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In a desperate last-ditch attempt to get its troubled Housing Bills through Parliament, the Albanese Labor Government has been forced to cut yet another deal with the Greens.

The agreement by the Government to allocate an additional $1 billion towards the Coalition’s highly successful National Housing Infrastructure Facility just reiterates again that investments of this kind should be made directly, not through Labor’s convoluted HAFF money-go-round.

Once again the Coalition will not be supporting the establishment of the HAFF, which is merely $10 billion in additional Commonwealth Government borrowing that cannot guarantee and will not deliver a single home before the next election.

Let’s be clear – Labor’s housing legislation does nothing to ease the supply pressures on first homeowners seeking buy their first home and get into the property market.

It will only see Australia’s housing crisis worsen with added inflationary pressures on the economy, ultimately leading to higher interest rates and more difficulty for those Australians looking to enter the housing market.

Despite all of this, Labor is still planning to bring 1.5 million migrants to Australia over the next five years, with no plan on how to house them, on top of our growing population.

Sadly, on every housing measure things are only getting worse under Labor. First home buyers are at their lowest levels since the Gillard Government, new house starts have dropped by 6.6 per cent and new house approvals are 13.0 per cent lower compared to this time last year.

Labor still can’t say how many houses this Fund will build, where the houses will be located or when the Fund will first make a return, and the Leader of the Greens even conceded today, “Labor’s HAFF won’t fix the housing crisis”.

It’s clear that today’s announcement is nothing more than a political stunt which is typical of a government reliant on Greens preferences in order to be re-elected, and more disappointingly, a government that is completely out of touch with Australians facing real hardships and painful cost of living pressures.

The NSW Government’s first Budget will make good on its election commitment to deliver better salary packaging for tens of thousands of healthcare workers in NSW.

Better salary packaging is critical to recruiting, retaining, and sustaining our health workforce, as it allows employees to decrease the amount of tax payable on their income.

Under current salary packaging arrangements, the resulting tax savings are split equally between health workers and NSW Health.

Changes announced by the NSW Government, will see HSU award workers’ share of these tax savings increase to 70 per cent.

More than 50,000 healthcare workers will benefit from these changes across NSW including in rural and regional NSW, including allied health, health and security assistants, administration staff, cooks, patient transport staff, paramedics, sterilisation technicians, tech assistants and telephonists.

For example, a cleaner earning $54,483 per year will see an increase in their after-tax take-home pay of $753.36 per year or $14.99 per week.

The Government is working to achieve 100% during it’s the first term of Government and will be identifying funding and next stages after the September Budget.

These changes build on the NSW Government’s abolition of the wages cap for frontline workers, delivering the largest pay increase for the workforce in over a decade.

We can make these important changes to support frontline workers because the NSW Government is making the difficult but responsible decisions with spending.

NSW faces rampant inflation, rising interest rates and the largest debt in the state’s history, but we are committed to ensuring that the state is prepared to get on top of these challenges.

It’s why the NSW government is setting out a long-term plan to gradually repair the budget in a sustainable way, to reprioritise spending to where it is needed most, and to rebuild the essential services that we all rely on.

And we will do it without privatising essential public assets or imposing an unfair cap on the wages of our essential service workers.

Premier of NSW Chris Minns said:

“This is an important announcement for the 50,000 health care workers who are set to benefit.

“We need to recruit and retain health staff. Removing the wages cap and improving the salary packaging arrangements for our health workers will go some way to addressing that.

“There’s more to do – I want to ensure the people of NSW have the essential services they rely on.”

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“Today’s announcement will help boost recruitment and retention of our health workforce.

“When we back our health workers, the improved health outcomes will follow.”

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“We are committed to making better choices in this Budget, so that we can focus on the programs that make people’s lives better.  That includes as a priority, rebuilding essential services.

“Putting hundreds of dollars back into the pockets of healthcare workers is the first step in a suite of plans to recruit, retrain and reward essential staff.”

Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis said:

“Today’s announcement is about improving workforce conditions for health workers.

“This is in addition to delivering the largest pay increase for our health workers in over a decade.”

Prime Minister Albanese joined world leaders in New Delhi this weekend for the G20 Leaders’ Summit to discuss collective responses to the world’s most pressing economic challenges.

G20 leaders discussed global measures to ease cost-of-living pressures, including free, fair and rules-based trade, enhancing supply chain resilience and shoring up food and energy security.

Australia’s attendance at the G20 Summit allows our country to work with the world’s major economies to shape solutions for our region and the world.

Climate change was high on the agenda, with Prime Minister Albanese advocating for collective action and outlining Australia’s plan to become a renewable energy superpower.

Australia also supported G20 work to deliver better, bigger and more accessible multilateral development banks to help developing countries, including in the Pacific, to pursue sustainable development and respond to climate change.

Discussion at the Summit highlighted the negative impact that Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is having on the global economy, as well as its abhorrent toll on the people of Ukraine.

While at the Summit, the Prime Minister met bilaterally with some of Australia’s closest partners, including Indian Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Kishida of Japan.

Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Kishida welcomed early progress under the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, including the recent entry into force of the Australia-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement. This Agreement allows Australia and Japan to undertake more frequent defence training and exercises together, and with other partners, to make the region more secure.

Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Kishida also discussed the importance of continued cooperation on our respective energy transition commitments.

During the Prime Minister’s Summit bilateral meetings he advocated for expedition in settling both the Australia-India CECA and Australia-EU FTA agreements as soon as possible to benefit Australian trade and economy.

The Prime Minister also attended a MIKTA Leaders’ Gathering with Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Türkiye, where leaders discussed how to enhance inter-regional cooperation and strengthen multilateralism to target global challenges.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“I was honoured to join world leaders at the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit this weekend, hosted by Prime Minister Modi.

“As we have seen, the global economic environment directly affects Australian households. That is why it’s crucial Australia contributes to global discussions on easing cost-of-living pressures.

“The G20 will continue to work together to drive global economic cooperation as we respond to shared challenges and navigate the global economy back to strong, sustainable and resilient growth.

“I thank Prime Minister Modi for India’s Presidency of the G20 this year,and look forward to working closely with President Lula da Silva as Brazil assumes the Presidency for 2024.”

The NSW Government has today secured a historic pay rise for NSW’s 95,000 teachers, landing a deal that will tackle the teacher shortage crisis and see educators go from being among the worst to the best paid in the country.

Today, the Teachers Federation Council has voted to endorse the generous offer made by the NSW Government to lift teachers’ wages and restore respect and integrity to the state’s education sector. 

The agreement will mean all teachers’ salaries undergo the most significant uplift seen in NSW in almost three decades.

This agreement means starting salaries will increase from $75,791 to $85,000, and salaries for those at the top of the scale increase from $113,042 to $122,100 from October 9. 

This offer recognises the value of the work that NSW teachers do and was informed by findings of the Gallop report.

Every teacher will benefit as the pay scale is restructured into seven steps ensuring a more rapid progression.

This investment in our state’s education is desperately needed, following the neglect under the Liberals and Nationals, where poor funding decisions led to declining outcomes for students, and thousands of talented teachers quitting the profession.

Striking this deal is a vital part of the NSW Government’s plan to rebuild the essential services people rely on, taking pressure off working families who need a reliable public education system.

This uplift is part of the Government’s long-term goal to sustainably repair the budget by investing in our essential workers.

Educating future generations of students is the greatest investment a government can make, and there is nothing more important than having qualified teachers in front of every classroom.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“I am so proud that today we are able to give teachers the pay rise they so urgently deserve.

“Just over five months ago, the Minns Labor Government was elected with a mandate to sit down and negotiate a new deal for our teachers, and that is exactly what we have achieved today.

“The Liberals and Nationals watched on as student outcomes declined and the state was in the grip of a teacher shortage crisis.

“The endorsement of this agreement marks and important step forward for teachers, as well as for students and families, as we work together to rebuild the state’s public education system.”

A new expert advisory group will be established to improve the birthing experiences of mothers, their partners and families across NSW.

Minister for Health, Ryan Park, said the advisory group would put women at the centre of care and support the delivery of NSW Health’s strategic plan Connecting, Listening and Responding – A Blueprint for Action – Maternity Care in NSWlaunch so all women in NSW receive respectful, evidence-based maternity care which improves their experiences and outcomes.

“I’m committed to improving the birthing experience of women, their partners and families right across NSW and I care about getting their input into our maternity services,” Mr Park said.

“The stories coming out of the parliamentary inquiry into Birth Trauma are difficult to hear but it’s important we learn from the lived experience of these women and understand how we can do better.

“This new expert advisory group is the next step in the implementation of our strategic plan Blueprint for Action – Maternity Care in NSW and will ensure women are put at the centre of their own care.”

The Blueprint was developed following survey feedback from more than 18,000 women, families and clinicians sharing their experiences.

NSW Health also heard directly from around 1000 individuals and received 500 public submissions.

Among the key priorities that emerged from the extensive consultation were enhanced access to consistent information, developing a way to routinely capture feedback from women and how clinicians can better support women to make informed decisions about their maternity care.

Mr Park said having patients and their families at the heart of the Blueprint design process has been invaluable.

“This feedback has clearly told us what matters most to women,” Mr Park said.

“A woman’s birthing experience is one that stays with them for life, and I am committed to ensuring that all women no matter where they live, have maternity services which deliver safe, high-quality care and that understand the significance of their birthing experience.”

“The expert advisory group will include midwifery and obstetric leads from each local health district and importantly consumers to guide us on the implementation of NSW Health’s Connecting, Listening and Responding – A Blueprint for Action – Maternity Care in NSWlaunch.

“The group will be established in the coming weeks, with a view to having their first meeting in the next few months and will advise NSW Health on the implementation of the Blueprint,” Mr Park said.

The Blueprint is a strategic plan which sets out the vision of NSW Health and provides guidance to strengthen maternity care services to ensure they are collaborative, equitable and woman-centred, while addressing the challenges for maternity care in NSW.

Sydney’s iconic Bay Run has been transformed, with new lighting, landscaping and widened pathways along parts of the 7km path.

The popular walking and cycling route follows the edge of Iron Cove, travelling through Rozelle, Lilyfield, Haberfield, Five Dock, Rodd Point, Russell Lea and Drummoyne and is used by an estimated 5000 people every day.

The upgrade has delivered improvements at the Lilyfield Road Bridge, including new seating and recreational areas on the bridge, an outdoor fitness hub and a ramp that connects to the path along Hawthorne Canal to the GreenWay path.

The upgrade has also separated pedestrians and bike riders on the path from the UTS Haberfield Rowing Club to Lilyfield Road Bridge, making it safer for everyone in the area.

The $5 million upgrade was delivered by Inner West Council with funding from Transport for NSW’s Get NSW Active program and the Department of Planning and Environment.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said: 

“The Bay Run is a local icon and a walking and cycling super highway.

“Thousands of people use the Bay Run every week to get out and enjoy the fresh air, exercise or commute. The new lights mean people can safely use this vital commuter link during late in the evening or early in the morning.

“The transformation of Lilyfield Road Bridge completely repurposes this old road link into the perfect spot to stop, relax and enjoy the beautiful views over the bay. It now features gym equipment, and widens the space available for people walking and cycling, eliminating one of the Bay Run’s few remaining pinch points.

“This project is one of many being delivered as part of the Get NSW Active program, which this year delivered another $40 million in funding for active transport projects across NSW.

“I’m excited to see even more communities across the state benefit from great projects like this one.”

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said:

“The Bay Run is one of the most popular running, walking and cycling tracks in Sydney and our makeover of the foreshore in Leichhardt and Haberfield has made it more beautiful than ever.”

“The new modern lighting has made the path safer, particularly for women walking and running after dark and in the early morning.

“The new Lilyfield Road Bridge will now be a pleasant destination for picnics, gatherings and exercise.”

“These improvements are in addition to the new Leichhardt Skate we opened last month which has proven enormously popular among local children and young people already.”

“We fought hard for funding for the Greenway and it’s wonderful to see the full vision coming to life.”

The Minns Government will update NSW coal royalty rates to make sure the state earns a fair return for its resources under modern market conditions.

The new scheme will see coal royalties increase by 2.6 percentage points from 1 July 2024. It will replace the emergency domestic coal cap and reservation measures the previous government introduced in December 2022.

The changes will improve the state’s budget position by more than $2.7 billion over the 4 years from 2024 to 2028.

Coal royalties have not increased since January 2009. Since then, international prices have surged, peaking well above $500 per tonne in late 2022 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

International prices have since remained above average, trading consistently above $200 per tonne.

Existing discounts for underground and deep underground mining (deeper than 400m) will continue.

The decision also mitigates a $1.3 billion write-down in royalties revenue in the forthcoming budget.

The government will use the funds raised rebuilding the state’s essential services, as well as providing families with cost-of-living relief.

Under the new system the rates for open cut, underground and deep underground mining will be:

Type of mining	Open cut	Underground	Deep underground
Coal royalty rate from July 2024	10.8%	9.8%	8.8%
Current coal royalty rate	8.2%	7.2%	6.2%

The new system was developed following extensive consultation with the mining industry as well as NSW’s key trading partners. The consultation included:

• Two roundtables, attended by 13 mining companies.
• Seven individual meetings between the Treasurer, the Minister for Natural Resources and major mine operators.
• Twenty written submissions from representatives of the coal sector, including from coal mining companies and coal fired power generators.
• Detailed consultation with affected companies on price forecasts, currency assumptions, volume growth and cost curves. The Treasurer and the Minister for Finance then met with an industry delegation to discuss feedback.
• A roundtable with 4 major power companies, spanning the generation, distribution and retail sectors of the electricity industry.
• Two detailed consultations between NSW Treasury and the Consuls-General of Japan and Korea.

The announcement is a key element in the government’s long-term plan to balance the need for budget repair, rebuild the state’s essential services and take pressure off NSW families and businesses.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“This is a fair outcome for the people of NSW. The old system is out of date. The market has moved on. That’s why we are modernising the state’s coal royalties.

“The new scheme will make sure the people of NSW share in the wealth their resources create.

“I want to thank all of the mining companies, the power companies, and our key trading partners for their extensive engagement with the NSW Government ahead of the forthcoming Budget.”

Minister for Finance and Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos said: 

“Coal is an important part of the state’s energy mix and a key contributor to our economy.

“Having embarked on extensive consultations with mining companies, industry groups and our trading partners, we have struck the right balance.

“These changes will take effect on 1 July 2024 giving the industry time to adjust and upholding the Minns Labor Government’s commitment not to consider royalties changes while emergency measures were in place.

“The Minns Government is committed to ensuring the ongoing stability of the mining sector, while rebuilding essential services for the people of NSW.”

Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe said: 

“The coal price caps were an emergency measure to keep electricity prices under control during a global energy crisis.

“Going forward, it’s important our energy sector has certainty about NSW’s policy settings.”

The Coalition strongly supports Australians having access to cheaper medicines.

We support 60-day dispensing.

For months we have stood up to the Albanese Labor Government and called them out for their lack of consultation and rushed policy making, which was putting Australian’s healthcare access at risk.

We called on them to get back to the table with the community pharmacy sector and negotiate an Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement to resolve the legitimate concerns on their approach to 60-day dispensing.

Today, it is clear that our hard work has paid off.

Through the advocacy of the Coalition and community pharmacists across the country, we have supported Australians to have access to more affordable medicines without risking their local pharmacy closing.

Our focus was always on resolving the legitimate concerns that were raised for the serious impacts that unconsulted, unmodelled and rushed policy could have on patients and communities.

The Government did not adequately consult with community pharmacists before they announced this policy and they refused to model the potential flow-on impacts that this policy could have on patients, particularly the most vulnerable.

That is why we took this fight to the floor of Parliament House, on behalf of patients, communities and their local pharmacists.

The Coalition will always stand up for the best interests of Australians, and we are pleased that the Minister for Health has finally heard our calls and will immediately enter into new negotiations.

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston said that the Coalition has genuinely listened to the concerns of patients and pharmacists and was proud to fight for them.

“Pharmacists are very highly regarded members of local communities, and for this Government to totally dismiss consultation and force a measure on them that would potentially see thousands of job losses was inconceivable,” Senator Ruston said.

“We understood that rushing this policy could have significant consequences for Australians, particularly for those communities in rural and regional Australia where the local pharmacist is the only primary healthcare professional in town. Getting it wrong could force up healthcare costs for the most vulnerable Australians and reduced access to critical services and advice.”“The Coalition is the only Party that understands the importance of consultation and good policy making to ensure no one is worse off. We are proud to have forced the Government to do the right thing by patients, pharmacists and communities, and we now implore them to enter into the upcoming negotiations in good faith.”

Footpaths along Mayfield’s main shopping strip will be looking brand new this week thanks to a pressure cleaning trial designed to improve the cleanliness and visual appeal of the precinct.

City of Newcastle (CN) has collaborated with the Mayfield Business Improvement Association (BIA) to undertake the trial as part of the Special Business Rates program, which is designed to activate and beautify business districts.

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said the trial is being rolled out in response to feedback from the community and local businesses.

“Together with the Mayfield BIA, CN has listened to the community about the cleanliness of its suburban shopping precinct footpaths,” Cr Clausen said.

“By cleaning and maintaining our suburban shopping precincts, we improve their visual amenity to ensure they are inviting places for people to visit, with the benefits flowing onto local businesses.

“The Mayfield BIA has been forging ahead in recent years to enhance the appeal of the precinct with a range of wonderful community activations including the Mayfield Arts Trail and Mayfield Day, which are now annual events.”

Mayfield BIA Chair Tony Sansom welcomed the trial, which is being implemented along an area pegged as the next growth corridor.

“Mayfield is transforming before our eyes with young couples and families moving into the area, and new cafes and specialty shops popping up along Maitland Road with the changing demographic,” Mr Sansom said.

“I think more people are seeing the potential of the area with its close proximity to the city.

“It’s been close to 10 years since the footpaths along Maitland Road have been high pressure cleaned, and we can’t wait to see our high street shopping strip sparkle once again.

“We are working collaboratively with City of Newcastle to minimise the disruption to our local businesses and their customers by completing the pressure cleaning after hours.”

Cleaning will commence on Friday 25 August between the hours of 6pm and 2am.

A $60 billion black hole has torn through the Albanese Government’s 2030 renewable energy plan exposing a Labor lie and leaving everyday Australians to pay the bill.

A leading energy economist has revealed that more than $60 billion of mega energy projects, which Labor is seeking to build by 2030, are unaccounted for in Labor’s logic despite its significant impact on the energy prices paid by households.

The concerns arise through the GenCost study which evaluates the levelised cost of electricity for different energy generating technologies and provides the central justification for Labor’s radical energy experiment.

Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O’Brien said Labor’s Climate Change and Energy Minister had deliberately misrepresented the study to blind Australians of the true cost of Labor’s plan.

“Chris Bowen has buried a $60 billion black hole in Labor’s radical energy experiment, and it will be everyday Australian households and businesses that pay the price,” Mr O’Brien said.

“It’s high time that Labor came clean with the Australian people and explained the true cost of its radical energy experiment.”

“Australians are paying some of the highest energy bills in the world despite false promises from Labor that it would cut household power bills by $275.”

The whopping $60 billion price tag was calculated by experienced economist, David Carland in a formal submission to the CSIRO and includes projects such as Snowy 2.0, Marinus Link, VNI West and the Battery of the Nation.

The total figure is likely to be far larger with many more costs associated with household energy storage and distribution costs unknown.

“How deep does this black hole go?” Mr O’Brien asks Labor’s Climate Change and Energy Minister.

“Labor’s energy pathway does not account for one cent of the enormous network integration costs and there are billions more to be uncovered.”

“The enormous network cost of connecting Australian homes with solar, wind or gas generators do not simply vanish because Labor wants it too. These costs are paid for by every single business and household in Australia through higher energy bills.”

In the open letter to the editor published in the Australian on 28 July, CSIROs Chief Economist Paul Graham stated the GenCost “report does not provide the cumulative cost of all investments up to 2030” and that “all existing generation, storage and transmission capacity up to 2030 is treated as sunk costs.”

The Coalition’s energy spokesperson thanked CSIRO’s Chief Economist for clarifying the details of the GenCost report and blasted Chris Bowen for lying to Australians about the true cost of its transition.

“Labor continues to tell Australians that a balance of technologies isn’t needed, claiming renewables alone will deliver the cheapest form of energy but, it has not accounted for at least $60 billion of energy infrastructure to be built out through to 2030.”

“We need to replace Labor’s dangerous ideology with a balanced ‘All-of the Above’ approach that allows for a mix of different technologies, including renewables.”

“What really matters, and what Labor deliberately ignores, is the total system costs of energy because that’s what hits people’s power bills.”