Threatened arrests in the premier's office? Now that's explosive
With federal Labor's thumping majority in the House of Representatives after its annihilation of the Coalition last month, it is easy to forget that there is a vastly different dynamic for the ALP in NSW. In Macquarie Street, NSW Labor has been clinging to power since March 2023, two seats short of a majority in the lower house and not in control of the upper house.
For the first half of the state Labor government's term, it barely mattered. But the upper house crossbench – which includes a motley crew of ex-One Nation MPs, the Greens and a dumped Liberal – is flexing its muscles and creating headaches for Premier Chris Minns and his government.
Tensions between the two houses had been simmering but have reached a new level of distrust and antipathy. This week, a group of upper house MPs hit the nuclear button. At the heart of their fury is an inquiry examining the so-called 'Dural caravan incident'. This was the alleged antisemitism terror plot the premier was quick to label a potential 'mass casualty event'. Minns has since acknowledged that, from the beginning, police briefed him that the explosives found in the caravan, along with a list of Jewish premises, were more likely the work of opportunistic organised crime gangs than an act of terror. Nevertheless, Minns called it thwarted terrorism.
The upper house inquiry was established with a simple set of reasonable questions. Who knew what and when? And did the government push race-hate laws through the parliament under false pretences?
At the time the laws were introduced, they were heavily criticised by faith and LGBTQ groups for being too narrow and too focused on race-based hate. Crossbenchers and Liberals were also unhappy that they had only 24 hours to digest the new laws before voting on them. The government maintained that time was of the essence.
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Minns calls the inquiry a 'massive conspiracy', a bold claim given his government rushed through the laws based on the unfounded fear that Sydney had dodged a potentially devastating antisemitic attack.
As is his right as a member of the lower house, Minns has refused to appear before the inquiry. So has Police Minister Yasmin Catley for the same reason. Speaking to 2GB's Ben Fordham this week, Minns maintained that he makes himself available for interrogation during parliamentary question time as well as twice yearly budget estimates hearings. That's enough, he reckons.
Nonetheless, the upper house has upped the ante in its quest to hold the executive to account. If Minns and Catley will not show, then the inquiry wants their staff members to turn up and answer questions. According to police, political staffers sat in on the early Dural briefings. But Minns has told these staff to stay away.
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