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24.01.2022 This proposed DIVERSE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING policy is open for submissions until 9 September! Eg. Should the Land and Housing Corporation be empowered to self-assess their own developments? Should multI-level pensioner housing be able to be built without a lift? https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/proposed-new-housing-

24.01.2022 Koalas vs bulldozers, Cathy Wilcox always says it best.

23.01.2022 An excellent article about the pitfalls of replacing stamp duty on houses with a property tax. What do you think? "Murray thinks removal of stamp duty will make investors more likely to sell more frequently since more, faster transactions is the objective of removing stamp duty. The consequence of that could well be to leave renters more vulnerable than ever to sudden eviction."

23.01.2022 Our environment laws are now so weak they can't even stop property developers from dumping asbestos on residential development sites! "A major property developer was penalised just $563 as an administration fee after being accused of dumping tonnes of asbestos-contaminated building waste at a site it was developing in Dubbo. The incident, which is alleged to have involved tonnes of building waste from Sydney being dumped at the newly developed Southlakes housing estate by t...he housing estates developer, Maas Group Properties, illustrates the difficulties of enforcement of the environmental laws. In April the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority issued a cleanup notice to the Dubbo-based civil construction and property company Maas Group Properties after it became aware that the building and demolition waste, which it alleged contained asbestos, was being transported from Millers Point in Sydney to Dubbo by trucks operated by Maas. Maas operates a civil excavation business and is one of the largest property developers in Dubbo." See more

23.01.2022 Sadly another depressing example of how state governments' piecemeal approach to managing environmental targets and to shift funding costs to developers is costing taxpayers more in the long run and jeopardising desired environmental outcomes. "But rather than compulsorily acquiring the reserve with upfront funding, Victorian governments, both Labor and Coalition, promised to make developers pay a levy for removing smaller grassland patches as they built new suburbs."Austra...lian Conservation Foundation spokesperson Jess Abrahams said the state and federal governments had failed to look after Victorias critically-endangered grasslands...These grasslands are precious natural treasures for all Australians and yet they have been degraded, destroyed and neglected, Mr Abrahams said. This failure to act has cost the grasslands and may now cost Victorians hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when the federal government should be strengthening our environment laws because strategic assessments like this have clearly failed. See more

23.01.2022 PROTECT OUR URBAN TREE CANOPY If you care about protecting trees in Sydney and other NSW urban areas, make sure you comment on the Greener Places Design Guide, due in this Friday 28/08/20. The section on Urban Tree Canopy 2.6.3 on page 40 of the Guide says that the State Government will be developing standardised LEP and DCP provisions for the urban tree canopy. Please make sure you read this important section. Then let Gladys and her government know that you want the stronge...st possible provisions in their standardised LEP and DCP for the development assessment system. Link is https://www.governmentarchitect.nsw.gov.au//greener-places You can use the Submission Form, just make sure you fill in the section of 2.6 that is innocuously titled "Build knowledge and awareness of urban tree canopy across State and local government and the community"

22.01.2022 Another damning report on Australia's failure to value and protect its biodiversity. "Weak enforcement of environment laws over the past decade has permitted habitat destruction that displaced or killed tens of millions of native animals, including thousands of hectares of threatened species habitat. A report to be released on Friday by World Wildlife Fund ecologist Martin Taylor found between 2010 and 2018 at least 3.7 million native mammals, 6 million native birds, and 20 million native reptiles were pushed out of their ranges or perished due to habitat loss."

21.01.2022 Cranky Koala calls out government spin and hypocrisy. The Government has no real interest in protecting the koalas against big developer and mining interests. "While publicly acting as though she had stood up to the National Party leader, it wasn't long before the Premier agreed on a compromise. It's the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020. It contradicts all previous public statements by the Premier, and will reduce current protections for koalas, and see MORE of their homes cleared in NSW."

21.01.2022 YOUR CHANCE TO HAVE A SAY on DPIEs 50-Year Vision for SYDNEYS OPEN SPACE & PARKLANDS - Survey here due by 30/9!

20.01.2022 PLANNING MINISTER NOT TREASURER SHOULD RUN PLANNING Sydneysiders sick of seeing the NSW Treasurer take planning decisions away from the Planning Minister will be pleased to finally see some push back from Minister Rob Stokes. The SMH reports "NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has hosed down fears the old White Bay power station at Rozelle will be demolished, saying he hopes it will be the centrepiece of the precinct's revival. The assurance follows Treasurer Dominic Perrott...et's remarks in Parliament last week describing the century-old disused power station as a "shocking building [that] should be knocked down"." SMH reported that Dr Stokes said of his fellow Liberal frontbencher: "Dominic Perrottet makes an excellent Treasurer but would make an appalling heritage architect." As the 'architect' of so many COVID-19 planning changes including the fast-track approvals scheme, Treasurer Perrottet's planning legacy is unlikely to be praised by anyone but developers in decades to come. The NSW Government seems hell-bent on having planning and environment decisions made by anyone but the Planning and Environment Ministers.

20.01.2022 Apart from the fact that the Commonwealth Government paid 22 times over market value for a dairy farm, serious questions need to be asked about why our governments are sacrificing Sydney's precious food bowl for houses and airports that are likely no longer necessary. "A billionaire family's windfall gain from the sale of land next to Western Sydney Airport has been described as the "tip of the iceberg" for the surrounding area, sparking calls for changes to ensure a far greater slice of the market uplift is returned to taxpayers. The federal government forked out almost $30 million for land owned by Tony and Ron Perich's Leppington Pastoral Company in 2018, only for the Commonwealth to value the 12 hectares at just $3 million less than a year later."

20.01.2022 Something fishy is going on here? Moree is home to big agribusinesses that want to plant edge to edge, leaving no room for trees to be kept on properties. Is the average farmer really upset about the Koala SEPP? Remember this was the region where Environmental Health Officer Glen Turner was killed by Ian Turnbull in 2014. Turner was trying to prevent Turnbull from destroying koala habitat. "Mr Barilaro declared the result a victory, and as the day rolled on ABC Regional Loca...l Radio and the NSW Country Hour received many messages from listeners putting credit to the Deputy Premier's claim. Listeners from areas including Moree, Guyra and Tamworth showed their support sending texts to Country Hour saying it was a good move by the Nationals. They suggested it was about time the Nationals stood up for farmers, agreeing it was an issue about the erosion of freehold rights, and criticising city expectations that country areas bear the burden of responding to climate change without compensation." See more

20.01.2022 Housing market demand crash predicted. While the NSW Government is busy fast-tracking thousands of new homes and units, the Federal Government's own National Housing Finance Investment Corporation is warning there will be a huge fall in new home construction due to the collapse in Australia's population growth. The stated purpose of the fast-track Tranche approvals was to create jobs. Yet it is well known that developers will build when the market is at its highest potential ...for profit. That means developers will not turn a sod if there's little demand and very few jobs will be created. The fast track approvals have simply added millions of dollars to the value of the land the developers own, no doubt stabilising developers' share prices. The Department of Planning has already confirmed it has no power to force developers to build. So will the developers have to be subsidised with more tax payers money to convince them to build at sub-optimal profit? While Nero plays the fast-track fiddle, Howard's battlers will be the losers if the housing market crashes.

20.01.2022 Lots to unpack in this very important article about the proposed Narrabri coal seam gas project. The IPC has delayed its decision to examine Santos's latest claim that its project will bring down gas prices further than earlier estimates. But according to critics, the benefits of the project have been overstated and the costs understated in every economic analysis Santos has submitted. Even Santos isn't so sure about the future of gas, last month writing down the values of i...ts assets by $1.1bn, reflecting the industry wide impact. "Santos updated evidence suggested gas could be produced at Narrabri for $6.40 a gigajoule, less than previous estimates of between $7.28 and $9.36 a gigajoule. The company told Guardian Australia on 14 August that the lower estimate came from an Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) assessment of future gas opportunities published in March. Decision on $3.6bn Narrabri coal seam gas development delayed after late submission from Santos. But a new analysis by the Australia Institute, a progressive thinktank, shows the Aemo assessment did not examine the likely price of gas production at Narrabri. Instead, it used an estimate provided by Santos. The institute said this was at odds with data from a separate independent Aemo analysis in February that suggested Narrabri gas could be more expensive than that from the Cooper Basin in Queensland, which currently provides more than 50% of NSWs supply."

20.01.2022 More buck passing in time for the next disaster? The Government is choosing to hand over responsibility for the environment to the states at the same time that it's lambasting the states' lack of coordination over border openings and their failure to heed the federal government's advice about hotel quarantine arrangements etc. "Despite the dramatic and tragic impacts of the last bushfire season on the Australian community, both physically and economically, and the just r...eleased interim report of the royal commission into them, the government seeks to rush ahead with ill-considered changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. This report is peppered with references to the need for national initiatives. It raises the prospect of the national cabinet managing future natural disasters, calls for the immediate rollout of a national emergency warning system and highlights the need for a national app for all such disasters. And it does all this while lambasting the states for omissions and inefficiencies. Nowhere does it suggest devolving more power to these already incompetent entities. Of course this royal commission is largely focused on natural disasters rather than broader issues of environmental management and climate change, but its findings are telling in their precision: Current arrangements do not provide a clear mechanism to elevate these matters to national leaders." See more

19.01.2022 More evidence that Deputy Premier John Barilaro was only representing the narrow interests of a few disgruntled developers when he went to war with the Government over the Koala SEPP.

18.01.2022 The National Party was instrumental in helping to tear up land clearing protections now they want to tear up koala protections. STAND YOUR GROUND PREMIER BEREJIKLIAN. Listen to your Environment Minister. The community has spoken on this matter and the Coalition had better listen. If the Nationals can't hear how much our koalas need every protection they can get, if they can't work with the Cabinet, if they're going to walk, then let them. Gladys Berejiklian Matt Kean MP

17.01.2022 A sadly stunning account of how children are paying the price for the state government's failure to ensure that infrastructure keeps pace with new development. "Basil Miranda, whose daughter Madison is in Year 2 at the school, said there was little room for children to run around at lunchtime. They filled up 20 per cent of the grass with demountables in four years there will be no grass space available, he said.bThe kids need a grass area and places to run around.’’In other fast-growing areas of Sydney like Riverbank Public at The Ponds, the school has 1740 students, putting it at more than 900 students over its enrolment cap of 832. It has a whopping 42 demountables just five years after it opened."

17.01.2022 The Premier seems willing to sacifice the koalas to hold onto her job? The week ended with the defeat of a disastrous amendment to the Local Land Services Act, which was a death knell for the koalas, but environmentalists believe that amendments to the Rural Fires Act, which will allow clearing up to 25 metres of boundary fences, will do even more damage to koala habitat. "Eager to avert another breakdown, Berejiklian barely spoke in what one colleague described as a "trainw...reck" session, and agreed on a compromise of a 25 metre fire break for private land. The concession came despite its own inquiry into bushfires making no such recommendation among its 76 findings, nor the existence of research by agencies backing such a move, as a call for information about boundary clearing of vegetation found. The clearing rate passed into law this week following amendments to the Rural Fires Act." See more

17.01.2022 The NSW Government's commitment to make the state carbon neutral by 2050 will count for nothing if it's not supported by a comprehensive plan to wind back land clearing and protect our vital ecosystems. "Humans are dismantling and disrupting natural ecosystems around the globe and changing Earths climate. Over the past 50 years, actions like farming, logging, hunting, development and global commerce have caused record losses of species on land and at sea. Animals, birds an...d reptiles are disappearing tens to hundreds of times faster than the natural rate of extinction over the past 10 million years. Now the world is also contending with a global pandemic. In geographically remote regions such as the Brazilian Amazon, COVID-19 is devastating Indigenous populations, with tragic consequences for both Indigenous peoples and the lands they steward." See more

16.01.2022 The Property Council of Australia gets to see and comment on the actual Design and Place SEPP while the community is only allowed to comment on the Design Guide that will "inform" it. So much for community consultation. Who feels that they're being treated like muppets in this game? An eye-opening comment in the Property Council submission regarding Part 6 of the (unseen by muppets) SEPP - "There is the potential that this Part will be employed by local councils to undermine development currently allowed by a LEP and the zoning of the land. It should be possible to develop land zoned for residential development without the threat of a local character overlay being imposed that prevents any form of change". Pesky councils, fancy working on behalf of their residents. No one would want local character to be preserved now would they?

15.01.2022 This appalling Morrison government planning decision is indeed on climate grounds ... deadly insanity! Supporting dirty polluting gas with $ millions of taxpayers public funds pays reckless disregard to our climate emergency and planning opportunity to create a million jobs by becoming a renewable energy superpower!

15.01.2022 A big rally in Parramatta this week of several hundred community and union members to demand the NSW government save beautiful Italianate heritage building Willow Grove! Does the government ever listen to the people? Apparently not! Thank you Suzette Meade, North Parramatta Residents Action Group, CFMEU Construction & General NSW and Nurses & Midwives Federation particularly for their great work in organising this!

14.01.2022 Both the federal and NSW Government has done such a good job at rewriting legislation to favour property developer and mining interests that sooner or later big business interests won't even see the need to donate to our big political parties. Nevertheless, this article highlights why political donation reform is so necessary and overdue. "At the same time, the High Court also struck down a 2018 federal law that said property developers could ignore state laws banning them fr...om making general donations to political parties. (Yes federal parliament really did pass a law overriding state anti-corruption powers!) The High Court said federal parliament had no power to regulate political donations that merely might be used for federal campaigns. The legislation passed last week overrides state bans on property developer donations in two ways. First, it introduces a new provision to replace the 2018 federal law struck down by the High Court. This provision allows property developers (and others banned from making donations under state laws) to ignore state laws banning them from making political donation where the donation is for federal purposes. Second, the legislation allows property developers and political parties to ignore state laws requiring that donations be disclosed. In NSW and Queensland, donations of $1,000 or more need to be disclosed. Under the new federal law, only donations of $14,300 or more made by property developers for federal purposes need to be disclosed. See more

13.01.2022 While all the attention is on the plight of our koalas, we forget that our kangaroos are also disappearing too! "The Animal Justice party, along with other animal rights groups, are now calling on a moratorium on the killing of kangaroos. They say the habitat destruction and loss of life during the bushfires leaves the nation’s kangaroo population vulnerable, and there’s no reason for the culling. More than 1,000 people have signed a petition in support. Film-maker and direct...or of not-for-profit group, Kangaroos Alive, Mick McIntyre was also at Sydney’s World Kangaroo Day Event. He told City Hub World Kangaroo Day is not only a day to celebrate Australia’s magnificent icon but also to make people aware of what’s going on. He started Kangaroos Alive while making an award-winning documentary film Kangaroo: A Love Hate Story. The film took five years to make and he said audiences were shocked by it. While overseas audiences mostly supported the message of the film, he said it divided Australians and people were very defensive. It was very successful in America and it was very successful in Europe and people were appalled and wanted to know how they could help. It was very positively received, he said." See more

13.01.2022 The real question the SMH and other media outlets should be asking is why are young journalists with a comedic bent doing some of the best investigative reporting not just in Australia but in the United States as well? And will the media follow up and look further into National Party corruption for the sake of our environment? "Last week Shanks shared a 26-minute editorial accusing Mr Barilaro of taxpayer corruption and environmental vandalism. The video, since watched almos...t 350,000 times, landed amid the Coalition crisis over Mr Barilaro's threats to take his party to the crossbench over koala protection...NSW Shooters and Fishers MP Helen Dalton, who recently appeared in a friendlyjordies interview, said she did not always agree with his style or content but it cut through. "They are the ones coming out to regional areas and asking questions. We've seen the demise of our regional TV news, our papers are doing it tough and we are having less and less say. Friendlyjordies are filling the spot." The member for Murray, who broke 35 years of Nationals party incumbency in 2019, praised friendlyjordies for covering regional council corruption, water, grants and environmental issues that are being overlooked by mainstream media." See more

12.01.2022 MINISTER 'THREATENS' TO REMOVE COUNCILS PLANNING POWERS "If councils don't want to lead planning for growth at a local level, it will simply mean the Government will need to take more direct action" says NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes. Minister Stokes 'offers' to do the planning work for Ku-ring-gai Council if they aren't "taking responsibility to plan for and manage growth across Greater Sydney". Let us be very clear Minister Stokes - this is not a collaborative approach. This is telling local councils if they don't do what they're told the NSW Government will take control of their council planning. Only developers believe that the current "collaborative approach" has worked well. Most Sydney residents view the Government's approach of bulldoze the 'burbs and toss up the towers is not benefiting them in any way.

11.01.2022 Sounds like a good initiative. What do you think? "C40 Cities is an alliance of mayors from 96 cities around the world which advocates for climate action and a sustainable future.Member cities include Sydney, Melbourne and even Wuhan, where the pandemic is said to have originated. C40 has created a green COVID recovery taskforce and published a playbook for a green recovery which looks at local government initiatives around the world, Mr Watts said. Weve seen in all jurisdi...ctions a surge in public support for public institutions, often for government at the local level even if theyre not satisfied at a federal level and a recognition of the importance of community and collaboration, he said. He said many local authorities have been able to pivot off the crisis to create jobs, invest in better public transport, ensure more green public spaces and hold onto clean air and blue skies." See more

10.01.2022 How do we reconcile a week when the National Party, acting on the behalf of developer and big agribusiness interests, ramps up demands to kill meagre protections for our diminishing koala population, with new alarming evidence that human beings have wiped out 68% of the earth's wildlife in just 50 years. "Two major reports released this month paint a grim portrait of the future for our planets wildlife. First, the Living Planet Report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), pub...lished last week, found that in half a century, human activity has decimated global wildlife populations by an average of 68 percent. The study analyzed population sizes of 4,392 monitored species of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians from 1970 to 2016, reports Karin Brulliard for the Washington Post. It found that populations in Latin America and the Caribbean fared the worst, with a staggering 94 percent decline in population. All told, the drastic species decline tracked in this study signal a fundamentally broken relationship between humans and the natural world, the WWF notes in a release." See more

10.01.2022 The National Party dissolved a party branch to secure a seat for Gurmesh Singh. He was the first MP to complain about the Koala SEPP because of the impact it could have on the development potential of property his family owns in Coffs Harbour! "One of the first MPs to complain about the koala guidelines was Mr Singh, who, according to a Channel Seven report, told Planning Minister Rob Stokes that his family's properties could be affected. Mr Singh told The Sun-Herald he had s...poken to Mr Stokes "about various issues" involving the koala planning policy. "I did not make representations on behalf of myself or any family member, but I produced a map created by the planning department to illustrate how idiotic the policy is," he said. "Koalas do not live in macadamia trees, on roads, on sand dunes, on roundabouts in town, or on industrial buildings." See more

09.01.2022 Fast track assessment Tranche 6 has been released by the Department of Planning and will be determined by 9 October. That's if anyone still believes any of these will be refused. The Department has reneged on its promise to publish the list of approvals with Tranche 5 still outstanding. By diligent researching of every project BPN can advise, surprise surprise, all Tranche 5 projects have been approved. Why is the Department so averse to making this information easily accessible to the public? Is it because out of 89 projects assessed so far only 2 were refused? With Tranche 6 that will probably make it 2 out of the total of 100 projects. Looks like if a developer is fortunate enough to get on the tranche lists they have a 98% chance of getting their project through. A fortunate fortune Rob Stokes Dom Perrottet MP Gladys Berejiklian

09.01.2022 FAST TRACK TRANCHES. NSW Planning promised they would keep their website up to date with Tranche approvals but they're back to drip feeding the information through the media instead. Not good enough Rob Stokes Gladys Berejiklian. All of Sydney should be given this information not just the media. This should not be about getting a positive media story out first. Who were the losers on Tranche 5? What's the bet it's all of them.

08.01.2022 The Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan is on public exhibition. It is one of the largest strategic conservation plans to be undertaken in Australia and is the first strategic biodiversity certification to be undertaken under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. Submissions are due on 25 September 2020. You can find further information here -

08.01.2022 This is a very informative summary of the critical risk facing the southern Sydney koala population and threat posed by the grossly inadequate Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan now on public exhibition. The article concludes: Implementing all of the recommendations for koala protection in the Chief Scientist Koala Report offers Mr Kean a good chance to break the pattern of government mismanagement of our countrys most beloved icon. Abandoning the new urban growth corridor altogether would offer both the koalas and the precious remaining ecosystem of the Cumberland Plain an even better chance of long-term survival!

07.01.2022 The machinations in NSW politics this past week has certainly highlighted the dangers of the federal government's push to hand over all planning controls to the states. "The battle over koala habitat has also put the focus back onto the Federal Government's move to effectively hand over environmental planning laws to the states, and really couldn't have come at a worse time, from the Government's perspective. Having rammed the proposed changes to environment laws through the House of Representatives, the Senate cross bench well, Centre Alliance's Stirling Griff and independents Rex Patrick and Jacqui Lambie, anyway have said they won't vote for the changes when they hit the Senate next month, meaning the Government doesn't have the numbers."

06.01.2022 Not exactly a confidence inspiring statement from the Environment Minister Sussan Ley."I like to say it's the status quo or better. And over time, it will definitely be better." "The Morrison government that would give state governments control of major project assessments under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. But it came under fire for its omission of national standards to ensure states did not weaken environmental protections."

06.01.2022 AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SCIENTISTS GAGGED FROM SPEAKING OUT. The Coalition very public spat this week over the new Koala SEPP overshadowed what should have been this week's biggest story, especially because the federal government is pushing ahead with plans to devolve responsibility for the environment completely to the states before developing any safeguards: "We are often forbidden [from] talking about the true impacts of say a threatening process ... especially if the gover...nment is doing little to mitigate that threat ... In this way the public often remains in the dark about the true state and trends of many species," the respondent said." "More than half of environmental scientists working for Australian federal and state governments report having been "prohibited from communicating scientific information", according to the results of a new survey. Of the more than 200 environmental scientists from government, university and non-government organisations (NGOs) consulted for the survey, those working for government reported the highest rates of suppression or interference in communicating their work publicly. The findings suggest crucial information isn't reaching the public and that environmental decisions aren't based on the best available data, according to report co-author Euan Ritchie from Deakin University."

05.01.2022 With climate change, some places are going to be too hot to live in. Thats coming sooner than we know. Last summer temperatures in western suburbs of Sydney rose to almost 50C and radiant heat from the asphalt of car parks can push the mercury above 80C. https://www.bloomberg.com//sydney-s-new-suburbs-get-so-hot

04.01.2022 The COVID pandemic might have restricted the lives of most individuals but it's full steam ahead for developers. If you live in the area or care about this iconic Sydney site, make a submission in the next two weeks to Matthew Girvan, City of Sydney, phone 02 9265 9333 or email [email protected]. Or if you don't have time for an individual submission object through https://www.change.org/p/clover-moore-stop-the-killing-of-d... But do remember, as most BPN readers will know, only individual submissions count as a separate submission. Petitions including change.org now only count as one submission thanks to new changes from the NSW Government (thanks Rob Stokes).

04.01.2022 A draft 50-Year Vision for Greater Sydneys open spaces and parklands was recently launched by the NSW Government. You can find out more about the draft Vision and do a Survey by 11/9/20 after reading the Discussion Paper here. https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au//50-Year-Vision-for-Sydney

04.01.2022 HUGE NEWS - new KOALA conservation plan is on exhibition for public comment "The NSW Government says developer Lendlease would need to downsize its proposal for a south west Sydney housing project if it clashes with a new koala conservation plan" reports the ABC. The Government today unveiled the $84 million conservation plan to protect endangered koalas in the area. The ABC reports that Environment Minister Matt Kean "said he was told by Lendlease that the housing developmen...t would not impact on the koala colony in the area, but a report released today by the NSW deputy chief scientist Chris Armstrong, found otherwise". "Let me be very clear to Lendlease, I will not be signing off on the biodiversity certificate unless your development meets all the recommendations of the chief scientist's," said Mr Kean. A tentative hurrah for Matt Kean MP and Rob Stokes but please lets have every koala lover in NSW (is there anyone that isn't) making submissions on this new plan to make sure it's the best protection possible for this iconic species.

03.01.2022 Perhaps the most important point of this brilliant analysis of the Australian Government's approach to the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic is this: "If we simply snap back to what we had before, then we will, sooner or later, find ourselves here again. Here's a couple of hard truths: Australians at times during this crisis have had higher incomes, on average, than we did before this crisis. So far, more money has been taken out of super than has been spent on JobKe...eper, and much of it was taken out by the young and low-paid. The government has, in effect, asked those least able to afford it to stump up $30 billion worth of stimulus, at the expense of their security in retirement. "If the plan is to encourage the economy to grow, then why not do everything you can to keep it growing? The economy was always going to shrink in the midst of a global pandemic, at least for a while. But the government can do more. It could increase its spending. It could pay people to do government jobs, which would put more money in peoples pockets, which would enter the economy as they bought things and paid for services. It could funnel money to the areas of the economy where it is most likely to do good. In fact, a return to full employment within two years is possible, according to a report from the Grattan Institute think tank. But the institute predicted additional spending of between $70 billion and $90 billion from the federal government would be needed."

02.01.2022 KOALA BILL DEFEATED At least one Liberal was alert enough to notice that her colleagues were voting on "not what you thought and intended". So the Liberals sacked her. The SMH reports "The plan to amend the Local Land Services Act had already stirred dissent within the Berejiklian government after Planning Minister Rob Stokes, a Liberal, objected to changes inserted by Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall that he deemed to be beyond what had been authorised by cabinet last mon...th". "In an emotional speech to parliament, Ms Cusack said there had been a steady "stripping" of environmental controls from the planning and environment portfolios typically held by Liberals that had been transferred to the Nationals' control" said the SMH. It seems it doesn't pay to speak up against any Gladys/Barilaro agreements. Is it really good for the State if politicians hear nothing in private, see nothing in Cabinet and say nothing in public? HOORAH FOR THE POLLIES THAT SPEAK UP Hon Catherine Cusack MLC Rob Stokes

02.01.2022 WESTERN SYDNEY JOB LOSS, BIG DEVELOPER'S GAIN In yet another slap in the face for Western Sydney residents, a site they were promised would be developed as an employment hub with thousands of jobs has been proposed for residential development as part of the fast-track Tranche 6. Development giant Lendlease had previously committed to providing the employment zone as part of its development of the former ADI site at St Marys. Local residents say they would rather have the job...s than more houses in an eye-opening report by NewsLocal state political reporter Jake McCallum into how Lendlease proposes to renege on its commitment to the people of Western Sydney https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au//501458c936064cbf0b23492 The Department of Planning said that no one was interested in developing for non-residential employment but that there's interest in residential development. Duh! Hasn't anyone told DPIE that's because there's more money for the big end of town in residential developments? Of course they'd prefer to build those rather than developing employment hubs for residents. BPN readers will know that with the proposal's inclusion on the Tranche list, the locals' loss of job opportunities is almost a foregone conclusion. The Tranches are fast becoming a licence to give $billions to billionaires instead of job opportunities to support the pandemic recovery. Dom Perrottet MP Rob Stokes Gladys Berejiklian Stuart Ayres Photo credit Geoff Brown, ADI Residents Action Group

01.01.2022 Is this what we want for our suburbs? Wheres the community infrastructure to match this population explosion?