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Waterways and estuaries including creeks, rivers and wetlands impacted by last year’s floods will be regenerated and protected from future disasters through a Riparian Stabilisation Package.

The $64 million package from the Albanese and Minns governments targets riparian land that pose a significant threat to public safety, assets and the environment due to damage caused by flooding in early 2022 (AGRN 1012).

The package will be delivered at critical sites in the Clarence, Hastings, Hawkesbury Richmond, Macleay, Manning, Nambucca, Tweed and Wilson River systems.

The package will also help landholders and others who manage and use the areas to understand how to more effectively reduce the impacts of future disasters and dedicate resources to monitor water quality in the long-term.

Jointly funded under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), works will be delivered by the Department of Regional NSW, the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Local Land Services and the NSW Environment Protection Authority.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt said the recovery works were critical to preserve the unique and diverse nature of the waterways.

“Riparian areas and estuaries are often some of the most fertile parts of the landscape, playing a crucial role in habitat viability for plants and animals,” Minister Watt said.

“This joint investment will allow local farmers to water their stock, tourism operators to show travellers the strong cultural heritage and environmental value of these areas, and the local anglers to get back to fishing.”

NSW Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said healthy riparian areas are critical to maintaining bank stability, supporting clean waterways and reducing the risk of pest and disease movement.

“The flood events in early 2022 caused significant river and estuarine erosion, which has put farmland, cultural sites, estuarine habitats and access roads at risk,” Ms Moriarty said.

“This package will support the restoration of priority riparian and estuarine areas through activities such as improving fish habitats, bank stabilisation works and regeneration activities.”

The package will be delivered through the jointly funded $29 million Estuarine Asset Protection Program, the $30 million Riverbank Rehabilitation Program and the $5 million Water Quality Monitoring Program.

NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the initiative is reflective of a cross-government commitment to disaster recovery.

“The NSW Government works to make sure assistance through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements complements and incentivises resilience, so communities are better placed to mitigate future disaster and recover more quickly,” Mr Scully said.

Get more information on riparian support.

NSW Ambulance has today launched a major recruitment drive to boost capacity within the state’s Virtual Clinical Care Centre (VCCC).

Health Minister Ryan Park said the VCCC helps NSW Ambulance respond to Triple Zero (000) calls more effectively, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and providing expert clinical and medical secondary triage capability.

“A significant number of calls made to Triple Zero (000) do not require a paramedic response, and that’s where our expert clinical staff in the VCCC step in,” Mr Park said.

“The VCCC was created during the pandemic at a time of unprecedented Triple Zero (000) call volumes and showed it was more than capable to manage this extreme demand and keep patients safe.

“During the devastating 2022 floods where some people requiring medical attention were isolated by flood waters, VCCC clinicians were able to provide ongoing clinical care to these patients virtually while they were waiting to be rescued.

“Expanding the VCCC ensures patients right across NSW will continue to receive the care they need regardless of where they live while also reducing demand on our ambulances and hospital emergency departments.

“The VCCC saved more than 12,000 patients from attending the emergency department last year, reducing demand on the hospital system.

“VCCC clinicians had contact with more than 100,000 Triple Zero (000) callers during this period to triage or provide support for 46,000 patients, who didn’t require urgent care by offering secondary health services available within the community.”

NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dr Dominic Morgan said the VCCC has assisted with tens of thousands of Triple Zero (000) calls since it was launched 2 years ago.

“The VCCC started with a small number of specialist clinicians on duty 16 hours a day. Two years on, it’s a 24/7 operation, which will have more than 100 staff over the next 3 years,” Dr Morgan said.

“As part of the VCCC expansion NSW Ambulance is seeking experienced registered nurse and/or registered paramedic triage clinicians, clinical nurse consultants and specialist physicians to join the fast-growing multidisciplinary team.”

In the 2 years since being established the VCCC has been successfully diverting very low acuity cases away from hospital emergency departments to more appropriate care pathways. VCCC staff also provide call backs to some patients who call Triple Zero (000) to assess them clinically and determine if the response needs to be upgraded.

Crucial reforms to the Motor Dealers and Repairers Act 2013 that improve consumer protection and deter illegal behaviour when selling, repairing or recycling motor vehicles have passed the NSW Parliament.

NSW is the leader in new vehicle purchases in the nation, with 31% of the 1 million purchases nationwide made by consumers of this state.

NSW holds the biggest segment of Australia’s $37 billion automotive industry.

The government’s reforms to this critical sector will:

• Allow for the online end-to-end sale of motor vehicles in NSW.
• Introduce specific consumer protection requirements for online motor dealers, including capping deposits from potential buyers and requiring dealers to display their licence number on all advertising material to enable buyers’ to research the vehicle.
• Provide new protections for consumers when purchasing vehicles at auction by providing access to a vehicle’s inspection report before a purchase.
• Enhance powers to crack down on odometer tampering by banning possession of odometer tampering devices to minimise fraud in the sale of second-hand vehicles.
• Reduce the potential for sale of stolen parts by supporting the introduction of cashless transactions for motor vehicle recyclers by banning licensed recyclers from accepting cash or in-kind payment.

The reforms follow extensive consultation with key stakeholders in the motor industry, including the Motor Traders’ Association of NSW.

Minister for Fair Trading and Better Regulation Anoulack Chanthivong said:

“Whether it’s brand new or second hand, a car is a major investment and consumers should have confidence that what they are buying is exactly as advertised.

“We cannot have cars being sold which have had their odometers wound back, or stolen vehicles or parts unloaded at motor recycling yards in exchange for under the table cash.

“These changes will go a long way to ensuring buyers in NSW have the best possible protection when purchasing a vehicle.”

The Minns Labor government has introduced its landmark Climate Change Bill, to enshrine emissions reduction targets law in NSW and establish an independent Net Zero Commission.

The Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023 commits NSW to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.

The Minns Labor government is legislating emissions reduction targets to provide certainty and opportunity to households, industry and clean energy investors as we take firm climate action.

The Bill commits NSW to making its contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and its contribution to keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees.

The legislated 2030 and 2050 targets are essential to NSW seizing the enormous economic benefit of the transition to renewable energy, which will attract tens of billions of dollars in private investment, put downward pressure on power bills for households and businesses and generate thousands of jobs, most of them in regional areas.

To achieve the targets, the NSW Government is already taking strong action by investing $1.8 billion in renewable energy infrastructure, transmission and storage through the Transmission Acceleration Facility and Energy Security Corporation.

The NSW Government is also creating a new stand-alone Department for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, and investing in the circular economy to drive down emissions from waste.

In addition to setting robust emissions reduction targets, the Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023 will:

• Establish the Net Zero Commission – a strong, independent, expert body to monitor the state’s progress to net zero. It will report annually to ensure parliamentary transparency and accountability.
• Put in place guiding principles for action to address climate change.
• Set an objective to make NSW more resilient to our changing climate.
• The NSW Government and Net Zero Commission will liaise with the state’s diverse regions and communities to ensure climate action is community-led, informed, fair and transparent.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said:

“The people of NSW expect their government to act on climate change and power bills.

“That’s why we’re delivering on our election promises to legislate emissions reduction targets and set up the independent Net Zero Commission.

“Enshrining targets in law shows the NSW Labor Government is serious about reaping the benefits of driving down emissions and moving to more affordable, renewable energy.

“NSW is driving down emissions while putting downward pressure on power bills.”

Minister for Climate Change, Energy and the Environment Penny Sharpe said:

“These laws are a down payment on securing the future for the people of NSW. Climate change is already costing NSW through more frequent and more extreme weather events, droughts, floods and other disasters.

“Legislating 2030 and 2050 targets and creating an independent Net Zero Commission fulfils a commitment to the people of NSW that the government will take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and continue the renewable transformation of our energy system.”

The Minns Labor government has doubled penalties and prison terms under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 as part of a suite of measures to create safer workplaces across the state.

Under the former government, workplace safety penalties were frozen for nearly 10 years.

Despite an Australia-wide ban on the manufacture, use and importation of asbestos coming into force in 2004, to this day, asbestos continues to still make its way into NSW workplaces.

These new laws will:

• Increase every court penalty imposed in NSW relating to unsafe workplaces.
• Increase maximum fines from $798,383 to $2,168,029 and the maximum imprisonment time from 5 years to 10 years, for the worst offences under Work Health and Safety (WHS) Laws, known as Category 1 offences.
• Empower SafeWork to issue a ‘prohibited asbestos notice,’ to direct people and employers to take safety measures to remove and manage asbestos in the workplace. These amendments will enable the work health and safety regulator to ensure that prohibited asbestos, also referred to as illegally installed asbestos, is removed permanently from workplaces.
• Stop employers gaming WHS laws by banning the use of insurance to pay for WHS fines as a ‘cost of doing business’.
• Establish a silica worker register to track and trace exposed workers to enable early intervention and better healthcare research.

The silica register is 1 part of a comprehensive response the NSW Government is pursuing, including increased silicosis screening, worker education and industry compliances blitzes, while the Commonwealth process nears completion.

Commonwealth WHS ministers will meet in coming weeks to decide on a new regulatory framework or ban on manufactured stone.

These new laws will also clarify powers and responsibilities of inspectors and the liability of corporations for the actions of officers, employees and agents.

Minister for Work Health and Safety and Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis said:

“I’m sick and tired of seeing lives unnecessarily lost and people being injured at work. These new laws demonstrate just how seriously this government takes keeping workers safe in NSW.

“Everyone deserves a safe place to work, everyone deserves to come home safely to their family and loved ones”.

The Minns government has charted the future course for icare to better protect 3.4 million workers in NSW, with the passage of the State Insurance and Care Governance Amendment (ICNSW Governance) Bill 2023.

icare is now legally required to be transparent, promote early treatment and care for injury and illness and to maintain the affordability of premiums. Treasury will also be empowered to access information to further support icare’s continuous improvement in accountability and transparency.

Astonishingly, since its creation under the former NSW Government icare has operated without objectives set out in legislation. This flaw was highlighted in the 2021 McDougall Review which made recommendations the Minns Government is delivering on.

The objectives introduced to the State Insurance and Care Governance (SICG) Act 2015 include:

• icare must maintain the affordability of insurance as well as the efficiency and viability of all the schemes it administers.
• icare should focus on providing access to treatment and care that helps injured persons get back to work and other activities in the community.
• icare should promote efficiency, transparency and accountability in the conduct of its operations.

Under the changes transparency and oversight of icare will be promoted with power given to the Treasurer and Treasury to request certain information from the state-run insurer.

The amendments also improve the way public interest directions are given to icare’s board by the minister, clarifying the advice the minister must request from the board.

icare provides workers’ compensation for about 330,000 businesses and 3.4 million workers in NSW, managing about 60,000 new claims each year.

Minister for Industrial Relations and Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said:

“Putting clearly defined goals in legislation for icare will give the agency a clear direction for the future and is yet another step towards restoring workers’ faith and trust in icare.

“The transparency measures introduced today will give the government more oversight of icare, making sure mistakes made in the past are not repeated and the agency is held accountable.

“These changes put workers’ compensation at the forefront of icare’s objectives, giving the agency a mandate to deliver the best services and affordable insurance to those who need it.”