16 News

The state’s animal rehoming organisations will receive much needed support to continue their valuable work helping vulnerable cats and dogs, thanks to a $6 million funding injection from the Minns Labor Government.

The Companion Animal Welfare and Rehoming Grant program will provide grants of between $10,000 and $100,000 to eligible rehoming organisations and registered charities based in NSW.

Since 2020/21, on average these organisations have received more than 10,000 animals per year. The grant program will see $1.5 million a year available per year for 4 years to help organisations cover the costs associated with caring and rehoming companion animals across the state.

This support for animal rehoming organisations comes as the Minns Labor Government is undertaking the first review of the Companion Animals Act in over 20 years.

The review is examining all aspects of the care and management of pet dogs and cats, including ways to minimise the number of animals entering the rehoming system in the first place.

The government held 3 stakeholder workshops with close to 200 attendees and is examining over 3,600 public submissions that will inform the review.

Information on how to submit an application for the Companion Animal Welfare and Rehoming Grant program is on the Office of Local Government website: https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/councils/responsible-pet-ownership/companion-animal-welfare-grants/ 

Applications for the first round for a share of $1.5 million in funding close at 5pm on Wednesday, 1 October 2025.

Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig said:

“Rescuing, fostering and rehoming cats and dogs is only possible because of the volunteers who give up their time and often their own money to protect abandoned animals from a cruel fate.

“These organisations do incredible and often thankless work in our community, helping thousands of animals find loving homes each year.

“We recognise they are under increased pressure and need a helping hand.

“These grants will play an important role supporting community organisations dedicated to improving the standards of animal welfare through looking after our most vulnerable animals.

“I encourage all eligible organisations to take advantage of this program and apply for funding.

“The more organisations we can support, the better the outcomes will be for animals that want nothing more than a loving home.”

The Minns Labor Government and NSW Police are supporting the parents of Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed in Queensland in 2019, to deliver school presentations across the state and warn students about the danger of knife crime.

NSW Police Youth Command officers, with Jack’s parents, Belinda and Brett Beasley from the Jack Beasley Foundation, will hold ‘One Moment’ education presentations at Sydney schools to help young people understand the devastating consequences of carrying knives and how knife crime can shatter lives.

In the past two weeks, the presentations were held in northern NSW reaching approximately 3,100 students at eight schools in Grafton, Kempsey, Armidale, Raymond Terrace, Waratah, Kurri Kurri and Wyong.

This week, presentations will be held at 12 schools in Wollongong, Blacktown, Mount Druitt, Campbelltown, Bankstown, Fairfield and Penrith.

The presentations come after the NSW Government introduced legislation, which came into effect in December 2024, modelled on Queensland’s ‘Jack’s Law’, which gave NSW Police powers to wand or scan people for knives without a warrant in designated areas including shopping precincts, public transport stations and certain sporting venues.

Since the legislation was introduced, there have been 20,736 people scanned under Operation Ares. There have been 207 weapons seized and 105 people charged with weapon offences. Eleven people were charged with failing to comply with the legislation.

Of the 207 weapons seized, there were 134 knives, 23 multi-tool pocket knives, four razor blades and four scissors, two axes and two flick knives, and one machete and one sheath knife.

Police also seized knuckle dusters, sling shots, tasers and fireworks.

During the presentation, Brett and Belinda Beasley share their own experience as well as those of Jack’s brother Mitch and Jack’s friends, to show first-hand how life can change in “one moment” of senseless violence. The presentation is designed to showcase the impacts to promote better decisions and smarter choices.

Police youth officers will also speak to students about knife legislation, the rules of carrying knives, the penalties and potential ramifications

In addition to the school presentations, Youth Command, supported by the Police Transport Command and officers from Police Area Commands, will conduct knife wanding and high visibility policing operations across various metropolitan areas this week.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:

“These school presentations are about reaching young people early, helping them make safer choices.

“I want to thank Brett and Belinda Beasley, turning their unimaginable loss into a powerful message that could saves lives.

“Carrying a weapon can turn a normal day into a tragedy, ruining and ending lives.

“This is about sending a clear message that carrying a knife is never the answer – it puts you and others in danger.”

Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:

“Knife crime can change lives in a second and too many people have experienced the devastating consequences of this firsthand.

“Police are in the community day in, day out, working hard to make it a safer place. Since wanding operations began, officers have taken more than 200 dangerous weapons off our streets – this is life-saving work.

“I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Brett and Belinda Beasley for their tireless advocacy.”

Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein APM, Commander of Capability, Performance and Youth Command, said:

“When young people hear the real stories and consequences, they start to understand that carrying a knife doesn’t make you safer – it puts you at greater risk.

“Knife crime has serious, and sometimes fatal, consequences.

“After hearing about the Beasley’s heartbreaking experience, we hope students recognise the dangers of carrying knives and choose a safer path.”

The Minns Labor Government is investing over a million dollars in community sporting organisations across the Kiama region as part of ongoing work to boost participation and deliver fit for purpose facilities.

These projects will help ensure local families have access to healthy recreational activities and is part of the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to build a better New South Wales.

As communities across this region continue to grow these investments will ensure facilities are able to keep up with local need, key sporting festivals are maintained and barriers to participation are overcome.

The funding will lock-in the future of a range of important community facilities across a number of codes for years to come. These commitments include:

• $250,000 to resurface and repair the unsafe Kiama Netball Courts at Terralong Street.
• $40,000 will help cover essential costs of the Kiama Sevens tournament, which is celebrating its 54th year, welcoming 880 players and thousands of people to the South Coast of NSW, boosting the region’s local economy.
• $275,000 to install new lighting at Bonaira Oval, Home of Kiama Power AFL, which has been unable to host night matches due to inadequate lighting
• $200,000 to improve facilities and drainage works for Keith Grey Oval, the home of the Albion Park Eagles Cricket Club, which was deemed to be in very poor condition by Cricket New South Wales in its recent asset audit.
• $387,000 for new lighting at Gerry Emery Reserve, Gerringong, which hosts a range of codes including cricket, football, touch, and rugby league

In line with the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to transparency and integrity in funding, the above commitments are subject to compliance with the NSW Government Grant Administration Guidelines.

Minister for Sport Steve Kamper said:                        

“We understand how critical our local sporting facilities are, they are the backbone of our coastal and regional communities.

“Each one of these projects will deliver tangible outcomes for our local sporting communities whilst also encouraging participation

“I would like to thank Katelin who has been a tremendous advocate for investment in her local sporting communities.”

Labor Candidate for Kiama Katelin McInerney said:  

“As someone who has played on these local sporting grounds and has seen the positive impact community sport can have for everyone, I could not be more thrilled by these commitments.

“Local sport is the centre of community here in the Kiama electorate. Every project being announced today will bring the community together, boost participation and ensure our key sporting faculties are fit-for-purpose”.

In a major boost to recycling efforts across New South Wales and South Australia, each state’s container deposit scheme is set to expand to accept wine and spirit bottles and larger drink containers.

The container deposit scheme – which is now active in every state and territory – is the most successful recycling program in Australia’s history and is also incredibly popular with more containers collected every year.

Each state’s recycling scheme has already seen billions of eligible bottles and cans recycled – tackling litter, reducing pressure on landfills and rewarding people for their recycling behaviours.

Now even more residents and businesses will benefit from the 10-cent refund for returning a wider range of bottles and containers, while making it a smoother transition for industry.

The expansion across both states will see nearly half a billion additional beverage containers returned each year, saved from landfill and sent for recycling.

Each container deposit program will grow to include:

• Wine and spirits glass bottles
• Cordials and juice concentrate containers
• Larger containers of up to three litres of beverages that are already in the scheme, like flavoured milk, fruit and vegetable juice.

Plain milk and health tonic containers will continue to be excluded from the schemes.

These new containers will not be accepted at refund points immediately, giving the wine and spirits industry time to adjust and allowing collection points and systems to ramp up for the additional new containers.

New South Wales and South Australia will enact these changes by late-2027.

Queensland has already integrated glass wine and spirit bottles into their container deposit scheme. Western Australia committed to expanding their scheme during their recent state election. The Northern Territory has also recently announced it will bring in legislation to expand its scheme.

As the states work together to implement these changes, people are encouraged to keep recycling these containers through their kerbside bins, until collection points are ready.

SA and NSW will be jointly inviting peak bodies representing key industries to further engagement on implementing these changes.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said:

“For almost half a century, South Australia has led the nation on container deposit legislation. It’s been an incredible success story.

“Now it is time to take the next step, and to do so in a coordinated way.

“Each year around 660 million drink containers (about 40,000 tonnes) are returned by South Australians for refund and recycling, preventing those containers from being littered or sent to landfill.

“We expect that number to increase once these changes take effect – delivering further financial benefit to community groups, sporting clubs and charities.”

NSW Minister for Environment Penny Sharpe said:

“The Container Deposit Scheme is fantastic for the environment, great for our recycling industry and also puts money back in people’s pockets. It’s also incredibly popular with more and more items collected every year.

“By expanding to include more types of beverages, it’s estimated at least 27,000 tonnes of materials will be saved from landfill each year in NSW.

“It’s really important that people don’t try to take their wine bottles to a Return and Earn machine tomorrow. We’re working with industry to ensure a smooth transition and to ensure return systems will be ready to handle the new containers by mid-2027.”

South Australian Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Susan Close said:

“Beverage container glass in the kerbside recycling system is problematic. Just 11 per cent of the nearly 36,000 tonnes of glass containers put in the kerbside co‑mingled recycling bins in SA makes it back to a glass container each year.

“By comparison, of the 42,000 tonnes of glass containers received by CDS collection depots in SA, 99 per cent of that glass is recovered for local bottle manufacturing.

“By making the container deposit scheme simpler, we reduce confusion about what’s included and what’s not. It will also help to keep glass out of landfill and support local remanufacturing.

“We’ve listened to industry concerns, particularly from smaller wine producers, and we will continue to engage closely with them as reforms roll out.

“We will assist the wine and spirit industry with this transition and will work with the industry to ensure the least cost, simplest approach possible, with a special focus on assisting smaller operations.”

Yamba Road at Palmers Channel will be upgraded to improve long-term flood immunity and make vital infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters.

The Albanese and Minns Labor Governments are providing Clarence Valley Council with $9.98 million to deliver the upgrade.

Scheduled for completion in May 2026, weather permitting, the project is being delivered through the Regional Roads and Transport Recovery Package (RRTRP) jointly funded under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

As the main access from Yamba to the Pacific Motorway near Maclean, the upgrade is a key component of the Yamba Road Flood Resilience Strategic Plan to improve long-term flood immunity and make vital infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters.

During the severe flood event in February and March 2022, local businesses were either almost or completely out of supplies when Yamba Road was cut off for seven days.

Local authorities have been calling for improvements to its flood immunity to ensure sustainability for local economies during and following severe weather events.

Council is keen to get started with this work in coming months, which will include the removal of a low spot in the road that causes it to be closed even during minor flooding.

The project will lift the level of Yamba Road by about one metre at Palmers Channel South Bank Road, to help reduce the frequency and duration of flood-related road closures.

Minister for Emergency Management, Kristy McBain:

The whole nation witnessed the flooding across the Northern Rivers region of NSW in 2022 and, in its aftermath, it was evident more needed to be done to ensure communities were better able to recover from similar events in future.

“The Albanese Government is proud to be part of the first stage of the Yamba Road upgrade, which will help reduce the impacts on the local community during and after floods.”

NSW Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport, Jenny Aitchison:

“Clarence Valley Council provided clear reasoning for the improvement of Yamba Road, to reduce impact to SES and other agencies, so road access is maintained, and they can continue to respond to calls for help during emergencies.

“By raising the road embankment and providing widened and sealed shoulders, the road will be more resilient to water damage and will recover more quickly from future flooding.”

Minister for Recovery, Janelle Saffin:

“Ensuring Yamba Road recovers more quickly from inundation, is vital for Yamba and surrounding communities to stay connected.

“We are building back better and creating more resilient communities for the future.”

Clarence Valley Mayor, Ray Smith:

“Securing this funding marks a significant step forward in improving Yamba Road’s resilience to flooding.

“It’s fantastic to see us pushing forward with the Yamba Road and Palmers Channel Southbank Road intersection upgrade, it is such a critical project for our area.

“The upgrade is a key component of the Yamba Road Flood Resilience Strategic Plan, aimed at improving long-term flood immunity and strengthening the resilience of vital infrastructure.”

The NSW Liberals have exposed Labor’s attempts to take credit for projects already funded and delivered by the former Liberal Government.
 
Shadow Minister for the Illawarra and South Coast Natalie Ward said Labor shouldn’t be rewarded for their dishonesty.
 
“Labor is shamelessly trying to pass off the Liberals’ work as their own because the Labor Government’s record of delivery for the Kiama electorate is practically non-existent,” Ms Ward said.
 
“Labor is claiming credit for the Shoalhaven Hospital Redevelopment and the new Shellharbour Hospital. Both were fully funded and initiated by the Liberals – all Labor has left to do is cut the ribbon.”
 
“These hospitals were planned, designed and funded by the Liberals, because this sort of investment requires a Government with vision and sound financial management. Labor ignored this community until a by-election forced them to show up.”
 
“Labor’s cupboard of achievements is so bare they’ve even claimed credit for the Princes Highway Upgrade and the Nowra Bypass planning, again delivered by the Liberals.”
 
“Unlike Labor, the Liberals have a strong record of delivery for the Kiama community, which means only we can be trusted to deliver.”