The NSW Government is continuing to support victims of the devastating 2019-20 bushfires, announcing $2.5 million to fund another six months of council rate relief for those who lost their main properties.
Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro said the NSW Government is committed to continuing to help our local communities recover from the devastating bushfires.
“I am pleased to announce council rate relief has been extended for a further six months for people whose main property was significantly damaged or destroyed by bushfires, if it has not yet been rebuilt or changed ownership,” Mr Barilaro said.
“This financial support for property owners is in addition to the NSW Government footing the bill for the initial bushfire clean-up with more than 3,600 properties cleared across the state.”
Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said the extension comes after more than $5.4 million in council rate relief has already been provided to over 3,300 property owners to reduce the financial burden on bushfire victims as they rebuild their lives.
“In February 2020, the NSW Government announced it was funding six months of council rate relief for owners of homes, farms and businesses whose properties suffered damage beyond repair in the bushfires,” Mrs Hancock said.
“Then in June last year, we announced a further six months of rate relief for eligible property owners to ensure they can direct more of their finances towards rebuilding.”
Member for Bega Andrew Constance said funding has been paid directly to 34 local councils which means eligible ratepayers don’t have to pay anything and it does not cost local government anything to support these property owners.
“Our north and south coasts suffered terribly during the 2019-20 bushfires and I am pleased to say that these areas have received significant council rate relief,” Mr Constance said.
“As the local member of two of the hardest hit regions, I know that the additional support will be welcomed across our region and will further assist in taking pressure off residents as they rebuild their lives.
Mrs Hancock said the additional rate relief will cover the second half of the 2020-21 rates period, recognising that some owners are still in the process of recovering and rebuilding their properties.
“We’re encouraged by the positive feedback and response we’ve had to helping NSW property owners affected by the 2019-20 bushfires, so much so that we’re considering an additional six months of relief.”
$11m for Youth Living With A Complex Mental Illness
A successful mental health program that supports young people living with severe and complex mental illnesses will receive an extra $11 million from the NSW Government.
Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor said the Youth Community Living Supports Services (YCLSS) program will be funded for another five years to give more 16-24 year-olds a sense of confidence and independence.
“This program provides comprehensive wrap-around care to young people living with complex mental illness and aims to reduce their future risk of chronic disability, frequent hospital stays or long-term care,” Mrs Taylor said.
“It’s an impressive collaboration between our local health districts, which provide clinical care, and NGO partners, which provide practical and social support.”
Many of the young people supported by YCLSS have been diagnosed with a complex mental illness, as well as dealing with homelessness or drug or alcohol addictions, and limited education and work opportunities.
“We want more young people to be excited and hopeful for their future,” Mrs Taylor said.
“This program provides much-needed daily life support to its participants, such as helping them to access other support services, follow their clinical treatment plan, find work or study opportunities, access safe housing, and develop a healthy daily routine.”
In the three years to June 2019, YCLSS provided 110,000 hours of support to 360 young people, with significant number of these (15 per cent) of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background.
On average, each young person received 306 hours of direct support and many of these reported a boost in self-confidence and self-efficacy.
Wellways Australia has been engaged to deliver the program in the Hunter New England, Nepean Blue Mountains, Northern NSW, South Western Sydney and Western Sydney Local Health Districts to 2024.
Since 2015, YCLSS has been allocated almost $25 million by NSW Government. It forms part of the NSW Government response to Living Well: A Strategic Plan for Mental Health in NSW 2014-2024.
Labor's negative gearing betrayal
Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has responded to Labor’s move to dump its commitment to winding back negative gearing.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This is a cowardly and pathetic backflip. House prices and rents are skyrocketing, and Labor is throwing fuel on the fire.
“In the middle of a housing affordability crisis, Labor has caved to wealthy investors and the Liberals. This is a shocking move and a betrayal of young people in particular.
“Not too long ago, Labor was calling out negative gearing and the CGT discount as ‘tax subsidies’ that ‘benefit the wealthiest Australians’ and are ‘skewed to high income earners’. What, exactly, has changed?
“It seems that for Labor, short-term, cheap politics have trumped any semblance of a commitment to progressive and equitable public policy. Shame!”
Greens urge Arts Minister to stop talking and start spending
The Morrison Government must urgently deliver targeted and adequate funding support to the the Arts and Entertainment Industry, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Australia’s Arts and Entertainment Industry has been pummelled by this crisis from the very beginning and it is still suffering.
“The Morrison Government has failed to provide adequate support to help the Industry survive, to help workers put food on the table and pay rent, and to keep doors open in the future.
“The Greens are calling for the RISE fund to be uncapped so that those who need support can get it.
“The Morrison Government had no problems uncapping the grants for the construction industry and extending initial funding even further, why won’t they do the same for the arts and entertainment industry?
“The arts, entertainment and tourism industries in particular, have not been able to recover and have had little support. JobKeeper should never have been taken away and should be reinstated immediately.
“The government must also establish a federal insurance guarantee for the Arts Industry.
“Gigs and festivals across the country have been cancelled or postponed and not for the first time. The industry needs to know it is insured for any losses incurred due to snap lockdowns and Covid outbreaks or it will struggle to reschedule events and recover.
“I wrote to the Treasurer and Arts Minister months ago calling for an insurance guarantee. It seems much like the pleas of the entire Industry, this has fallen on deaf ears.
“The support given by the Morrison Government to workers in lockdown states is insufficient and will not help many artists and entertainers due to the nature of their work.
“The Arts Minister needs to show he truly understands the Industry he is supposed to represent and start walking the talk, by making more money available and getting it out the door faster.
“We stand to lose a generation of artists and entertainers, many have been lost during the past year already, it will be on the Morrison Government if that happens.”
Labor’s National Anti-Corruption Commission
Labor’s Powerful, Transparent and Independent National Anti-Corruption Commission
An Albanese Labor Government will establish a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The ever-growing list of scandals surrounding the Morrison Government shows why Australia needs a powerful and independent anti-corruption commission and why Mr Morrison and his colleagues will do everything they can to stop one from being established.
The Liberals deny there is a problem, make endless excuses, and have put forward a draft bill for a commission designed to be so weak, so secretive and so lacking in independence that instead of exposing corruption, it would cover it up.
Every state and territory in Australia has its own anti-corruption commission and Labor believes it is now long past time for a Commonwealth body to be established to tackle corruption in the federal government.
Anti-corruption commissions are powerful and independent investigatory bodies that serve the public by uncovering corruption and by ensuring that members of a government, including politicians, are held to account if they engage in corrupt conduct.
The Albanese Labor Government’s National Anti-Corruption Commission will operate as a standing Royal Commission into serious and systemic corruption in the federal government. It will have a broad jurisdiction to investigate and hold to account Commonwealth ministers, public servants, statutory office holders, government agencies, parliamentarians, personal staff of politicians and other Commonwealth public officials.
Labor’s National Anti-Corruption Commission will also be able to ‘follow the money’, meaning it can also investigate private individuals and companies involved in systemic and serious corruption by public officials.
This is in stark contrast to Mr Morrison’s weak and conflicted proposal which would be unable to instigate its own independent inquiries into Government corruption, prevented from holding public hearings into politicians or public servants, and banned from investigating any of the multiple past scandals of the Morrison Government.
After eight long years in office the Liberals have failed to take any action to tackle corruption, leaving the Commonwealth the only Australian government without a body dedicated to tackling corruption by public officials.
The Morrison Government’s refusal to honour its election promise is allowing corruption to go unchecked, enabling ministers to avoid being held to account for their actions and undermining public confidence in the Australian Government.
An Albanese Labor Government will put an end to the Morrison Government’s shameful inaction by establishing a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Labor to Deliver Income Tax Cuts and Certainty on Negative Gearing
An Albanese Labor Government will deliver the same legislated tax relief to more than 9 million Australians as the Morrison Government.
The Shadow Cabinet and Caucus have today confirmed that Labor in government will uphold the legislated changes to personal income taxes and maintain the existing regimes for negative gearing and capital gains tax.
Labor is providing certainty and clarity to Australian working families after a difficult two years for our country and the world.
Our focus is on making sure Australia emerges from this crisis stronger and more resilient – with an economy that works for working families not the other way around.
When it comes to the economy, the next election will be about the Prime Minister’s dangerous and costly failures to manage the pandemic.
His failures on vaccines and quarantines have caused lockdowns 18 months into this pandemic, and those lockdowns are causing billions of dollars in damage to the economy.
Over eight long years in government, the Coalition’s record is clear in the lives of everyday Australians: stagnant wages, insecure jobs, increased costs for health care and childcare, longer waits to see a GP, and a trillion dollars in debt.
Their own Budget forecasts a decline in real wages over the next four years and independent analysis by the McKell Institute shows that their policies have made the average worker $13,000 a year worse off.
Improving the Budget is all about growing the economy, cracking down on waste and rorts, creating more opportunities for more Australians in more parts of the country, and creating a society that is stronger after COVID-19 than it was before.
It also means ensuring our broader tax system is fair and sustainable, especially when it comes to making sure that multinational corporations are paying their fair share of tax and we will have more to say about that.
After promising eight surpluses and delivering eight deficits – including the largest in Australia’s history – this Government’s only legacy will be generational debt without a generational dividend.
Australia secures additional Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 2022 and 2023
The Morrison Government has secured an additional 85 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, providing access to additional booster vaccinations that will protect Australians in the future.
Through continued engagement with Pfizer-BioNTech, the Government has secured 60 million doses in 2022, and 25 million doses in 2023. Delivery will begin in the first quarter of 2022 and enable booster coverage throughout the year.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new supply schedule that the Government had successfully negotiated with Pfizer-BioNTech would provide every Australian with a booster vaccine if required.
“We have secured an additional 85 million doses of Pfizer, which brings Australia’s total Pfizer doses to 125 million,” the Prime Minister said.
“This is a significant shot in the arm for Australia’s vaccine supply. Every Australian will have access to a booster shot if it is needed.
“This will ensure individuals, families and communities have certainty about their continued protection against the evolving threat of COVID-19 over the next two years. We have turned the corner in Australia’s vaccine programme and this is another milestone on our pathway back to a normal life.”
Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said this reaffirmed the nation’s vaccine supply and provided additional capability to manage booster timing requirements if recommended by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
“These additional doses further expands and strengthens Australia’s vaccine capacity,” Minister Hunt said.
“More than 280 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have now been secured to support the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.”
“We’ve taken this step on advice from the expert Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group.”
Charges laid over Sydney CBD protest as inquiries by Strike Force Seasoned continue
Police have received more than 5,500 reports from members of the public as they continue to investigate yesterday’s protest under Strike Force Seasoned.
A high-visibility policing operation was launched about 12pm yesterday, (Saturday 24 July 2021), to ensure the safety of all protest participants, as well as the wider community and local businesses.
General duties officers from across the Central Metropolitan Region were assisted by specialist police from the Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS), ODIN, Police Transport Command, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command and the Mounted and Dog Unit.
During the operation, 63 people were arrested.
Thirty-five people – aged between 18 and 69 – were charged with various offences, including assault police officer in execution of duty, resist officer in execution of duty, wilfully obstruct officer in execution of duty and not comply with noticed direction re 7/8/9 – COVID-19.
Of these, 20 were refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today (Sunday 25 July 2021).
Fifteen were granted conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre and Newtown Local Courts at a later date.
Additionally, strike force investigators arrested and charged two men – aged 33 and 36 – overnight. They remain before the courts.
At least 90 Penalty Infringement Notices were also issued for breaches of the public health orders.
Strike Force Seasoned has been established by the Central Metropolitan Region to continue to identify and prosecute protest participants.
Over 5,500 reports have been made to Crime Stoppers and so far, investigators have identified over 200 people.
Investigators are following up every report and have issued two court attendance notice and PINS to 16 people today.
Fatal unit fire – Stockton
An investigation is underway after a body was found following a unit fire at Newcastle this morning.
Just after 5am (Monday 26 July 2021), emergency services were called to Fullerton Street, Stockton, following reports of a unit fire.
The fire was extinguished by crews from Fire and Rescue NSW.
Following a search of the building, a body was located, which is yet to be formally identified.
There are no other reports of injuries.
Officers from Newcastle City Police District established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Local government elections postponed
The NSW Government today announced a new date for the Local Government elections has been set for Saturday 4 December 2021.
Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said the decision, after extensive consultation with and advice from the NSW Electoral Commission and NSW Health, has been made in response to the COVID-19 situation.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and current Public Health Orders impacting Greater Sydney, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Local Government elections until later this year,” Mrs Hancock said.
“We have taken this step to postpone the election to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities, voters, polling staff and candidates.”
The NSW Government has worked with the Electoral Commission and NSW Health to implement a comprehensive plan to allow voters to cast their ballot safely in person, by post or online.
iVote (electronic voting) will also be available for the first time in the local council elections and the NSW Government has implemented changes to pre-poll to ensure that voters have 13 days to cast their ballot, reducing congestion on polling day.
The NSW Government has made available a total of $57 million for the elections in 2021, including $37 million to deliver them in a COVID safe way.
In this election, 5.2 million voters will cast their ballots as around 5,000 candidates vie for 1,200 councillor positions across 125 local councils.
Nominations will open on Monday 25 October 2021 and close on Wednesday 3 November 2021.
Prospective candidates can find more information at the Office of Local Government website at www.olg.nsw.gov.au.