And the news just keeps getting worse for the NSW Perrottet Government five weeks out from the 25 March 2023 state election

 

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 February 2023:

The NSW government is in disarray just five weeks from the state election as one of Premier Dominic Perrottet’s most senior ministers and closest confidants was forced to quit cabinet after it emerged he owned shares in the tolling company that controls most of Sydney’s motorways.

The premier was also forced to reveal on Friday that one of his parliamentary secretaries had stood down amid a scandal involving intimate photos he shared.

Finance minister and leader of the government in the Legislative Council Damien Tudehope quit just hours after he confirmed he held shares in Transurban, which owns the majority of tolling concessions across Sydney, including WestConnex, NorthConnex and the M2.

Perrottet sought legal advice on Friday afternoon over whether Tudehope “knowingly breached” any disclosure rules under the ministerial code of conduct.

In a statement late on Friday, Perrottet confirmed the advice from the Department of Premier and Cabinet had “cleared Damien” however Tudehope had decided to resign from cabinet…..

Upper House MLC Peter Poulos resigned on Friday from his secretary role amid internal anger after an admission he shared explicit images of Hawkesbury MP Robyn Preston in the lead-up to a bitter preselection battle. Poulos has apologised to Preston, who modelled as a Penthouse “pet” in the 1980s.

In a major embarrassment for Perrottet, Tudehope on Friday confirmed he held shares in tolling giant Transurban, which owns the majority of tolling concessions across Sydney, including the WestConnex motorway, NorthConnex and the M2.

Tudehope said he had unknowingly held the shares in a family superannuation fund, but insisted he gave a “printout of the assets” contained within that fund to both Perrottet and former premier Gladys Berejiklian.

He said the Transurban shares were sold overnight, and conceded they had risen in value considerably since he was appointed minister in 2019. Tudehope said he would donate to charity any profit he made, which he expected to be about $6000.

Tudehope said he did not recuse himself from cabinet over discussions involving Transurban because he did not know he owned the shares as the superannuation fund was managed by a fund manager…..

[my yellow highlighting]

Financial Review, 17 February 2023:

Transurban recently reported record half-year earnings of $1.66 billion, boosted by some $835 million in tolls collected from Sydney drivers over the course of the past six months.

Mr Tudehope was a cabinet minister during the Berejiklian government’s decision to sell the WestConnex toll road to Transurban for $11 billion in 2021. More recently, he took part in a number of cabinet decisions to provide toll relief to NSW drivers.

Earlier, he denied being “involved in any discussions relating to WestConnex” and claimed he “was not on the relevant committee or relevant cabinet meetings”.

“The first thing is whether there was a significant impact, and whether I knowingly breached the code of conduct, and I have to say, I didn’t know that I held those shares at the time that I participated in policy decisions relating to Transurban,” he said.

It should be noted that Liberal MLC Damian Francis Tudehope has been a Member of the Legislative Council since 23 March 2019 having previously been a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 28 March 2015 to 1 March 2019.

He had been NSW Minister for Finance as well as Minister for Employee Relations since 21 December 2021, having been appointed to both ministries by Premier Perrottet. 

On 21 December he also became Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council and Vice-President of the Executive Council.

Damian Tudehope is reported as resigning as NSW Minister for Finance, Minister for Employee Relations and Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council on Friday 17 February 2023. Presumably he also resigned from the Executive Council.

Tudehope had previously been finance & small business minister during the Berejiklian Government years from 2 April 2019 to 21 December 2021.

Before entering parliament he practiced as a solicitor.

Interestingly, Damian Tudehope had been Chair of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption from 3 June 2015 to 22 February 2019 and, a Member of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics from 29 March 2017 to 22 February 2019. Committee terms which should have seen him well acquainted with the ins and outs of of issues such as pecuniary interests and conflicts of interest.

According to ABC News on 17 February 2023; ...like Mr Perrottet, [Damien Tudehope] has links to the the Catholic Church's conservative Opus Dei organisation. 

It appears the families may know each other well. The Linkedin entry of the premier’s younger brother Jean-Claude Perrottet shows that he was an Electoral Officer for Damian Tudehope MP from March 2018 to March and 2019 and Policy Advisor for Damian Tudehope MLC Minister for Finance and Small Business.

The “family superannuation fund” to which Mr. Tudehope was referring is possibly a self-managed superannuation fund titled Claiyear Pty Limited ATF The Tudehope Superannuation Fund (est.1998) or perhaps even Imtaga Pty Limited ATF Tudehope Family Trust (est.1985), as set out in his Disclosures By Members Of The Legislative Council form dated 31 March 2021. Although the latter registered company was missing from his disclosure of pecuniary interest form signed on 20 September 2022.

ASX Graph of Transurban Group (TCL) Share Price & Dividends issued 14 March 1996 to 17 February 2023

https://www2.asx.com.au/markets/company/tcl

This graph shows 20 dividend issues to shareholders over a 10 year period. Not a shareholding one would normally expect to be overlooked in the investment portfolio of any politician.

As a member of the NSW Upper House Damian Tudehope  does not stand for re-election until his term of service expires at the end of the 58th Parliament (05 Mar 2027).

It is not outside the bounds of possibility that if the Perrottet Government is re-elected on 25 March 2023, Damian Tudehope will be restored by Premier Perrottet to a Cabinet-level ministry or ministries and a place on the Executive Council. 

In fact as recently as last Saturday, Premier Perrottet left the door open to reinstating Tudehope after 25 May; "Mr Perrottet, who described Mr Tudehope as a man of "the highest integrity and honesty", was quizzed on Saturday about whether he would consider making him a minister again post March 25. "I'll make those decisions in due course," the Premier told reporters."

The last time Damian Tudehope did Dominic Perrottet a favour — by vacating his Lower House seat in order for Perrottet to contest the 2019 election in a preferred safe seat — he was amply rewarded. I have a strong suspicion that both men understand that he will be similarly favoured this time around.

UPDATE

In an effort to walk back just one of the Premier's errors of judgement the NSW Liberal Party has acted.....

The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 February 2023:

"This afternoon, the State Director, in consultation with the State President, exercised campaign powers to suspend Peter Poulos from the NSW Division for a period of 6 months," a spokesperson for the Liberal Party said in a statement.

This in no way stops Poulos standing as a nominal Independent at the 25 March state election. Nor does preclude him changing from Independent MLC back to Liberal MLC in 2024 should he be re-elected in 33 days time.

BACKGROUND

North Coast Voices

Friday, 17 February 2023

And the rolling political disasters continue to arrive on NSW Premier Perrottet's doorstep

Lismore City and Tweed Shire among 15 regional councils making regional housing a key election issue in 2023

Western Advocate, 16 February 2023, p.3:

An alliance representing 15 regional cities from across the state - including Bathurst - is calling for bipartisan support for measures to increase housing stock amidst a regional rental crisis and skills shortage.

Regional Cities NSW (RCNSW) says the lack of available housing in regional towns across NSW is a "risk to regional growth" and are calling for both the Liberal party and Labor party to commit to doing more to address the housing shortage.

"Regional living is well and truly on the agenda, however the lack of available housing is impacting people's ability to move to the regions," said Dubbo Regional Council mayor Matthew Dickerson, chair of RCNSW.

"Housing availability has been severely impacted by numerous natural disasters across our state as well as major infrastructure projects requiring temporary accommodation."

As well as Dubbo, RCNSW represents Albury, Queenbeyan, Coffs Harbour, Griffith, Goulburn, Maitland, Bathurst, Broken Hill, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Armidale, Lismore, Tweed Heads and Tamworth.

The alliance aims to grow regional cities in NSW through increased investment that will build "productive, liveable and connected regions". One of the main challenges impeding growth, says RCNSW, is a shortage of suitable housing.

"Housing availability and affordability are major issues for regional cities resulting from recent population increases," said Cr Dickerson.

"Other critical areas requiring the support of the state government include having a supply of skilled workers to match demand, building road and rail connectivity between Sydney and regional cities and building the strength of the Port of Newcastle."

According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, between 2011 and 2022, regional NSW's population grew by 224,5001 - the equivalent to creating a new regional city the size of Bathurst every two years……

[my yellow highlighting]

BACKGROUND

On 14 February 2023 Regional Cities NSW (RCNSW) announced regional housing as a key election issue in the forthcoming 25 March state election.

The Regional Cities New South Wales Members are;

• Tamworth Regional Council;

• Albury City Council;

• Queanbeyan-Palerang Council;

• Coffs Harbour City Council;

• Griffith City Council;

• Maitland City Council;

• Bathurst Regional Council;

• Wagga Wagga City Council;

• Orange City Council;

• Armidale Regional Council;

• Dubbo Regional Council;

• Lismore City Council;

• Broken Hill City Council;

• Goulburn Mulwaree Council; and

• Tweed Shire Council.

On 28 March 2011 the O'Farrell Coalition Government came to power in New South Wales.

It was followed in April 2014 by the Baird Coalition Government, then in January 2017 by the Berejiklian Coalition Government and lastly, in October 2021 by the current Perrottet Coalition Government.

If anything an already dire social housing situation has been made worse since Dominic Perrottet & Co have held the reigns of state government.

Yahoo! News, 4 January 2023:

The waiting list of people needing social housing in NSW has increased for the first time since 2016, with about 1000 more people in line for a home.

As of June 2022, there were 51,031 approved for social housing and waiting for a property to become available, compared to 49,928 the year before.

The number has steadily decreased since 2016 when the figure hit 59,907. Before this it had varied between about 55,000 and 60,000 since 2012. [my yellow highlighting]

In March 2022 the mainstream media was reporting that a surge in regional rental prices – in part driven by tree changes during coronavirus lockdowns – as well as stagnant wage growth had created a housing affordability crisis which was exacerbated by a fall in rental housing stock in Northern NSW due to widespread flooding.

Rental stress is experienced by more than 60 per cent of renters living in the regional NSW electorates – of Page, Cowper and Lyne – along the northern NSW coast. Source: Everybody's Home. IMAGE: news.com.au, 21 March 2022

The following month The Guardian reported on 16 April 2022:

The New South Wales government has sold off $3bn worth of social housing during its decade in power, while failing to meet its own targets for new properties.

New figures released through parliament this week show that since it was first elected in 2011, the Coalition has sold off 4,205 social housing properties across the state.

The sales have added about $3.5bn to the government’s coffers over the same period.

But while the government said all of those funds were used to prove “more, and better” social housing stock, data for new social housing constructions reveal the government has fallen well behind its own targets for new dwellings.

In 2016, the Coalition pledged to build 23,000 new social housing dwellings in the next decade as part of its Future Directions housing strategy. It committed to funding new social housing construction through the $22bn Communities Plus program.

But eight years on, with more than 50,000 people on the social housing wait list in the state, the Communities Plus program has achieved only 10% of that goal.

[my yellow highlighting]

Cartoons of the Week

 

Matt Golding

Cathy Wilcox

Fiona Katauskas

Jon Kudelka

Tweet of the Week

 

The green comet greeting the red planet last night pic.twitter.com/OpmEbopWIo

— Bray Falls (@astrofalls) February 11, 2023

 

"The Green Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF encountered Mars, the Red Planet on the evening of 2/10/2023. A view that will never be seen again!" Astrophysics Consulting

Note: Quote uses US dating convention.

 

And the rolling political disasters continue to arrive on NSW Premier Perrottet's doorstep

 

NSW Premier & Liberal MP for Epping Dominic Francis Perrottet has found that February 2023 is not a kind month for election campaigning.

First, the questions concerning the yet to be revealed NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) report into the actions of the then NSW Premier & Liberal MLA for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian, will not go away on social media.

Then he was forced to refer an Audit Office of New South Wales report on the misapplication of 2019 bushfire funding grants by the office of former Deputy Premier & Nationals MLA for Monaro John Barilaro to ICAC for its consideration.

That was quickly followed by news that five prominent member of the NSW Liberal Party, including two of his brothers, were evading notification of their required attendance at a NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region. Forcing the Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment to employ process servers to delivers the five summons.

And now this…...

The premier has condemned the actions of one of his MPs who's circulated pornographic images of women in parliament. Upper house Liberal @PeterPoulosMLC has admitted to spreading naked photos of the MP as part of a political 'get square'. https://t.co/OF81oZXOfr #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/2XWldYBzxv

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 14, 2023

Current Parliamentary Secretary for Wollongong and the Illawarra & Liberal MLC Peter Poulos is an unelected member of NSW Upper House, having been parachuted in as replacement after John Ajaka resigned in 2021. Poulos' term of service expires during the 57th Parliament on 3 March 2023. Given the nature of his admitted wrongdoing Premier Dominic Perrottet needs to kick him out of the Liberal Party right now. Matt Kean and others need to insist that this happens.

Sandwiched in between these glaring political sins, there was also a report by The Australia Institute, which in some detail pointed out that in the Baird-Berejiklian-Perrottet years of  back-to-back Coalition governments, the only people who had a fair chance of a long average life expectancy in New South Wales were those living in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area. The rest of us running the risk of having on average between 2.2 and 5.4 years less in our lifespans – depending on exactly where in remote and regional NSW we live.

BACKGROUND

ABC News:

• Wednesday, 11 January 2023

  Release of ICAC report on Daryl Maguire, Gladys Berejiklian delayed

Twitter:

• Friday, 10 February 2023

Why is it taking so many years for NSW ICAC to release its findings on Gladys & her former boyfriend Darryl when the #RobodebtRC has confirmed it should have its findings ready, for obviously a much bigger scandal, only approx. 1 month after hearings end? 🤔

— stranger (@strangerous10) February 10, 2023

North Coast Voices:

• Tuesday, 14 February 2023

  Only 39 days remaining until the NSW state election and Liberal MP for Epping & Premier Dominic Perrottet's troubles are multiplying.

• Wednesday, 15 February 2023

  NSW State of Play 2023: governments being 'city-centric' has consequences that follow remote & outer regional populations to their graves

• Thursday, 16 February 2023

  Has the NSW Premier's brother Charles Perrottet followed property developer Jean Nassif's example and left the country or has he otherwise made himself 'unavailable'?

Has the NSW Premier's brother Charles Perrottet followed property developer Jean Nassif's example and left the country or has he otherwise made himself 'unavailable'?

 

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO. 7 – PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT

MEDIA RELEASE

KEY WITNESSES FAILING TO CO-OPERATE WITH

PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO THE HILLS SHIRE COUNCIL AND PROPERTY DEVELOPERS IN THE REGION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

14 FEBRUARY 2023

The Upper House Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment has continued to face difficulties in summonsing witnesses to appear before it in its inquiry into allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region.

Ms Sue Higginson MLC, Chair of the committee, said: "The committee invited Councillor Virginia Ellis, Mr Christian Ellis, and Mr Jean-Claude Perrottet to give evidence at a public hearing. When none responded, we resolved to take the significant step of summonsing these individuals. Parliamentary staff have since made multiple attempts to personally serve the summons on these individuals but have been unsuccessful. As none of these witnesses has come forward, I can only reach the conclusion that they are making a deliberate decision to avoid appearing before the committee".

The committee has also issued a summons for Mr Charles Perrottet to attend but understands he may not be in New South Wales at this time.

Ms Higginson continued: "The committee is extremely disappointed in the actions of these individuals in failing to come forward and co-operate. Committee inquiries are an essential part of the Legislative Council's role as a House of scrutiny and review. The failure to cooperate with this committee demonstrates a blatant disregard of Parliamentary process. Noting that we will now step up our efforts to secure the attendance of these individuals at a public hearing, including by engaging professional process servers to serve the summonses, we again call on each one of them to do the right thing and come forward".

Two public hearings will be held on Wednesday and Thursday this week in the Dixson Room, State Library of New South Wales, which will also be livestreamed on the Parliament's website. At this stage, the committee will be taking evidence from the General Manager of The Hills Shire Council and Dr Michelle Byrne, Former Mayor.

Further information about the inquiry, including the terms of reference can be found on the committee's webpage.

-ENDS

BACKGROUND

North Coast Voices, Tuesday, 14 February 2023,

"Only 39 days remaining until the NSW state election and Liberal MP for Epping & Premier Dominic Perrottet's troubles are multiplying" 

NSW State of Play 2023: governments being 'city-centric' has consequences that follow remote & outer regional populations to their graves

 

The Australia Institute, media release, 14 February 2023:

New analysis reveals residents born in Far West NSW are suffering substantially worse health outcomes than residents in Sydney.

People in Far West NSW are dying earlier than they should, from avoidable causes, and while suicide rates have steadied in Sydney, they are on the rise in the most remote parts of the state.

The report warns of serious and growing inequality in health outcomes between city and country residents and recommends immediate investment in the sector.

Key points:

• Life expectancy: People born in the Far West have a life expectancy 5.7 years less than those in Sydney, with the divide worsening

• Premature death: Residents in Far Western NSW are 2x more likely to die prematurely than those in Sydney

• Avoidable death: ‘Potentially avoidable deaths’ are 2.5x more likely in the Far West than in Sydney

• Suicide: Residents in the NSW Far West are 2x as likely to commit suicide than those in Sydney, with a clear upwards trend in suicide rates

“Far West NSW is in serious need of medical attention. Where you live shouldn’t dictate how long you’ll live, but unfortunately in NSW it does” said Kate McBride, Researcher at The Australia Institute.

“Those in the Far West have significantly poorer health outcomes, inferior access to health services and face substantial financial challenges to access services.

“Life expectancy, premature deaths, and ‘potentially avoidable’ deaths are key statistical indicators of whether our health system is working. It is clear from the analysis in this report, sirens should be sounding from the Far West of the state.

“There’s a compelling case for significant investment across the continuum of care, from disease prevention to rehabilitation and ongoing care, in regional NSW.

“The first release in a series, this report reflects a wider national trend: That the health system is failing those living in regional and remote Australia” said Kate McBride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RELATED RESEARCH

Kate McBride, The Unlucky Country: Life expectancy and health in regional and remote Australia. Part 1: NSW, February 2023.

FULL REPORT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpts from the McBride report:

“Australia has the world’s third highest life expectancy at 84.3 years. However, this national average masks the fact that the ‘lucky country’ has some rather less lucky residents. In every state and territory, those in regional and remote areas have life expectancies several years lower than in the city.

New South Wales (NSW) is a stark example of this divide. Life expectancy in Far West NSW is 79.1 years compared to 84.5 years in Sydney. This more than five-year gap has grown from relative parity at the turn of the millennium to the current gap. Today, a person in far west NSW is more than twice as likely to die prematurely (under 75) than someone in Sydney.

While there are many possible reasons for this discrepancy, overall, people die of the same causes in urban and remote parts of NSW; a comparison of the top causes of death in each area reveals that the top 10 are almost identical. However, regional and remote people are dying younger and from preventable causes at much higher rates than those in Sydney. Deaths considered ‘potentially avoidable’ are more than two and a half times as common in the far west than in the state’s capital.

It has been known for years that there is a suicide issue in regional Australia. Suicide rates in far west NSW—already more than twice as high than those in Sydney—are continuing to rise, while those in urban areas remain steady. But while suicide is a significant problem, it is only the tenth leading cause of death in the region. Suicide tends to take people at a younger age than other causes and as a result can disproportionally skew life expectancy, having said this there are other factors likely at play.

In 2022, a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into health outcomes and access to services in rural, regional, and remote NSW found that people outside urban areas had significantly poorer health outcomes, inferior access to health services, and faced substantial financial challenges to access services.

This divide between life expectancy in the cities and in the country is a problem that extends beyond far western NSW. The city/country divide exists across Australia, and it is growing. Inequity between Australians living in capitals and remote areas is a significant problem that demands government intervention, particularly concerning overwhelmed and under resourced health systems.”

NOTE: I draw to the attention of "North Coast Voices" readers, living in what is the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Coffs Harbour-Grafton Level 4 Statistical Area, the fact that the combined populations of Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City have a projected life expectancy at birth which is 3.9 years lower than that of the population of the Greater Sydney metropolitan area. Only the projected life expectancy at birth for the Far West and Orana region has a worse comparative figure.

The only differences are dehydration and suicide (more below) in the Far West being replaced by heart failure and breast cancer in Greater Sydney. The similarity in causes of death suggests that the factors driving lower life expectancy in the far west are not due to different physical conditions or different lifestyles, but to how causes of death are prevented and managed. [my yellow highlighting]

Sadly, what the preceding paragraph is politely hinting at is that there is a culture within governments which tolerates and, perhaps even relies upon, inequality of access to health care along with an acceptance of delivery of poorer quality health care to those living in remote areas of New South Wales, as one of the tools which allows the provision of a much higher quality of health care to those living in metropolitan centres and inner regional areas on the fringes of major cities. 

That is where the bulk of the state's electorates and voter numbers are concentrated and, it will come as no surprise that ahead of the March 2023 state election little electoral growth was expected in the western half of New South Wales [Report of the Electoral Districts Redistribution Panel on the draft determination of the names and boundaries of electoral districts of New South Wales, 9 Nov 2020].