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179 new police officers to start across NSW

179 new probationary constables have been sworn into the NSW Police Force today and will start at their new home stations next week.

Class 360 attested at the Goulburn Police Academy following 8 months of training in the Constable Education Program (CEP). Four months by distance, 4 months at the academy. 
 
They will now have 12 months on the job training as a probationary constable.
 
Communities across NSW will see the new boots on the ground on Monday:

  • Central Metropolitan Region – 53
  • Northwest Metropolitan Region – 39
  • Southwest Metropolitan Region – 33
  • Northern Region – 24
  • Southern Region – 17
  • Western Region – 13.

Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley welcomed the new officers to the force and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to rebuild and support our frontline services.
 
Minister Catley and NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb officially opened 3 new accommodation blocks which provide modern, clean and comfortable facilities for the student police officers. 
 
In October, the Minns Labor Government made the historic announcement that student police officers will be paid to study at the Goulburn Police Academy. 
 
Class 360 is the first cohort to receive a one-off payment, the amount of which was pro-rated to the date of the announcement. 
 
From March 2024, student police officers will be employed as clerk grade 1/2 administrative employees on a temporary fixed term contact. 
 
They’ll receive a total salary of approximately $30,984 over the 16-week study period, including super and award-based allowances. 
 
Apply online to become a police officerlaunch
 
NSW Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:
 
“I wish every one of the 179 Attesting Officers a long, rich and rewarding career in the NSW Police Force – the best Police Force in the world.”
 
“Each of these officers have displayed an unwavering commitment to make a difference to the people of NSW. Our state and the policing family is all the richer for it.”
 
“Paid study is now a reality thanks to the Minns Labor Government. There’s never been a better time to join the best police force in the world.”
 
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said:
 
“These officers have today embarked on a career that is unique and like no other.”
 
“This is not just a job; it’s a calling. A calling to serve and protect, to uphold the values of justice and to make a positive impact on all of our communities.”
 
“To the newest members of our organisation, I wish you all the best in your future endeavours with the NSW Police Force.” 

Chris Minns must address housing demand

The NSW Opposition has renewed calls for the Minns Labor Government to work with Federal Labor and Anthony Albanese to reduce the state’s record high immigration rates in order to alleviate pressure on the housing market in the coming years.
 
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said the Government has made a series of announcements to address Sydney’s housing supply, but very little new housing stock will be delivered in this term of government, and some of the projects have a timeframe of up to 10-15 years.
 
“Chris Minns continues to ignore one of the biggest contributing factors to our housing supply shortage, which is unsustainable rates of immigration. His announcements will have no short term impact on rental stress and high house prices,” Mr Speakman said.
 
“Once again, I repeat my offer to work with Chris Minns on the need to push for a better targeted and more sustainable immigration program for NSW. This will help to take the pressure off renters and help improve access to home ownership in the medium term.”
 
New South Wales is expected to receive more than its population share of Australia’s net overseas migrants over the coming years. Net overseas migration will contribute almost 500,000 people to the State’s total expected population growth of 580,000 in the five years to 2026-27.
 
The Opposition has also raised a number of questions regarding today’s announcement of an MOU with the Australian Turf Club.
 
“Chris Minns isn’t able to provide any detail on the cost of this proposal, timeframes for the delivery of the 25,000 houses or when the project will get underway,” Mr Speakman said.
 
“We now know the Government intends on including a new Sydney Metro West station at Rosehill, but this is at least eight years away – what does that mean for the delivery of these 25,000 new homes and their connectivity to Sydney and Parramatta?” 
 
Shadow Minister for Planning, Public Spaces and Housing Scott Farlow warned that the Government’s plans risk undermining efforts currently underway by local governments to increase housing supply.
 
“Many local councils along transport corridors are undertaking work to increase density and increasing housing supply. The risk here is that the Minns Labor Government comes in over the top and takes these plans back to the drawing board,” Mr Farlow said.
 
“Seven of the eight tier 1 sites are already captured by planning as priority growth areas and precincts with extensive planning already underway and the other, Hornsby, adopted a town centre masterplan delivering 4,900 new dwellings and facilitating 4,500 jobs only last week.”
 
“The Government needs to explain how their affordable housing requirements will be applied to existing projects in the pipeline and how their plans will take into consideration heritage constraints as nearly half the stations in Sydney they have selected are impacted by heritage conservation.” 
 
“Delays to the Sydney Metro will mean a gap between housing and infrastructure delivery in The Bays Precinct and North Strathfield Metro.”
 
“The Government still hasn’t provided detail of their ‘snap rezoning’ around 31 train stations – Chris Minns is very good at delivering headlines but poor on detail and how these plans will deliver additional housing.”

Netball NSW 17U and 19U Teams for 2024 Nationals named

Netball NSW has unveiled the athletes which will represent the State at the 2024 National Netball Championships.

The Nationals have provided an opportunity for developing athletes, coaches, umpires and officials to prosper since their inception in 1985, with an array of Australian Diamonds having participated in the pathway event.

In 2024, the 39th edition of the Championship will see two teams (17U and 19U) from each State and Territory compete across six days to be crowned respective age-group national champions at the end of the week.

NSW has a long tradition of success at Nationals with the likes of Liz Ellis, Kim Green, Paige Hadley and Amy Parmenter all coming through the competition.

The NSW 17U Team will be coached by former ex-captain Abbey McCulloch, while another former Swift – Nardia Macdonald – will be assistant coach with Gima Crowdy travelling as an apprentice.

Amber Cross, who has previously led NSW to Nationals success, will lead the 19U team with Stephanie Harrison as her assistant and another former Swift – Samantha May – joining as an apprentice coach.

Mardi Aplin, Netball NSW General Manager of Performance & Pathways, said the selection process was very difficult due to the high calibre of athletes who trialled for selection.

“The skills on display were outstanding and that is thanks to the efforts of our pathway coaches within the Regional Academies of Sport and Netball NSW competitions,” she said.

“For example, the 17U selection process had extensive reach over the past few months with trials being held in Newcastle, Queanbeyan, Orange and Sydney across three phases.

“We are also really proud to have five regional athletes in our 17s and two in our 19s, which demonstrates that the pathway is showcasing players from all areas of NSW.

“In the 19s it is really pleasing to be able to select 10 athletes who recently undertook netball camps at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra after they were Nationally Identified this year.”

The venue and dates for the 2024 Nationals will be announced by Netball Australia in the coming months.

2024 NSW 17U Team

Acacia Elers (Newcastle)
Ellie Hart (Campbelltown District)
Ellie Stacey (Maitland)
Emily McPherson (Wagga Wagga)
Evie Economou (Sutherland Shire)
Grace Tracey (Illawarra District)
Harlym Jennings (Liverpool City)
Kelis Ogle (Liverpool City)
Matilda Percival (Newcastle)
Monique Johnson (Sutherland Shire)
Siulolo Richter (Liverpool City)
Skye Thompson (Sutherland Shire)
2024 NSW 19U Team

Charlie Hawkins (Randwick)
Eugenie Little (Manly Warringah)
Freddie Schneideman (Randwick)
Grace Whyte (Tumut)
Hope White (Newcastle)
Isabella Degei (Penrith District)
Katarina Sincek (Penrith District)
Monika ‘Otai (St George District)
Nevaeh Matenga (Liverpool City)
Nicola Barge (Sutherland Shire)
Olivia Harris (Penrith District)
Yasmeen Janschek (Randwick)

Two in custody following pursuit – Newcastle

A man and woman have been arrested following a pursuit and car fire in the Newcastle area.

Just after 10.30am today (Thursday 7 December 2023), officers attached to a specialist command attempted to stop a white SUV on Fowler Street, Hamilton South.

When the vehicle allegedly failed to stop as directed, a pursuit was initiated and terminated a short time later due to safety concerns.

With assistance from PolAir, the vehicle was tracked to Sygna Close, Rankin Park, where a passenger exited the vehicle.

Police located a 26-year-old woman nearby who was taken to Waratah Police Station; she has since been taken to hospital for assessment.

The vehicle continued before leaving the road and crashing on McCaffrey Drive, Rankin Park; it caught alight, and the fire was extinguished by Fire and Rescue NSW.

The driver – a 27-year-old man – was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics and taken to John Hunter Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

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

OECD REPORT PROVES SCHOOL UNDERFUNDING IS BAKING IN EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY

The Greens say new OECD data showing Australia’s most disadvantaged school students falling further behind their more privileged peers should be the wake-up call Labor needs to finally deliver full funding to public schools.

The 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, the first published since 2018, reveals a growing gap between socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged students in mathematics performance, a worrying sign that inequity is increasingly baked in to the school system.

Some of the report’s key findings include:

  • The average performance of Australian students across reading, mathematics and science continues to trend downwards
  • Advantaged students outperformed their disadvantaged peers by 101 points in mathematics, higher than the OECD average of 93 and a rise of 20 points since 2018
  • The gap between the highest performing students and the weakest students widened in mathematics and science
  • 61% of school principals reported their capacity to provide instruction was hindered by a lack of teaching staff, a 44% jump from 2018

Greens spokesperson on Education (Primary and Secondary) Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“The PISA report reveals that not only is the average performance of Australian students continuing to trend downwards, Australia’s school system is increasingly unequal, with the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students widening over the past four years.

“Only 1.3% of public schools in Australia receive their bare minimum funding. Meanwhile, 98% of private schools are overfunded by governments, and they continue to charge ever-growing private fees, compounding the inequity.

“In the decade since Gonski, combined recurrent funding from Commonwealth, state and territory governments to Independent schools increased 34.04%, while spending on Catholic schools grew 31.17%. Spending on public schools only increased 16.92%.

“First Nations kids, kids in regional, rural and remote areas, neurodivergent and disabled kids, kids experiencing poverty and housing insecurity – when our governments make the choice to leave our public system underfunded, this is who they’re choosing to abandon.

“Labor and the Coalition’s collective failure means we do not have the sector-blind, needs-based funding system that Gonski proposed and all governments signed on to. What we have is the opposite of that: a sector-based, needs-blind Frankenstein stitched together with dodgy deals and caveats.

“With the new National School Reform Agreement and bilateral deals to be negotiated in coming months, and Labor in power federally and across the mainland, this is an historic opportunity to end a decade of false dawns and broken promises and deliver 100% SRS funding to every public school by January 2025.”

FUTURE FUND INVESTING OVER $600 MILLION IN WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS, INCLUDING A BLACKLISTED ISRAELI ARMS COMPANY

Documents obtained by Greens Senator David Shoebridge have revealed how the Future Fund has invested more than $600 million in public funds in global weapons companies. 

The documents, current to 31 October 2023, show the Future Fund has direct holdings in 30 weapons and aerospace companies including Thales, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems.

Remarkably the Fund’s board has invested nearly half a million dollars into the Israel-based Elbit Systems despite the Future Fund being banned from investing in Elbit System since at least 2021 due to ‘exclusions related to military weapons-related Conventions or Treaties ratified by Australia’.

Greens Defence Spokesperson, Senator David Shoebridge said: 

“The Albanese Government needs to introduce mandatory ethical investment rules for the Future Fund and that must absolutely include a prohibition on investing in weapon manufacturers. 

“Elbit Systems is meant to be excluded from the Future Fund’s investment choices because of exclusions related to military weapons-related Conventions and Treaties ratified by Australia. 

“The Future Fund’s board needs to explain how it continues to invest in Elbit Systems despite the publicly announced direction it gave to withdraw those funds because of Australia’s international legal obligations.

“Elbit Systems is also deeply implicated in the current destruction in Gaza where a suite of its weapons are deployed from artillery pieces to drones. 

“The majority of Australians want peace and justice, not just in Palestine, but around the world, yet the country’s wealth is instead being funnelled into companies that fuel violence.

“The Future Fund is meant to benefit future generations. That rings very hollow when they are investing in companies making equipment that ends future generations.”

Greens Finance spokesperson, Senator Barbara Pocock said:

“We’ve been looking at some of the investments the Future Fund has been making through an ethical lens and found some very questionable products including fossil fuel ventures, gambling and now this, weapons manufacturing that could be contributing to the deaths of innocent civilians.

“I think many Australians would be deeply distressed to find out that our sovereign wealth fund, our money, is being used in a variety of ways that conflict with basic moral and ethical principles. 

“We need to review the investment guidelines that govern the Future Fund and put some restrictions in place so that Australians can live with a clear conscience, knowing that our investments are making the world a better place and not the opposite.”

GREENS WRITE TO EDUCATION MINISTERS URGING FULL FUNDING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Greens have today written to Commonwealth, state and territory education ministers to urge them to fully fund public schools, after PISA results published overnight revealed a growing gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students.

Read the letter here

Greens spokesperson on Education (Primary & Secondary) Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“The single biggest determinant of an Australian child’s school performance is their socioeconomic status. This is unacceptable in a wealthy country that professes to value fairness.

“The PISA data shows that in the lowest socioeconomic quartile, only 40% of students are reaching the national proficiency standard in science and reading, while less than a third hit that mark in mathematics. Among the most affluent students, around three-quarters of them are at or above the standard.

“Labor is in power federally and across the mainland. There has never been a better time to end a decade of delay and false dawns and finally deliver on the Gonski vision of a truly sector-blind and needs-based funding model.

“With education ministers meeting on Monday we urge them to seriously consider the PISA report and agree to fully fund public schools at the start of the next National School Reform Agreement, in January 2025.”

Targeted sanctions in response to human rights violations in Russia

Today, Australia has imposed Magnitsky-style targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on three Federal Security Service agents involved in the poisoning of prominent Russian opposition figure and pro-democracy activist, Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Australia has also imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on ten individuals, including a Russian Deputy Minister, who are linked to the politically motivated arrest, trial and sentencing of Mr Kara-Murza.

A long-time critic of President Putin’s repressive regime, Mr Kara-Murza was subjected to two near-fatal poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison under Russia’s draconian laws which prohibit criticism of the Russian Armed Forces.

Those responsible for Russia’s appalling crackdown on civil society, human rights defenders, independent journalists, opposition figures and minority groups must be held to account.

Today’s announcement builds on our existing actions. This includes sanctions on individuals involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, and Australia’s statements in key multilateral forums, such as the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.

Australia calls on Russia to comply with its human rights obligations under international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Kara-Murza and all other detained political activists.

Maritime Advisory Council welcomes new members

The Minister for Transport and Transport for NSW welcome the appointment of new members to the Maritime Advisory Council.

These are crucial roles, as the council provides independent, expert advice to the minister on a broad range of maritime-related matters, such as maritime safety, maritime infrastructure, and maritime property.
 
The minister for transport endorsed 10 people to form the new independent council, with 4 new members and the reappointment of 6 previous members:

  • Emma Humphries (new)
  • Graham Peachey (new)
  • Jackie Parry (new)
  • Steve Hatch (new)
  • Darren Vaux (returning as Chair)
  • Anthony Haworth (returning)
  • John Barbouttis (returning)
  • Shannon O’Brien (returning)
  • Janice Thurgar (returning)
  • Adam Smith (returning)

The new council members began their 3-year term on 30 November 2023, and is looking to hold an inaugural meeting in early 2024.
 
Expressions of interest were advertised over 4 weeks, before an assessment panel reviewed the large number of applications. All members were chosen for their unique expertise, with the panel focusing on a diverse membership that reflects the maritime community, with a range of age, gender and experience.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said:
 
“NSW has the most beautiful waterways in the world, and as transport minister, I take great pride in being responsible for our maritime operations.
 
“The Maritime Advisory Council is a vital body, analysing boating data, providing me with expert and independent advice, and greatly supporting our target of zero fatalities and serious injuries on our state’s waterways.

“I look forward to meeting with the council on crucial maritime matters to enhance safe and sustainable access to NSW waterways, and I thank both the new and returning members for their time and commitment.”
 
Transport for NSW Acting Deputy Secretary Safety, Environment and Regulation Sally Webb said:
 
“Every member of the Maritime Advisory Council is a passionate boater, kayaker, water skier and water lover. Their input ensures we hear from all people using our waterways. 
 
“It is important we have a diverse council to ensure decisions made cater to the whole boating community.”

New Connectivity Index uncovers the state of internet access

Government, businesses and the not-for-profit sector now have a statewide view of internet connectivity at a suburb level, paving the way for targeted initiatives and investment opportunities.

The NSW Digital Connectivity Index is a map-based tool that measures internet and mobile phone connectivity using three metrics: access, affordability and demographics.
The new tool evaluates the state of connectivity by measuring the presence and performance of mobile and internet coverage, assessing the cost of connectivity relative to income, and considering social factors influencing the ability of residents to use digital tools.

The Connectivity Index is the first of its kind to provide data specific to each suburb across the state, enabling government agencies, local councils, businesses and service providers to make more informed decisions around digital inclusion and connectivity investment.

NSW Government agencies can also overlay their own data sets on the map-based tool to help identify priority areas for connectivity, such as bushfire prone areas or car accident blackspots.

Combining more than 200 million data points, the NSW Digital Connectivity Index supports more evidence-based decision-making, whether it is first-home buyers gauging connectivity in an area, or government agencies identifying where investment in digital initiatives or infrastructure is needed.

The tool can also be used to engage commercial telecommunications providers to address identified issues and encourage greater transparency in the services available to customers, as well as enable the NSW Government to work more closely with the Commonwealth to identify priority issues.

The Digital Connectivity Index was developed by the NSW Telco Authority with support from NSW Spatial Services. Find out more about the Digital Connectivity Index.

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:

“Digital technology is transforming the way people do business and access services, so understanding the reliability and uptake of digital technology across communities is an important first step in making targeted decisions.

“It is a priority for this Government to ensure everyone can confidently access and utilise the internet. The NSW Digital Connectivity Index will help identify areas where we may be able to provide support and work with other levels of government and industry to develop solutions.

“The suburb-by-suburb detail of this tool, measuring connectivity by access, affordability and demographics, is a first for Australia. It sets us on the path to building digital inclusion and community safety, from improving connectivity during natural disasters to identifying blackspots.”