Anne Davies

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Anne Davies

A controversial bill to curtail workers’ compensation claims for psychological injuries incurred by New South Wales workers will be sent to a parliamentary inquiry, after cross benchers and the Coalition banded together to force the inquiry. The independent Mark Latham moved for a relatively swift inquiry, with the date of reporting to be set by the chair of the inquiry, once the scope of evidence is known.

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Anne Davies

The latest extraordinary chapter in the saga involving the NSW division of the Liberal party underscores how much work they have to do before again being considered a viable alternative government. With the loss of Bradfield, the Liberals have relinquished all federal representation in their former heartland of Sydney’s north shore. The alarm bells should be deafening. Instead, the party is dealing with the latest crisis following Alan Stockdale’s comments about “assertive women” in the party.

2 days ago | theguardian.com | Patrick Commins |Anne Davies |Benita Kolovos

Jim Chalmers says making cigarettes cheaper will not solve the booming trade in illegal tobacco, dismissing the call by the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, to slash taxes on smoking. Minns joined Victoria’s state government in blaming the high tobacco excise for a spike in organised crime that has led to arson attacks on businesses and stretched police resources.

2 days ago | theguardian.com | Anne Davies |Lisa Cox

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has warned a failure to pass his controversial workers compensation legislation would blow a $2bn hole in the state budget as Labor seeks to woo a coalition of conservative crossbenchers to pass the bill. In parliament, the premier said if the changes to curtail psychological injury claims did not go through, an additional $2bn would be required from NSW taxpayers to fund the public service portion of the scheme.

3 days ago | theguardian.com | Anne Davies

The New South Wales opposition and the union movement have become unlikely allies in opposing the central plank of the Minns government’s “nasty laws” to curtail workers’ compensation claims for psychological injuries. The opposition leader, Mark Speakman, said on Tuesday he would be pushing for the status quo of 15% impairment as the level of injury that would trigger compensation. He wants amendments or a parliamentary inquiry.