the state, is a significant achievement and shows what’s possible when government invests in the infrastructure communities need.

“With the final projects now locked in, we’re working with agencies across government to make sure we continue to deliver much-needed housing in regional communities that attracts and keeps these key workers they heavily rely on.”

The NSW Government has commenced a rollout of targeted vaccinations for vulnerable species of birds to help protect them against H5 avian influenza (bird flu).

A combination of insurance populations in captivity and wild populations of birds will be vaccinated. This includes the Little Penguins in Manly and Barunguba Montague Island.

Taronga Conservation Society Australia vaccinated the first birds this week, with trial cohorts of Little Penguins, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos and Red-tailed Black Cockatoos among the first species to receive the initial dose of the two-dose vaccine course.

The NSW Government is working with Taronga to vaccinate and monitor wild Little Penguins at Manly Point.

Other wildlife facilities across NSW will join the state’s vaccine program, ensuring as many species as possible can be covered.

The vaccine requires two doses, administered three-to-four weeks apart. Birds in trials must remain in a controlled environment while completing their primary vaccination course and for 14 days following the second dose so they can be closely monitored for any adverse effects.

The NSW Government is continuing to work with wildlife organisations and other relevant partners to assess potential vaccination sites and ensure appropriate infrastructure, safety measures, veterinary oversight and other requirements are in place before vaccination commences.

NSW is continuing to learn about how the vaccine performs in native wildlife. The controlled vaccination program will provide an opportunity to closely monitor vaccinated animals and identify any potential adverse effects as further plans to vaccinate are progressed.

Complementing the broader rollout of vaccinations, Taronga is leading a vaccine trial that will provide valuable data on immune responses, vaccine effectiveness and future vaccination strategies in threatened and zoo-managed birds.

NSW is taking a careful, evidence-based approach to vaccination, with animal welfare, safety and the latest scientific and veterinary advice guiding decisions about when we use vaccines.

Vaccination is not a standalone solution or a silver bullet for H5 bird flu. It is one tool within a broader response that includes surveillance, preparedness planning, biosecurity and conservation measures.

NSW continues to strengthen surveillance and preparedness for H5 bird flu and has established preparedness plans for priority wildlife sites across the state.

Bird flu has not been detected in commercial poultry flocks or captive birds anywhere in Australia and the risk to human health remains low.

The community also plays an important role in early detection. If you encounter a suspected sick bird or marine mammal, avoid contact, record what you see and report it immediately to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.

More than 5,000 calls have been received by the Hotline which has been up and running since June at the State Coordination Centre in Orange.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:

“The unfortunate reality is that H5 bird flu is a significant threat to our native bird populations.

“While no government can stop the virus from spreading, vaccination programs like this one rolling out at Taronga Zoo are part of our efforts to help protect some of Australia’s most beloved native birds.”

Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe said:

“We are deeply concerned about the impact that H5 bird flu could have on our native wildlife.

“No government policy can stop this virus form spreading through our wild bird populations. What we can do to support our wildlife is vaccinate insurance populations, protect their habitat and eliminate invasive species.

“From captive wildlife to wild populations, we are carefully considering where vaccination can help protect our precious birds”

Minister for Agriculture, Regional and Western NSW Tara Moriarty said:

“This targeted vaccination program is another important step in NSW’s ongoing work to prepare for and respond to H5 bird flu.

“Vaccination is not a silver bullet, but it is one practical tool we can use alongside surveillance and preparedness planning to help protect vulnerable native wildlife.

“We know this disease presents risks for native wildlife and poultry producers which is why we having been planning for some time with our best veterinary and scientific advisors plus working closely with industry and wildlife groups.

Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Chief Executive Cameron Kerr AO said:

“Taronga is pleased to be working closely with the NSW Government on this nationally significant effort to help protect some of Australia’s most vulnerable bird species from the threat of H5 Bird Flu.

“As a conservation and science-based organisation, this vaccine trial represents an important opportunity to strengthen the scientific evidence base for avian influenza vaccination in threatened birds.

“Through this work, Taronga will generate valuable data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine across a diverse range of species, helping to inform future disease preparedness and response efforts across Australia’s unique wildlife.”

More than 130 students are set to make history as the first Year 7 cohort at the new Medowie High School, as the Minns Labor Government delivers the public high school the local community has fought for over decades.

Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington recently visited the site to inspect construction progress, with the new school on track to welcome students from Day 1, Term 1, 2027.

The early enrolment figures demonstrate strong demand for a local public high school, with the inaugural Year 7 cohort already comparable in size with those of established secondary schools across the local area.

Medowie is one of the fastest-growing communities in Port Stephens, with the local population expected to increase by more than 4,000 residents by 2040.

For local families, the new high school will mean students can access a world-class public education, close to home, ending the long daily commute faced by some students to reach their nearest public high school.

The new high school will include 29 modern classrooms, including facilities for specialist support classes, specialist workshops for science, wood and metalwork, creative and performing arts spaces, a new multipurpose hall, library, administration, canteen, and sport facilities.

Road and infrastructure upgrades on Abundance Road and Ferodale Road are also being delivered ahead of the school opening to improve traffic flow and provide safe student pick-up, drop-off, and pedestrian access.

The new Medowie High School is a key Minns Labor Government commitment and the first new high school to be built in the Hunter in more than 25 years.

Since coming to office, the Minns Labor Government has been rebuilding public education and delivering new and upgraded schools across NSW, backed by a record $9.2 billion investment in school infrastructure over the next four years, including $2.3 billion for regional NSW.

Enrolments for the school’s first Year 7 cohort are open via https://medowie-h.schools.nsw.gov.au.

The project is part of our record investment in new schools and upgrades over the next four years, ensuring students across the state have access to a world class public education, close to home.  

Deputy Premier of New South Wales and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“For more than a decade, the former Liberal National government told Medowie families there was no need for a local high school.  

“With more than 130 students already enrolled in its first Year 7 cohort, the evidence is clear – this school was desperately needed.

“The Minns Labor Government is rebuilding public education by investing in the schools, classrooms and facilities our communities need, so every child can attend a great local public school, close to home.”

Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington said:

“Our community always knew this school was desperately needed, and these enrolment numbers prove it.  

“I keep meeting local families who can’t contain their excitement about starting the new school year in a brand new school, with all its wonderful facilities, whilst staying connected to our community.

“After fighting for this school for two decades, I’m proud to be part of the Minns Labor Government that’s finally delivering the local public high school our kids deserve.”

Medowie High School principal Kylee Beasley said:

“It is incredibly exciting to see such strong interest in Medowie High School ahead of our school opening next year.

“It is particularly encouraging to see so many students coming from local partner schools and choosing to continue their secondary education within their community.

“We are looking forward to welcoming our first students and building a strong school community from day one.” 

Extraordinary revelations at Budget Estimates today have exposed the Minister for Small Business and Disaster Recovery treating taxpayer money as her own personal expense account.
 
Under questioning in Budget Estimates, Minister Saffin confirmed she has launched a “rapid audit” into her own spending, but refused to answer any questions about the specific allegations put to her.
 
Among the revelations:

• 52 nights of improper Sydney accommodation claims dismissed as an “administrative error”;
• A five-star Sofitel stay costing $1,200 for two nights (double her reimbursement rate);
• A $530.94 “incidentals” charge she refused to itemise or explain;
• Ministerial staff repeatedly travelling to, and staying in her own electorate when she wasn’t there;
• Incomplete and inaccurate Ministerial diary disclosures; and, 
• Staff billing taxpayers for flights in and out of Canberra instead of Sydney to the tune of almost $3,000.

 
Shadow Minister for Government Accountability Alister Henskens said Minister Saffin told Budget Estimates on two occasions that her staff weren’t charging the taxpayer for flights to and from Canberra.
 
“Her office records show members of staff taking at least seven flights to and from Canberra,” Mr Henskens said. 
 
“It’s unacceptable that the Minister refused to answer questions on taxpayer funded expenditure and even worse that she attempted to justify this use of taxpayer funds.”
 
During estimates, Minister Saffin announced that her office, who she blamed for the “administrative error”, would be conducting the review into her spending.  
 
NSW Nationals Upper House MP Sarah Mitchell said this isn’t an administrative error, it’s a pattern of behaviour from this Minister, and the Premier’s office needs to be involved in the audit process. 
 
“Why are four Ministerial staff in her electorate when she was in her Ministerial Office in Sydney? Why are taxpayers forking out for Ministerial staff to swan around NSW with no diary disclosures? The Minister wouldn’t even confirm the total number of staff in her office,” Ms Mitchell said. 
 
“These are basic questions the Minister should be able to answer on the spot. Instead, she has taken them on notice and given herself three weeks to work up a response.”
 
Chris Minns promoted Janelle Saffin to Cabinet after Jo Haylen was dumped for using her Ministerial driver to travel to and from a winery in the Hunter Valley. The question now is if he’ll apply the same standards to Janelle Saffin? 

Family First National Director and NSW Legislative Council candidate Lyle Shelton is calling on Premier Chris Minns to immediately keep his promise that biological males identifying as women will not be housed in New South Wales women’s prisons, saying the latest revelations suggest the Premier has lost control of a corrections system being run by woke bureaucrats thumbing their noses at his publicly stated positions.

Mr Shelton said the scandal also exposed a much bigger problem: the Minns Government’s farcical gender self-identification laws undermine the right of all NSW women and girls to safe, female-only spaces — not just women in prison.

Chris Minns told the people of New South Wales that changing your documents would not allow a biological male to move from a men’s prison to a women’s prison,” Mr Shelton said.

Yet we now know that under his Government that is exactly what has happened.

Premier, keep your promise. Put it into law: no biological male identifying as a woman should ever be housed in a women’s prison. Better still, abolish your stupid laws that say a man can become a woman.

And explain how your corrections bureaucracy was apparently able to disregard the position you publicly gave to the people of New South Wales.

Either Chris Minns is in charge of his Government or the woke bureaucrats are.”

The Daily Telegraph reported today that the male-born inmate at the centre of Thursday’s revelations was granted bail 24 hours after Corrective Services Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Galouzis told Budget Estimates that one of the state’s 47 transgender inmates was “housed according to their identified sex”, and hours after the paper sent questions to Corrective Services, Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong and Premier Chris Minns.

The paper reports it is understood Corrective Services and the Government were told of the successful bail application only after the story was published.

The man faces charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, wilful and obscene exposure, and using offensive language in or near a school.

A man charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was in a women’s prison on Monday and out of it on Tuesday,” Mr Shelton said.

Nobody should be asked to accept that timing without an explanation.”

Mr Shelton said bail was properly a decision for a court, but the circumstances surrounding the case demanded answers from the Government.

Who applied and when, did the Crown oppose it, who was consulted, and is it true that the Commissioner who approved the transfer learned of the release after the fact are all questions the Premier must answer,” Mr Shelton said.

Women’s Minister Jodie Harrison told Budget Estimates on Thursday that she had not been advised of the transfer, did not know where the inmate was being housed, and did not know whether he had been “sharing accommodation, showers or changerooms with female inmates”.

In May, asked to define the word “woman”, Ms Harrison declined, saying instead that women and girls should be safe and feel safe “in all settings, including schools, hospitals, changerooms and sporting environments”.

The Minister for Women says women and girls should be safe in every setting, yet she cannot tell you what a woman is,” Mr Shelton said.

You cannot protect a category you refuse to define.

And this is why what has happened in the prison system matters to every woman and girl in New South Wales.

If biological sex can be displaced by gender identity, the same principle threatens female-only spaces everywhere — prisons, hospital wards, refuges, changerooms, sporting competitions and other facilities where women and girls have a legitimate expectation of privacy, dignity and safety.”

In May the Premier said a male who changes his certificates cannot change prisons, and that biological differences “needs to be reflected in the law”.

Three months on, not a line of New South Wales law has changed.

Since 1 July 2025 an adult can change the sex recorded on a birth certificate with a statutory declaration and a supporting statement from somebody who has known them for twelve months.

The Corrective Services policy governing the placement of transgender inmates has been off the public portal for 13 months. Forty-six of 47 transgender inmates are housed according to biological sex, while one is not, apparently as a result of the Commissioner’s discretion.

A policy that ultimately rests on one official’s discretion is not protection for women,” Mr Shelton said.

The Premier told NSW that biological sex matters in prisons. His bureaucrats appear to have done something different. Now he needs to decide whether he runs the Government or they do.”

Family First is calling on Premier Chris Minns to put his Government’s position into law rather than leave it to press conferences and bureaucratic discretion:

• Legislate that no biological male is held in a women’s correctional centre, regardless of a change of certificate or surgery.
• Apply a clear biological definition of woman across New South Wales law, including corrections, anti-discrimination, health, sport, schools and public facilities.
• Restore biological sex as the basis of birth certificates and publish the withdrawn Corrective Services policy, along with relevant ministerial directions governing inmate placement.
• Explain fully and publicly the sequence of events surrounding this inmate’s placement and subsequent release on bail.

Family First again backs Opposition Corrections spokesman Anthony Roberts’s call for an inquiry.

Mr Shelton said that if elected to the Legislative Council in March 2027 he would move to repeal the gender self-identification laws.

This scandal is about far more than one prisoner,” Mr Shelton said.

Gender self-ID erases the legal boundary women and girls rely upon when they need female-only spaces.

Women in prison are among the most vulnerable women in our community, but they are not the only ones entitled to privacy, dignity and safety.

Every girl changing for sport, every woman in a hospital ward, every domestic violence survivor seeking refuge and every woman using a female-only facility has a right to expect that ‘female-only’ actually means female.

Chris Minns acknowledged that biological differences matter. Now he needs to make the law reflect that reality and keep the promise he made to the women of New South Wales.”

KEY FACTS:

• A male-born inmate transferred into a NSW women’s prison was granted bail after Budget Estimates evidence that one inmate was “housed according to their identified sex”, and hours after The Daily Telegraph sent questions to Corrective Services, the Corrections Minister and the Premier. The charges include wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, wilful and obscene exposure, and using offensive language in or near a school (The Daily Telegraph, 28 August 2026).
• Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Galouzis told Budget Estimates there are 47 transgender inmates in custody and 46 are accommodated according to their biological sex. Women’s Minister Jodie Harrison said she had not been advised of the transfer and did not know whether the inmate had been “sharing accommodation, showers or changerooms with female inmates” (The Daily Telegraph, 28 August 2026).
• Premier Chris Minns said in May 2026 that changing government certificates “will not mean that you can change from a male prison to a female prison” and that biological differences “needs to be reflected in the law”. In the same month Ms Harrison declined to define the word “woman”, saying women and girls should be safe “in all settings, including schools, hospitals, changerooms and sporting environments” (The Daily Telegraph, May 2026).
• Since 1 July 2025 no medical procedure is required to change the sex recorded on a NSW birth certificate (NSW Government). The Corrective Services policy on transgender inmates came off its public portal in July 2025 and has not been replaced 13 months later (The Daily Telegraph, 27 August 2026).