Former Vic Opposition Leader John Pesutto avoids bankruptcy
The Liberal Party's administrative committee has agreed to save former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto from bankruptcy as he struggles to cover the legal costs he owes colleague Moira Deeming.
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News.com.au
16 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Aussies exit NSW, WA hits 3 million population milestone
More people are fleeing NSW than any other state in Australia. Population data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week shows 28,118 people left NSW in 2024. Western Australia tipped over three million people for the first time as the resource-rich state recorded the highest nationwide growth rate. At the end of 2024, 27.4 million people called Australia home, an increase of 445,900 on the previous year and representative of a 1.7 per cent increase. Commonwealth Bank economist Lucinda Jerogin said population growth had slowed quicker than anticipated on the back of the post-pandemic peak. 'A slowdown in natural increase continues to place a drag on Australia's population growth,' she said 'Cost-of-living pressures, rising female workforce participation and broader uncertainty are likely driving this downward trend. 'Growth in deaths are outpacing births leading to the decline in natural increase.' The data shows NSW lost more than 28,000 people to net interstate migration, with 112,763 people leaving for elsewhere in the country. Queensland picked up more than 106,000 people from other states for a result of nearly 26,000 fresh faces. Nearly 40,000 Aussies moved to WA for a net increase of about 12,500 people. While Queensland and Victoria's total populations grew by 1.9 per cent, WA's grew 2.4 per cent. The population of every state and territory grew by at least 1.1 per cent, except Tasmania, which recorded a 0.3 per cent increase. 'Within Australia, people are continuing to leave NSW, and to a lesser extent Victoria and the smallest jurisdictions, and head into Queensland and WA,' Housing Industry Association economist Tom Devitt said. 'But even the jurisdictions losing residents interstate are absorbing enough overseas arrivals to see their populations expand.' State governments needed to do more to stimulate housing construction, he said. 'Foreign capital is highly liquid. State governments have forced institutional investors into building apartments in other countries,' Mr Devitt said. 'As a consequence, multi-unit construction volumes in Australia have halved, likely costing state governments tax revenue.'
News.com.au
16 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Disgraced former MP Maguire guilty of lying to ICAC probe
Former MP Daryl Maguire is facing the prospect of being jailed after he was found guilty of giving misleading evidence to ICAC. Maguire, 66, fronted a Sydney court on Friday where he was found guilty by a magistrate of one count of giving false or misleading evidence at a public inquiry. Maguire, who was the MP for Wagga Wagga from 1999 to 2018, faced a hearing in the Downing Centre Local Court earlier this year where he pleaded not guilty to the lone count. The case centred on Maguire's evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in July 2018. During the ICAC probe, he denied asking to receive a financial benefit for brokering a property deal at Canterbury. However, recorded phone conversations led him to admit he had asked for a slice of the profits if the multimillion-dollar deal with a Chinese developer was finalised. Maguire had argued that he had not given misleading evidence and he answered questions to the best of his ability. Magistrate Clare Farnan on Friday handed down her judgment, finding him guilty of one count of giving false or misleading evidence at a public inquiry. Maguire faces a maximum penalty of two years in jail. The magistrate also rejected an application by Maguire's legal team on Friday afternoon for a non-publication order which would have kept the verdict under wraps. Maguire's lawyers applied for the non-publication order to protect against the possible prejudice to a jury ahead of a separate upcoming trial. Maguire is also fighting allegations relating to an alleged visa and migration fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and is due to face a District Court trial later this year. Confusion reigned at the Downing Centre John Maddison Tower court complex on Friday. Maguire was listed in one courtroom and when his legal team and the prosecution arrived at court, they were told that the matter had to be adjourned until October. Maguire and his lawyers then left the court complex. However, they were later called back to another court where Ms Farnan handed down her judgment. The court was told that there was confusion because the Downing Centre court complex has been closed for four weeks due to damage to electrical infrastructure after the basement was flooded earlier this week, which has thrown thousands of legal matters into turmoil. Maguire returns to court in August. The former Wagga Wagga MP resigned from the NSW parliament in 2018 after ICAC launched a separate investigation into his conduct while in office. The inquiry revealed he had been in a secret five-year 'close personal relationship' with ex-Premier Gladys Berejiklian. She resigned from her position in September 2021 after ICAC announced it would investigate whether she breached the ministerial code of conduct. The commission found in July 2023 that both Maguire and Ms Berejiklian engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
News.com.au
25 minutes ago
- News.com.au
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey confirms Sydney's housing ‘Plan B' won't be in Tuesday's budget
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has definitely ruled out any announcement on the government's 'Plan B' for housing in next week's budget, after a $5bn proposal to turn Rosehill racecourse into 25,000 homes was shot down. Mr Mookhey will hand down his third budget since Labor's 2022 election on Tuesday, as NSW continues to grapple with a worsening housing crisis and the fallout from a summer marred by anti-Semitic attacks. Billions of dollars in spending has already been announced ahead of the budget, expected to feature the same fiscal restraint as the previous two years, including in housing, justice reform, and Western Sydney airport. The budget comes after a majority of members from the Australian Turf Club voted down plans in May to turn the historic Rosehill racecourse in Sydney's west into a first-of-its-kind mini-city with a Metro station. Premier Chris Minns has since said the state government was working on its 'Plan B', with reports the port of Glebe Island was being eyed for housing, but has so far remained mum on what that project would be. Asked about whether the 'Plan B' for housing near Sydney's CBD would feature in the budget, Mr Mookhey on Friday told NewsWire '(in) next week's budget, we will make progress in dealing with the housing challenge'. 'We will not be sort of announcing Plan B on budget day. But we're pretty clear that we need to build more homes.' Mr Mookhey said he was 'disappointed' in the failed sale of Rosehill. 'What it means for the state is that we do need to build more homes,' he said. A raft of policy measures has already been announced ahead of the budget to target housing, including making tax cuts to build-to-rent schemes indefinite and draft guidelines for the 'build-in-kind' scheme. Despite a damaging few weeks for the Treasurer, whose workers compensation reform measures were sent back for another inquiry amid fierce push back from the Liberals, Greens, and the unions, Mr Mookhey was optimistic. Asked about the message of the 2025-26 budget, Mr Mookhey said it was about the 'future of our essential services and the future of our economy', and touted the work of the NSW Labor government until now. 'It is about making sure that we are making the right investments to deliver the world class public services that people will expect, and to make sure that the NSW economy continues to grow so we can lift people's living standards, improve their wages and create jobs,' Mr Mookhey said. 'That's been what this budget has been about, and the reason why we can now make these investments is because we've made real progress in stabilising the state's finances. 'We've inherited a $15bn deficit, which we've made good progress in turning around. We can report now for the first time in years, the NSW government is back into cash surplus. 'We can say that the debt is stabilising. We've kept our promise to keep debt at below $187bn at this point in time. So, that gives us that platform for more progress.' The budget comes after the Western Australian budget on Thursday reported a $2.5bn surplus off the back of a 2018 deal that gave it an guaranteed share of the country's GST carve-up. Mr Mookhey previously said he would advocate to the Albanese government to reform the tax allocation, which he said cost the state government $12.6bn last year – for which the state was 'still recovering'. 'It's undoubtedly the case that that remains a challenge for NSW, and it doesn't matter whether there's a Labor treasurer or a Liberal treasurer, the state would have to be dealing with that. 'Which is why I am glad that here in NSW, we do have bipartisanship about the need for GST reform. 'But, in arguing for NSW's position, I don't talk down any other states and I accept the fact that every state will always argue for what they consider to be their interest. 'I'm simply saying that there's a simpler system, that more predictable system, a more certain system that is available, and we'll continue to argue our case for change.'
