NEW SOUTH WALES – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Secret email plea to lock down Sydney

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Original article by Anton Nilsson
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 25-Nov-21

The New South Wales government’s response to the Delta variant outbreak is under further scrutiny. It follows the revelation that chief health officer Kerry Chant and senior NSW Health officials were urged to lock down Greater Sydney on 24 June. A NSW Health official in the Hunter Region called for such action due to the widespread detection of coronavirus fragments in wastewater in areas of Sydney and Wollongong. A lockdown was imposed in some parts of Sydney on 25 June, but Greater Sydney was not locked down until the next day. NSW recorded 248 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths on Wednesday.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Hazzard warning: Premier axes powers push

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Original article by Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Nov-21

The New South Wales government has abandoned plans to extend its COVID-19 emergency powers. Health Minister Brad Hazzard had proposed legislation to extend these powers until March 2023, but Premier Dominic Perrottet moved to drop the bill amid opposition within the Coalition partyroom. Amongst other things, some government MPs are believed to have feared a similar backlash to the Victorian Labor government’s controversial pandemic bill. NSW recorded 212 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, and two additional deaths from the current outbreak.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH,NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

$5.5 million grant was a priority project for Berejiklian, ICAC told

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Original article by Lucy Cormack
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 22-Oct-21

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has heard evidence from senior public servant Chris Hanger. He has told the inquiry that in early 2017 he was asked to review the business case for a $5.5m upgrade of a shooting club in Wagga Wagga. The initial business case for the project had a benefit-to-cost ratio of less than one, which meant it could not be approved by Infrastructure NSW. Hanger told ICAC that an adviser to former deputy premier John Barilaro had asked him to review the business case; however, he believed that the request had come from Gladys Berejiklian, who had recently become the state’s premier. Hanger says he was not aware of her relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire at the time.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, INFRASTRUCTURE NEW SOUTH WALES

Eddie Obeid jailed for coal collusion

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Original article by Stephen Rice
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Oct-21

Former NSW Labor minister Ian McDonald has been sentenced to at least five years and three months in jail for his role in a coal mine licencing conspiracy. Fellow minister Eddie Obeid was given a sentence of at least three years and 10 months, while his son Moses will serve at least three years in prison. The Obeids netted at least $30 million from the conspiracy, while the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s investigation of the mine licencing deal prompted counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson SC, to describe it as the worst example of political corruption since the days of the Rum Corps. Eddie Obeid was been released on bail after his lawyers argued that he was at risk of contracting COVID-19 in custody.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION

Mike Baird staffer questioned why Berejiklian wanted to spend $5.5m in safe seat of Wagga Wagga

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Original article by Michael McGowan
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Oct-21

Zacharia Bentley was a policy adviser to former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian in her previous role as the state’s treasurer. Documents submitted to the Independent Commission Against Corruption show that Bentley believed that Berejiklian had discussed a proposed $5.5m grant for the Australian Clay Target Association with her former lover, Daryl Maguire; it is one of two grants in his electorate of Wagga Wagga that are at the centre of ICAC’s investigation. Bentley has also revealed that he told ICAC investigators in April that the grant had been queried by Nigel Blunden, who was former premier Mike Baird’s strategy director when the grant was proposed. Meanwhile, the state government has agreed to pay all of Berejiklian’s legal costs arising from the ICAC inquiry.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION

Bureaucrat tells ICAC of concerns about gun club grant

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Original article by Lucy Cormack
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 19-Oct-21

The opening day of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s investigation into former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian heard evidence from Office of Sport director Michael Toohey. He was questioned about the fast-tracking of a government grant for the Australian Clay Target Association in the Wagga Wagga electorate of Berejiklian’s former lover Daryl Maguire. It is one of two grants that were approved in the electorate when Berejiklian was the state’s treasurer. Toohey told the inquiry that the intimate relations between Berejiklian and Maguire at the time clearly constituted a conflict of interest, and said the grant application would most likely have been subject to greater scrutiny if this relationship had been known.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, NEW SOUTH WALES. OFFICE OF SPORT, AUSTRALIAN CLAY TARGET ASSOCIATION

Next freedom day in NSW set for October 25

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Original article by Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

Some 74 per cent of New South Wales residents aged 16+ are now fully vaccinated. Based on current rates of vaccination the state should reach the 80 per cent target in just over a week. This would allow the next easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney to occur on 25 October, in line with the state’s reopening roadmap. Premier Dominic Perrottet says the government is unlikely to bring forward this date after refusing to bring forward the first ‘freedom day’ despite reaching the 70 per cent vaccination milestone ahead of schedule. NSW reported 498 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and eight additional deaths on Monday.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Perrottet switches focus to recovery

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Original article by Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Oct-21

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet will chair his first meeting of the state’s crisis cabinet on 6 October, following his landslide win in a leadership ballot. Perrottet gained 39 votes in the partyroom meeting, compared with just five votes for Planning Minister Rob Stokes. Perrottet has flagged plans to shift the crisis cabinet’s focus to economy recovery and community wellbeing, rather than day-to-day emergency management. He has also expressed support for the existing reopening roadmap, but signalled that some changes could be made. NSW recorded 608 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and seven additional deaths on Tuesday.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Perrottet stitches up deal to be next NSW premier

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Oct-21

New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is set to succeed Gladys Berejiklian as state premier at a leadership ballot on 5 October. Planning Minister Rob Stokes is currently the only other contender, but sources have indicated that Perrottet has sufficient partyroom support to win the ballot. Jobs Minister Stuart Ayres is likely to become deputy premier, despite claims by Liberal insiders that Perrottet has a long-standing agreement for Environment Minister Matt Kean to run as his deputy. Kean is tipped to replace Perrottet in the treasury portfolio. The leadership change is not expected to affect the state’s schedule for reopening the economy.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Curse of ICAC claims Covid crusader Berejiklian

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Original article by Yoni Bashan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 2-Oct-21

Former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull are among the Liberal Party identities who have praised Gladys Berejiklian following her resignation as premier of New South Wales. Berejiklian is the state’s third premier to be forced to resign by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, after it announced that she would be investigated over a ‘breach of public trust’. Berejiklian’s relationship with disgraced former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire will come under scrutiny by ICAC. Berejiklian has criticised the timing of the investigation, given the COVID-19 pandemic, but says she had no choice but to resign. She will also exit state politics after 19 years in parliament.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA