Category: NSW News

The NSW Government has declared a State of Emergency from this morning, lasting for a period of seven days, ahead of worsening fire conditions predicted for this week.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has accepted the advice of Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons to declare a State of Emergency under Section 33 of the State of Emergency and Rescue Management Act.
The declaration enables the RFS Commissioner to exercise extraordinary powers to protect life and property.
“Declaring this State of Emergency is vital to the safety of communities in NSW as we face the most devastating bushfire season in living memory having lost six lives and almost 800 homes destroyed,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“These declarations are not taken lightly. This is the second State of Emergency this season following the declaration made on 11 November, also for a period of seven days.”
“It will ensure once again that our State is best placed to respond to the predicted fire conditions.”
A State of Emergency declaration enables extraordinary powers to be exercised by the RFS Commissioner. These include the power to:

• Direct any Government agency to conduct or refrain from conducting its functions;
• Control and coordinate the allocation of Government resources;
• Evacuate people from property within the declared area;
• Close roads and thoroughfares to traffic;
• Pull down or shore up infrastructure at risk of collapse;
• Order the shutdown of essential utilities in the declared area including electricity, gas, oil, water; and
• Enter or take possession of property in the course of the emergency response.

Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said the efforts of our hard working firefighters are to be commended as they face these challenging conditions after many have been fighting fires for months.
“The entire State has a huge level of gratitude for the thousands of firefighters on the frontline who have risked their own safety to protect life and property,” Mr Elliott said.
“The work they are so committed to right now will never be forgotten.”

The NSW Government is awarding more than $23 million in grants to fund new infrastructure to increase recycling and support the use of recycled materials in manufacturing.
Environment Minister Matt Kean said NSW has a strong history of recycling and we are working hard to ensure that continues by investing in major resource recovery infrastructure.
“NSW will continue to lead the way with this new funding, aimed at accelerating investment in waste and recycling infrastructure and help address challenges the industry faces in NSW,” Mr Kean said.
“The capital costs of major infrastructure can be a significant barrier to the establishment of new and innovative recycling facilities, so these grants give projects the boost they need to get up and running quickly and effectively.
“The grants will see new large-scale infrastructure built to recover and process valuable waste materials into new products.”
Four projects have been awarded $17.58 million funding under Round 4 of the Major Resource Recovery Infrastructure grants program. They are part of the NSW Government’s $802 million Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, the largest waste and recycling funding program in Australia.
Three of the projects will support new facilities to process paper, cardboard and plastic to a quality that can be re-used to make new products. The fourth project, a chlorine bypass system, will enable the Berrima cement kiln to be able to use more locally produced refuse-derived fuel (RDF) as a cleaner alternative to coal.
A further 13 projects have been awarded almost $5.5 million under Round 2 of the Product Improvement Program. These projects will increase the recycling and reuse of a range of challenging materials including tyres, plastics, crushed glass and polystyrene.
“These projects will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, maximise the use of our valuable resources by promoting reuse, and will create new jobs for the people of NSW.”
For further information, visit https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/working-together/grants/infrastructure-fund

NSW small businesses will soon be paid much faster by the NSW Government, with the number of days for payment to be slashed from 20 to five days.
Changes were first introduced a year ago to ensure registered small businesses were paid for goods and services, with invoices up to $1 million, within 20 calendar days.
From January 1, the number of days for payment will be reduced to five.
Finance and Small Business Minister Damien Tudehope said the NSW Government was already delivering on the new commitment.
“In the three months to September, the NSW Government paid 98 per cent of invoices to registered small businesses within 20 calendar days and an impressive 96 per cent were paid within five business days,” Mr Tudehope said.
“Suppliers of goods and services under $10,000 can be paid instantly with a purchase card (PCard), a type of credit card used by NSW Government staff.
“The Government is working hard to support small businesses and in turn cement NSW as one of the best places in the world to set up and run a small business.
“Small businesses which supply to the NSW Government are paid faster than in any other state in Australia and put them on par with their counterparts in the United Kingdom.”
Queensland will pay small businesses within 20 days from July 2020, and the Federal Government recently announced a commitment to pay e-invoices within five days from next year.
Mr Tudehope said late payment can harm business cash flow, hamper investment opportunities and in extreme cases can risk businesses’ solvency.
“Our faster payment commitment helps boost cash flows for small business operators and help them flourish,” he said.
“As we all know, successful businesses create jobs and are essential to economic growth.”
“I also encourage big business to get on board and follow our lead in paying small businesses faster,” he said.
Since the policy was introduced a year ago, the NSW Government has paid more than 677,000 invoices to registered small businesses within 20 calendar days, worth more than $251 million.

Waterloo’s transition into a bustling hub of homes, jobs and high-quality public space continues with the NSW Government approving a concept proposal the future Waterloo Metro Quarter.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said Waterloo is the newest suburb to benefit from the once-in-a-lifetime Sydney Metro project.
“Waterloo is already one of Sydney’s most-loved suburbs, with easy access to all of the things that make our city great and it’s going to get even better,” Mr Stokes said.
“From the Aerotropolis to the CBD, we are transforming suburbs and empty spaces across Sydney into vibrant connected communities with a mixture of homes, jobs and great public places on the doorstep of world-class public transport.”
While the final mix of homes and jobs in the precinct will be decided during the detailed design stage, it could include either around 450 jobs and up to 700 homes or up to 1,800 jobs and 450 homes over three residential towers up to 29 storeys and four commercial towers up to 10 storeys.
The precinct will include 70 social housing apartments and at least five per cent of homes will be affordable housing. It will have two new public plazas at Cope and Raglan Streets, new community facilities, and tree-lined footpaths through the site.
Waterloo Metro Quarter is the latest development to be approved by the NSW Government after it promised to “clear the decks” of applications stuck in the system to ensure continued investment and job creation in NSW.
“I’m delighted to announce that since 28 August – when I pledged the Government would ‘clear the decks’ of proposals stuck in planning purgatory – we have determined 113 State Significant applications, or one a day,” Mr Stokes said.
“These projects will inject more than $3.3 billion into our economy and create more than 14,000 new job opportunities across NSW.”
Sydney and Regional Planning Panels have also determined 99 local development applications since 28 August, delivering a further $4.3 billion worth of development across Sydney and regional NSW.
Today’s announcement follows the NSW Government’s commitment to supercharge growth and investment in the CBD by giving in-principle support to the City of Sydney’s Central Sydney Planning Strategy, which will be released early next year.

The design for the relocated Powerhouse Museum has been selected with Moreau Kusunoki [Lead Design Architect] and Genton [Local Design Architect] chosen to establish the first major museum to be based in Western Sydney.
The architectural team’s bold vision for the museum has been selected following an international design competition which commenced in January 2019.
Minister for the Arts Don Harwin was today joined by Parramatta MP, Minister Geoff Lee to make the announcement.
“We are thrilled to be appointing Moreau Kusunoki and Genton to design the new Powerhouse Museum. Their design is a bold visualisation of how contemporary cultural institutions can provide the inspiration, education and enjoyment that today’s audiences need and expect,” Mr Harwin said.
“The relocated Powerhouse Museum represents the largest investment in arts and culture infrastructure since the Sydney Opera House. Once this museum is built – there simply will not be another building like it in Australia – it will be a leading cultural institution in the South Pacific.
“The new Powerhouse will be a museum of applied arts and sciences that exemplifies how Sydney and Australia thinks about itself, its culture and our communities.”
The successful architects will now progress their design, signalling the next stage in the transformation of one of Australia’s most important cultural institutions.
Dr Lee said the new museum will attract leading researchers, scientists and creatives from across Australia and around the world, while also providing ongoing opportunities for students from across NSW.
“This is what Western Sydney deserves – I can’t wait to see this incredible new institution in Parramatta,” Dr Lee said.
Moreau Kusunoki and Genton said: “We envisage the new Powerhouse Museum as a hyper-platform, a building with many functions and limitless potential. The building will tread lightly on the site, with the architecture opening up towards the river, providing generous public space and creating an open 24-hour precinct.”
The international architectural competition saw more than 74 entries received from 20 countries.
More information is available at: https://maas.museum/new-powerhouse/

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance today officially opened light rail services from Circular Quay to Randwick.
The first passengers have ridden on the new L2 Randwick Line following a ribbon cutting ceremony at Circular Quay.
“It’s an historic day for Sydney as light rail takes passengers down George Street for the first time in 61 years,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“George Street used to be a car park with hundreds of buses and thousands of cars congested every day. Now it is one of the best boulevards in the world.
“The new network will move up to 13,500 commuters an hour during peak time, with one coupled tram holding 450 passengers, which is equivalent to nine standard buses.
“The new pedestrian boulevard will create a vibrant new shopping and dining precinct, bringing people along the route to enjoy everything it has to offer.”
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the buzz created by the testing of the light rail and at today’s opening, showed there was overwhelming support for the project.
“The new light rail line will revolutionise the way that the people of Sydney travel through the CBD and South East for years to come,” Mr Constance said.
“Opening the new light rail line between Randwick and Circular Quay marks the next major step to building a modern new public transport network to cater for Sydney’s growing population and befits our world class city.”
Trams on the L2 Randwick Line are fare-free this weekend.
Transport for NSW has partnered with Rural Aid to raise funds to support regional communities and farmers. Volunteers are collecting donations along the light rail route this weekend.

Strengthened reporting, registration and data-sharing schemes targeting child abuse and record investments into support services for survivors and at-risk children are all helping to keep our kids safe according to a report released today.
Attorney General Mark Speakman and Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward said NSW’s second annual report card provides an update on the Government’s actions in 2019 to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
“Protecting children from abuse and improving access to justice for survivors are the bedrock of the NSW Government’s response to the findings of the Royal Commission,” Mr Speakman said.
“We are rolling out the Government’s $127 million package of reforms responding to the Royal Commission, which will secure a safer future for our children and ensure we are doing everything we can to stop the horrors of the past being repeated.”
Highlights of the report include:

• a NSW-led national initiative enabling child protection workers to identify whether a child or person of interest may be known in another state or territory
• landmark legislative reforms to strengthen the child protection reportable conduct scheme and expand mandatory reporter groups
• better protection and support for children in out-of-home care
• allocation of  funding for community-based support services
• expanded professional education and training about child safety
• increased protections for young people in youth justice centres, and
• significant improvements to specialist sexual assault services.

“While we have made great strides in creating safer environments for our children and young people, there is still much more work to be done,” Mr Ward said.
“We will continue to work with government and non-government organisations to build on our progress and make sure the framework for protecting children is as strong as possible.”
The annual progress report for the NSW Government’s response to the Royal Commission can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2LMCDc9.

STRONG AND STABLE: NSW BUDGET ON TRACK TO DELIVER SOLID SURPLUS

• The NSW Half-Yearly Review (HYR) has confirmed the continued strength of the State’s Budget despite challenges such as the worst drought on record, recent volatility in the housing market and lower household consumption.
• The HYR forecasts a surplus of $702 million in 2019-20, down $314 million since the 2019-20 Budget, with average surpluses increasing to $1.9 billion over the four years to 2022-23 (up from $1.7 billion), bolstered by early signs of an improvement in the housing market.

LEVEL TWO WATER RESTRICTIONS IN GREATER SYDNEY AND THE ILLAWARRA

• Level 2 water restrictions came into effect in Sydney, Blue Mountains and the Illawarra on 10 December.
• Under the new Level 2 water restrictions people are required to use a bucket or watering can to water their gardens between approved times, cars can only be washed with a bucket or taken to a commercial car wash and topping up of pools and spas is limited to 15 minutes a day with a trigger nozzle.
• Fines will still apply for breaches of water restrictions – $220 for residential breaches and $550 for businesses. For up-to-date information on Level 2 restrictions visit lovewater.sydney/restrictions.

DRUG AMNESTY BINS FOR MUSIC FESTIVALS

• Music festivalgoers will have a chance to discard illegal drugs into amnesty bins without fear of prosecution or penalty as part of the NSW Government’s ongoing efforts to reduce drug-related deaths and injuries.
• The measure formed a key part of the NSW Government’s response to the Deputy Coroner’s recommendations following her inquest into the deaths of six patrons at NSW music festivals.
• The NSW Government will also extend targeted education campaigns, improve information sharing between State agencies about the toxicology of drugs found at music festivals and will work with festival organisers to ensure they continue to improve the health services being provided at their events.

GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

• A new model of agricultural education will benefit students across the State for years to come, with the NSW Government announcing a new Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education in the Hawkesbury, new selective streams of agricultural education at Richmond High School, and upgrades to the existing Hurlstone Agricultural High School at Glenfield.
• This initiative means children from as far as Walgett to Woollahra will have an opportunity to study and consider a career in agriculture.
• The Department of Education will continue to work with Landcom on the future of the Glenfield Precinct Plan.

HISTORY MADE AS METRO COMPLETES HARBOUR TUNNEL

• The first metro railway tunnel to be built deep under Sydney Harbour has been completed in an historic milestone for public transport in Sydney.
• Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Kathleen is digging twin railway tunnels under Sydney Harbour as part of Sydney Metro – Australia’s biggest public transport project.
• Metro trains will start running through the tunnels in 2024 extending the North West Metro into the city and beyond to Bankstown.

LIGHT RAIL REMINDER FOR SAFETY’S SAKE

• Sydneysiders are being encouraged to play it safe around the new CBD and South East Light Rail ahead of passenger services commencing this weekend.
• Light rail safety promotions have ramped up in recent weeks aimed at pedestrians and cyclists, while new ground markings have been installed across intersections to deter motorists from queuing across the tracks and delaying trams.
• TfNSW has partnered with Rural Aid to help raise funds for NSW farmers and regional communities doing it tough. Rural Aid volunteers will collect donations at light rail stops all weekend in lieu of passengers paying a fare for riding the services.

NEW NESA LEADERSHIP TO GUIDE EDUCATION REFORMS

• Chancellor of Western Sydney University and former head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Professor Peter Shergold AC, will take the helm of the authority responsible for curriculum, assessment, school regulation and teacher quality across NSW public and non-government schools (NESA).
• Professor Shergold will deliver a review of the NSW curriculum in 2020 which will provide NSW with a once in a generation opportunity to revitalise the school curriculum for students, the community and the economy continue to thrive well into the 21st century.

Strengthened reporting, registration and data-sharing schemes targeting child abuse and record investments into support services for survivors and at-risk children are all helping to keep our kids safe according to a report released today.
Attorney General Mark Speakman and Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward said NSW’s second annual report card provides an update on the Government’s actions in 2019 to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
“Protecting children from abuse and improving access to justice for survivors are the bedrock of the NSW Government’s response to the findings of the Royal Commission,” Mr Speakman said.
“We are rolling out the Government’s $127 million package of reforms responding to the Royal Commission, which will secure a safer future for our children and ensure we are doing everything we can to stop the horrors of the past being repeated.”
Highlights of the report include:

• a NSW-led national initiative enabling child protection workers to identify whether a child or person of interest may be known in another state or territory
• landmark legislative reforms to strengthen the child protection reportable conduct scheme and expand mandatory reporter groups
• better protection and support for children in out-of-home care
• allocation of  funding for community-based support services
• expanded professional education and training about child safety
• increased protections for young people in youth justice centres, and
• significant improvements to specialist sexual assault services.

“While we have made great strides in creating safer environments for our children and young people, there is still much more work to be done,” Mr Ward said.
“We will continue to work with government and non-government organisations to build on our progress and make sure the framework for protecting children is as strong as possible.”
The annual progress report for the NSW Government’s response to the Royal Commission can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2LMCDc9.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has today released the NSW Half-Yearly Review (HYR), confirming the continued strength of the State’s Budget despite challenges such as the worst drought on record, recent volatility in the housing market and lower household consumption.
The HYR forecasts a surplus of $702 million in 2019-20, down $314 million since the 2019-20 Budget, with average surpluses increasing to $1.9 billion over the four years to 2022-23 (up from $1.7 billion), bolstered by early signs of an improvement in the housing market.
“The importance of maintaining Budget surpluses lies in the simple fact that it enables us to provide critical support to those in need, such as farmers and regional communities affected by this devastating drought,” Mr Perrottet said. “We have been able to respond quickly to these and other challenges while continuing to fund productive infrastructure, thanks to our strong financial position.”
Since the June Budget, additional measures to support drought affected communities and ease financial pressures have been provided, taking the Government’s total for drought support to around $2 billion.
The NSW Government allocated $25 million last month to help people impacted by bushfires to rebuild their communities. It has also provided a further $48.2 million in partnership with the Federal Government. Given the bushfire season still has a long way to go, Mr Perrottet said the Government remained ready to provide more funding.
While the ongoing drought is impacting the economy, growth is expected to be at 1¾ per cent in 2019-20 but will accelerate to 2½ per cent in 2021-22. This is supported by a record four-year infrastructure spend of $97.3 billion.
“NSW is the engine room of Australia and we’ve reinforced the economy with our record investments in public infrastructure, creating a jobs boom right across the State and ensuring we remain the strongest in the nation,” Mr Perrottet said.
Key Highlights of the HYR:

• A Budget surplus of $702 million projected in 2019-20
• Transfer duty revenue is forecast at $7.5 billion in 2019-20 (up from $6.9 billion) as the housing sector improves
• The record $93 billion infrastructure program announced in the June Budget has increased with new commitments to a new record of $97.3 billion
• Public investment in infrastructure is supporting tens of thousands of jobs and adding 1/2  a percentage point to economic growth on average over two years
• The NSW Generations Fund (NGF) has outperformed expectations, growing to $10.9 billion as at end June 2019 and is on track to nearly triple by 2030
• Both Moody’s and S&P Global have affirmed the State’s triple-A credit rating since the Budget, underscoring the State’s strong fiscal management.

Mr Perrottet said ongoing weakness in the national economy was playing out in NSW, with another drop in GST receipts forecast as consumption softens.
Mr Perrottet said while the Budget was robust enough to manage the adjustment, the reduction demonstrated the need for reform.
Since June, the NSW Government has launched a number of reform initiatives including the NSW Review of Federal Financial Relations, the NSW 2040 Economic Blueprint and Global NSW, the State’s revitalised trade and investment strategy.
“When times are tough, it’s good to know we’ve got the capacity to act quickly and make a difference and yet still keep our economy growing,” said Mr Perrottet. “We will continue to deliver fiscal stability to look after the best interests of the people of NSW.”