Category: NSW News

A metro train has successfully navigated the first continuous journey from Tallawong in Sydney’s northwest, beneath the Sydney CBD, and out to Sydenham in the city’s southwest, ahead of Sydney Metro City & Southwest opening next year.

The 51.5km trip was completed after 6 months of planning, with the train performing well and the inaugural journey confirmed a success.

The initial test run took place over 4 hours on Saturday, with the train reaching the maximum speed of 100km/h in sections of tunnel between Epping and Sydenham. Future test trips will include stops at stations in the Northwest and City sections, ahead of a full test run replicating operational journey times later this year.

When metro services start through the city next year, commuters will be able to travel from Tallawong to Sydenham in 59 minutes, a significant time saving on the current journey that requires interchange at two train stations and takes upwards of one hour and forty-five minutes.

In 2024, Sydney’s northwest and CBD will be connected by a metro service every 4 minutes in the peak. Passengers will be able to travel from Castle Hill to Martin Place in 35 minutes, Macquarie University to Sydenham in 33 minutes and North Ryde to Central in 22 minutes.

Testing the full length of the new alignment is a major step forward in the rigorous testing and commissioning program that began in April 2023.

The first end-to-end journey launches the “integration mode testing” phase, which confirms trains can seamlessly transition beyond the Metro North West Line at Chatswood onto the new 15.5km twin metro tunnels to Sydenham.

More than 2,000 hours of a total 11,000 hours of testing have been completed so far to ensure the new line and trains function as expected and meet all safety and performance requirements.  

Multiple trains are now entering the new line and undergoing testing at any one time, with four trains expected to be testing in the same tunnel by the end of the year.

Jo Haylen, NSW Transport Minister said:

“This is a huge milestone for Sydney Metro City & Southwest and brings passengers one step closer to having world-class metro services in the heart of this great city.”

“This new metro will give passengers significant time back in their day, by slashing travel times between the north west and the Sydney CBD.”

“This work is paving the way for Metro’s eventual extension to Bankstown, linking south west Sydney to the CBD and employment zones like Macquarie Park with a frequent and efficient Metro service.”

The NSW Government has delivered on its commitment to boost government procurement of goods and services from small and medium businesses with a major change to government procurement.

A direction has been signed today, increasing the level at which government departments and agencies can purchase goods and services directly from small and medium businesses from $150,000 to $250,000.

The state’s 840,000 small businesses make up 98% of all NSW businesses, employing 1.6 million people in NSW – it’s these businesses and jobs that will be turbocharged by this change.

Each year, the NSW Government spends over $9 billion on goods and services obtained directly from 46,000 small and medium businesses in NSW and this change to procurement will deliver more government contracts going to these businesses and a bigger slice of government procurement spend.

This Ministerial Direction was issued to the NSW Procurement Board and requires agencies to implement this policy change no later than 31 December 2023.

It also serves as an important signal to government agencies to directly engage small businesses when procuring goods and services, including for:

• catering, food and beverage services at state-owned museums, galleries, venues and sites
• office supplies and furniture for government offices and buildings
• maintenance and repairs, including ground maintenance and landscaping at government facilities
• the development of training resources, including for health and wellness support.

The Government has also eased procurement requirements for small businesses which will no longer be required to submit proof of insurance when they tender. Instead, proof of insurance will only be required when a contract is awarded.

This is in addition to the NSW Government making a number of other significant changes to support small businesses in NSW, including:

• Launched the Service NSW Business Bureaulaunch, which will give small business owners a seat at the table with a commitment to tackling unproductive red tape, helping businesses navigate government and boosting growth opportunities.
• Delivered major upgrades to the Service NSW Business Bureau App.
• Successfully delivered Small Business Month with over 600 events across the state.
• Delivered energy bill relief for more than 300,000 businesses and toll relief for more than 700,000 Western Sydney families and businesses.
• Launched the Service NSW Business Grants and Funding Finder, bringing more than 500 grants across 46 agencies into one place, to make accessing financial support easier for businesses across the state.

These changes do not apply to construction businesses.

The NSW Government has extensive fraud and compliance checks in place to maintain the integrity of government procurement.

For more information visit buy.nswlaunch

Premier of NSW Chris Minns said:

“Small businesses are the backbone of the NSW economy and it’s only right that the NSW Government use small businesses to deliver goods and services that the state requires.

“The NSW Government purchases around $40 billion worth of goods and services each year. The bigger we can make the slice that goes to small businesses, the better.

Small and medium businesses have been through a very tough time over the past few years, the very least the government should do is make accessing government contracts simpler and easier.”

Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement Courtney Houssos said:

“Small businesses already play an important role as they grow the state’s economy and sustain local jobs. By growing their opportunities to engage with the Government we can give them an even bigger boost.

“The previous Liberal-National Government never developed a cohesive policy to support local procurement. Instead of buying local, they sent major projects overseas, costing the state billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

“This is the first step of the Minns Labor Government’s planned reforms to support small businesses, local content and domestic manufacturing.

Minister for Small Business Steve Kamper said:

“Small business plays a vital role in the NSW economy through the products and services they offer but also the many thousands of jobs they support.

“By increasing the direct procurement threshold we are providing small businesses with the most valuable resource in business, greater opportunity.

“As a government, we are committed to getting the policy settings right to ensure that NSW can best harness the expertise and agility of local small businesses, while supporting jobs and investing in NSW.”

The Minns Labor Government is delivering on its commitment to tackle screen-related addiction in young people with a new research fund established to investigate the impact of problematic screen use on children’s development and learning. 

Delivering an election commitment to establish a screen-related addiction research fund, the NSW Government has pledged $2.5 million to support new research into the impacts of problematic screen use.

The NSW Government’s Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) will oversee the fund, with the grants awarded through a competitive process.

Research findings will deliver a comprehensive database of knowledge on how screen use affects young people and students at school, which can be used to inform stronger government policy.

Funding of up to $500,000 will be available to successful applications for tender grants, and up to $200,000 will be offered to successful recipients of partnership grants.

Partnership grants will be offered where research into problematic screen-use is already underway, after applications are competitively assessed. Open tender grants will be offered to projects with novel screen-related research proposals.

Issues that may be looked at include:

• What are the key sources of problematic screen time for young people in NSW?
• What impact is screen use having on the learning, wellbeing and behaviour of children?
• Strategies to counter the negative impacts of problematic screen use
• Whether today’s students are impacted by screens in the same ways as other generations
• And the impact on teaching as a result of changing digital technologies.

The grants will be advertised in two rounds with the first beginning in late 2023.

Applicants will be asked to deliver their research by 2026.

This announcement comes after the Minns Labor Government successfully banned mobile phones for students in all NSW public schools from the beginning of Term 4, after consultation with teachers, students and parents.

Quotes attributable to New South Wales Premier Chris Minns:

“We all know young people love their devices – be it mobile phones, gaming devices or their computers.

“Many parents are worried about screen time and how it might be affecting their children and how they learn, but the impacts of devices on children are largely unknown.

“Investing in this research fund will help create a growing body of knowledge on this issue to inform our government policies, but it will also help inform parents in NSW.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car:

“Students spend a lot of their time on devices – so it is important that we find out how this new reality is impacting children and their development.

“Many parents I speak with are worried about the impact screen time is having on their children, and it is important we help to provide parents all the facts they need to make informed decisions.

“Investing in research is vital, so the Government can form evidence-based policies that we know will have a positive impact on our students, teachers and larger school cohort moving into the future.”

Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos this week met with key stakeholders to discuss the NSW Government’s approach to its new Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy.

The industry roundtable marked an important step in collaborating with the sector to directly inform the NSW Government’s renewed strategy.

To be released in 2024, the new strategy will consider new opportunities to encourage domestic processing and manufacturing, boost regional economies, develop skills and training, and safeguard the state’s clean energy supply chain.

More than 40 stakeholders from the sector attended the event at NSW Parliament, including representatives of mining companies, industry bodies and unions.

Discussions at the roundtable focused on ways the NSW Government could support the sector to unlock the full potential of NSW resources, encourage investment and leverage the state’s strong ESG credentials.

NSW has an abundance of critical minerals and high-tech metals that are crucial for developing low-carbon economies and achieving the state’s net zero goals.

Critical minerals and high-tech metals are essential components in electric vehicles, smartphones, computers, solar panels, batteries, and a range of defence and medical equipment.

The consultation with the industry comes shortly after the Federal Government announced a $2 billion expansion in critical minerals financing.

The funding was welcomed by the industry as a way to provide support for processing and to strengthen Australia’s position as a world-leading provider of critical minerals to drive the global transition to net zero.

Minister Houssos also gave the opening ministerial keynote address at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

During the speech the Minister promoted NSW as an attractive and stable investment destination, highlighted the state’s skilled and well-trained workforce and highlighted its plans to engage more in mineral processing.

It was also announced that NSW would again be hosting IMARC with the conference remaining in Sydney in 2024. This year’s conference attracted a record number of delegates from across Australia and overseas.

Submissions on the new NSW Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy are open until 17 November 2023.

Have your saylaunch on the critical minerals and high-tech metals strategy.

Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos said:

“NSW has globally significant deposits of critical minerals and high-tech metals. Showcasing the state at IMARC is an opportunity to capitalise on their increasing global demand and drive investment to the state.

“This is the second year Sydney has hosted the biggest mining event in the Southern Hemisphere and we’re pleased it will return once more in 2024, with the NSW Government as host partner.

“This year more than 8500 delegates gathered. This record attendance is testament to the strength of our mining and exploration sector.

“It was great to hear the views of industry at the roundtable. The new strategy will provide certainty and stability for the sector as it embarks on a new period of growth.

“We are collaborating closely with the industry and with unions to establish a clear framework to guide government action and support the critical minerals and high-tech metals sector in NSW.”

NSW Director of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) Lucy McClean said:

“We thank the Minister for Natural Resources for taking the time to meet with industry to discuss the importance this strategy will have for the minerals sector.

“NSW has so much to offer the global economy and the new strategy is an opportunity to help build a strong exploration and mining sector to support our future.”

Chief Executive Officer for the NSW Minerals Council Stephen Galilee said:

“Mining is a key contributor to many regional communities across NSW. The minerals industry is deeply intertwined with the history and economic development of many communities across the state.

“An effective critical minerals and high-tech metals strategy will complement the NSW Government’s commitment to supporting the industry and provide a solid framework for the long-term future of the resources sector in NSW.”

The NSW Government has today trucked in an initial 200 tonnes of emergency feed to Tenterfield so farmers impacted by the local fires can access feed. The fodder supplies are being trucked into Tenterfield due to the minimal local supplies.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Local Land Services (LLS) are operating an Agricultural and Animal Services Functional Area (AASFA) in the Tenterfield area so that emergency assistance can be offered.

Assistance available for farmers includes:

• Emergency fodder
• Emergency stock water (where there is an immediate animal welfare concern)
• Animal assessment and veterinary assistance
• Stock euthanasia and burial
• Livestock feeding and management advice
• Care of animals including pets and companion animals in evacuation centres.

Landholders must register their requests for emergency fodder by contacting the Agricultural and Animal Services hotline on 1800 814 647launch to access support.

Once a landholder registers for emergency fodder, AASFA will urgently assess their need and contact them to schedule a pickup from a local distribution point or arrange a delivery time.

Primary producers should report damage including stock and fodder losses, damage to crops, pastures, fencing and other farm infrastructure through the Natural Disaster Damage Survey.

This will ensure we understand the severity and distribution of the damage and can target resources and assistance in the appropriate areas.

Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty said:

“The NSW Government is moving quickly to ensure farmers in Tenterfield have what they need, including fodder.

“We have received 58 requests for assistance, this includes 51 requests for fodder, five for emergency stock water, and two for animal assessment.

“This is in addition to 207 tonnes of emergency fodder that was distributed to fire affected landholders in the Kempsey area last month.

“I encourage landholders with animal welfare related issues to contact the Agriculture and Animal Services Hotline on 1800 814 647launch to access support.”

Almost 50 new paramedic interns and trainee emergency call takers will join NSW Ambulance after they were officially inducted into the service at a ceremony today.

Minister for Health Ryan Park congratulated the 24 graduate paramedics and 24 trainee emergency medical call takers, who will start in their new roles in the coming weeks.

“This is the 7th class of NSW Ambulance graduates this year and I’m proud to see them graduate to serve their communities,” Mr Park said.

“Our paramedics are on the frontline of healthcare in NSW, caring for people when they are at their sickest and most vulnerable.

“I know these new recruits will continue this tradition of dedication and service.”

NSW Ambulance Chief Executive Dr Dominic Morgan welcomed the new starters, who were welcomed and honoured at a ceremony at Sydney Olympic Park, attended by family and friends.

Dr Morgan said the new recruits would provide welcome reinforcements during a busy time for emergency health care.

“I know all who are graduating today have worked incredibly hard throughout their training,” Dr Morgan said.

“I thank them for their commitment and warmly welcome them into NSW Ambulance.

The graduate paramedics will be posted across NSW for 12 months to complete their on-road internships before taking permanent positions in metropolitan and regional areas.

The emergency medical call takers will be posted to Triple Zero (000) control centres in Sydney, Dubbo and Charlestown.

“As demand for our services continues to grow, we remain committed to providing world-class care to our patients,” Dr Morgan said.

The graduates will start their new roles from tomorrow.

Primary school students from across NSW will today converge on Sydney as they compete for the titles of best spellers in the state at the 20th edition of the Premier’s Spelling Bee.

Some 1,720 students from 880 public schools were involved in the competition ahead of today’s finals in Ultimo.

The finals will see 30 students from years 2-4 (junior) and 30 students from years 5-6 (senior) take part.

These students won their school spelling bees before competing in regional finals.

Introduced in 2004 as a fun way for primary school students to enjoy spelling, the annual Premier’s Spelling Bee is now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The competition encourages students to improve their vocabulary and spelling, along with broader literacy skills, in combination with the English K-6 Syllabus.

The junior winner from last year, Saarth Deo, returns in 2023 to compete in the senior final.

This year’s youngest competitor is Jay-Hanz Mesa, is in Year 2 at Cabramatta Public School.

Students from outside Sydney are well-represented in the 2023 competition with 22 regional schools taking part, including from Pottsville Beach Public School, Molong Central School and Bulli Public School.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said:

“I’m proud to be supporting the 20th edition of this event in our public schools.

“Literacy is a key plank in our education system.

“To be able to engage students in a fun competition that shines a spotlight on language skills is a win for everyone.”

Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“It’s wonderful to see that the Premier’s Spelling Bee has struck such a chord with primary school children across the state.

“Getting our children interested in the lifelong skills of reading and spelling is a wonderful achievement, and it’s great to see this competition going strong after 20 years.”

Disaster assistance has been extended to the Clarence Valley Local Government Area (LGA) following severe bushfires on 13 October 2023 in New South Wales.

Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and is also available for people impacted by bushfires in the Inverell, Kempsey, Kyogle, Mid-Coast, Mid-Western, Port Macquarie-Hastings and Tenterfield LGAs.

The assistance available includes:

• help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged, including assistance for people to meet immediate needs, grants to replace essential household items, and grants for essential structural repairs to homes
• support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets
• concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers, sporting and recreation clubs, and non-profit organisations to repair or replace damaged or destroyed property
• freight subsidies for primary producers to help transport livestock and fodder.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said the bushfire caused significant damage across the region.

“This is a really intense time for people affected by these dangerous fires, and I want to recognise the collective effort from agencies across all levels of government and thank those heroes working to get these fires under control,” Minister Watt said.

“The Albanese Government is supporting impacted communities with this emergency assistance, so recovery can get underway for those directly affected.

“We continue to work alongside the NSW Government to collect information and fully understand the impact of this disaster.”

NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said bushfire impacted communities, landowners, farmers, and primary producers will be supported in their clean-up and recovery from bushfire.

“We are continuing to assess the impacts of fire events as quickly as possible, with disaster declarations like these the crucial first step in unlocking assistance for those in need,” Minister Dib said.

“In recent weeks thousands of volunteer firefighters have been out across NSW firegrounds.

“Firefighters have faced challenging conditions across NSW and I would like to thank them for their ongoing response to the fires and their commitment to protecting communities.

“This is a challenging time for the community and this important disaster assistance will provide bushfire affected residents with vital support to help them get back on their feet.”

For information relating to financial assistance, replacing lost documents, location of your nearest recovery centre and more, please contact Service NSW on 13 77 88launch or visit www.service.nsw.gov.au

To apply for a concessional loan or primary producer grant, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593launch or visit The Rural Assistance Authority websitelaunch.

Further information on disaster assistance can be found on the NSW Reconstruction Authority’s website.

Residents and tourists in regional NSW can now drive their electric vehicles with greater confidence as the Minns government delivers more EV chargers through the Destination Charging Program.

Residents in regional NSW and tourists can now drive their electric vehicles with greater confidence as the Minns Government delivers more EV chargers through the Destination Charging Program.

Applications are now open for small to medium regional tourism businesses and councils to install EV charging infrastructure.

Successful applicants will receive 75 per cent of the cost of purchasing and installing up to four charge points at each site.

The $10 million allocated for round two of the Destination Charging Program is expected to support the installation at least 1,500 EV charge ports at tourism destinations. Destinations could include motels, wineries, cafes, restaurants, natural attractions, visitor information centres, museums, zoos and local government facilities.

Following the successful rollout of the chargers, a series of EV tourist drives will be developed to promote EV travel across NSW.

The Destination Charging Program is part of a $209 million investment in charging infrastructure which also includes $10 million in grants to retrofit apartments with EV chargers, $10 million for more kerbside charging and $149 million for ultra-fast charging infrastructure.

The NSW Government has also committed an additional $260 million in the 2023–24 Budget to underpin the rollout of a new NSW EV Strategy being delivered in partnership with industry stakeholders which is a key driver to achieving our state’s Net Zero emissions targets.

Find out more about EV destination grantslaunch

Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe said:

“Providing EV charging plugs at regional destinations across our state will help make ‘range anxiety’ a concern of the past and give more drivers to confidence to make EV purchases.

“More EVs on the roads is an important part of the decarbonisation of our transport system and essential to meeting our net zero by 2050 target.”

Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said:

“The destination charging grants are another example of this Government putting the needs of regional people at the heart of its decision making.

“Regional residents as well as tourists deserve to have the confidence to be able to purchase EVs knowing the required charging infrastructure is available to them locally.”

A Great Koala National Park on the state’s Mid North Coast is a step closer, with the establishment of 3 advisory panels to provide input into the creation of the park.

NSW Premier Chris Minns, Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe and Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW Tara Moriarty have today visited Bongil Bongil National Park near Coffs Harbour to see first-hand the areas that will form the park and meet scientists who are using drones to improve the accuracy of the NSW koala count.

The 3 advisory panels representing the views of industry, the community and Aboriginal groups will give feedback on the process of assessing land for inclusion in the national park. They will also provide information on economic, social, ecological and cultural matters.

The panels have been created to represent a broad cross-section of stakeholder views and facilitate data and information sharing. They will hold their first meetings before the end of the year.

The process of establishing a Great Koala National Park also includes an independent economic and social assessment which will consider the impacts on local jobs and communities. There will be an expert environmental and cultural assessment to safeguard the unique environmental and cultural heritage of the region.

The establishment of the advisory panels is another important step towards the NSW Government’s commitment to save koalas in the wild. This will be done while balancing the need to have a sustainable timber industry. $80 million has been committed to the Great Koala National Park in the 2023 to 2024 NSW Budgetlaunch.

Timber harvesting operations have stopped in 106 koala hubs within the areas being assessed for inclusion in the park. Koala hubs are areas where there is strong evidence of multi-generational, high-density populations of the iconic animal. These areas account for 42% of recorded koala sightings in state forests in the assessment area since 2000.

Premier Chris Minns, said:

“Inaction and neglect by the previous Coalition government saw the koala officially listed as endangered in NSW. Creating a Great Koala National Park will turn around the animal’s grim trajectory.

“The Industry, Community and Aboriginal Advisory Panels will ensure we consult with all stakeholders, to create a park that will both protect our native animals and create job, tourism and other economic opportunities on the Mid North Coast of NSW.”

Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe, said:

“The government looks forward to working closely with the Industry, Community and Aboriginal Advisory Panels as the areas for inclusion in the park are assessed, and to receiving a wide range of knowledge and advice.

“The creation of a Great Koala National Park is the Labor Government’s most significant environmental commitment.”

Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW Tara Moriarty:

“We are working hard across government to deliver our commitment to establish the Great Koala National Park and a sustainable timber industry for mid and northern NSW.

“I look forward to working with the panels and hearing how we can all work together to deliver this iconic undertaking of a Great Koala National Park, integrated Aboriginal knowledge and leadership, plus a sustainable timber industry that can deliver the products we need in the future.”