Latest news with #ChrisMinns'
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Mark Latham faces another Rosehill humiliation
For a place that, let's be honest, rarely crosses the mind of most Sydneysiders, Rosehill racecourse is punching above its weight in the Harbour City's news cycles of late. Responsibility for that partly lay with Chris Minns' well-intentioned plan to buy the site for $5 billion and build 25,000 new homes, a move rejected by most Australian Turf Club members keen to stick a middle finger up at the premier and Peter V'landys. The botched deal was the subject of many a deranged tirade from NSW upper house MP Mark Latham, one of its loudest opponents, for whom Rosehill has been the site of many a recent humiliation. On the day of the Rosehill vote, Latham separated from former girlfriend Nathalie Matthews, who later made a series of allegations of abuse against the former Labor leader. Latham has denied Matthews' claims. Rosehill was also the site of an earlier embarrassing incident for Latham, who in April launched into an expletive-laden rant against the ATC's head of corporate affairs Steve McMahon, a friend of Minns, when the two crossed paths in the members area. The ATC slapped Latham with a 12-month good behaviour bond, while the MP later rage-quit the club. Loading Racing NSW drafted in former Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission boss Michael Phelan to conduct its own investigation into the incident. This week, they charged Latham in connection with abusing officials. 'Some people have taken their defeat at Rosehill really hard,' Latham sniggered on X, with a picture of an email from the regulator's operations manager – integrity, Michael Cleaver, relating to 'charges issued by Racing NSW stewards'. Latham could face penalties in the form of a fine, or at the most severe, being 'warned off', which would leave the upper house rogue banned from racetracks, unable to have a punt and restricted from ownership of a horse.
7NEWS
05-06-2025
- Business
- 7NEWS
Tobacco tax to stay high despite black market fears
A tobacco tax that's helped drive Australian cigarette prices to world-leading highs won't be lowered despite suggestions it has aided a rampant black market. Treasurer Jim Chalmers ruled out changing the tobacco excise on Wednesday, dismissing NSW Premier Chris Minns' call that lower prices could help curb surging levels of illegal tobacco in the community. Tobacco prices have been driven by a federal excise topping $1.40 a cigarette in March, excluding shop mark-ups, with the average pack of 20 costing about $40. Tobacco tax revenue peaked at $16.3 billion in 2019-20 but has dipped to a projected $7.4 billion this financial year, which experts say illustrates cigarette prices becoming unaffordable and smokers turning to the black market. Ruling out a change to the excise, the treasurer said the revenue decrease was for both good and bad reasons. 'More people are giving up the darts, but more people are also doing the wrong thing (and) I'm not convinced cutting the excise on cigarettes would mean that would be the end of illegal activity,' Chalmers said. 'I respectfully disagree with Chris ... I don't think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people, the answer here is to get better at compliance.' Earlier in the week, Minns said police had better things to do than tobacco enforcement and the 'commonsense option' would be for the federal government to acknowledge the excise was not working. He pointed out the excise had increased from $16 to $28 per pack in six years but total revenue was going backward as consumers fled to the black market. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insisted he would raise the issue with his federal counterpart despite the flat rejection. 'We can't ignore the fact there's an interaction between the federal exercise and the emergence of illegal tobacco,' he said. Increased scrutiny on illicit tobacco came as police on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven people over 20 million untaxed cigarettes and other drug imports.
The Advertiser
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Tobacco tax to stay despite black market fears
A tobacco tax that's helped drive Australian cigarette prices to world-leading highs won't be lowered despite suggestions it has aided a rampant black market. Treasurer Jim Chalmers ruled out changing the tobacco excise on Wednesday, dismissing NSW Premier Chris Minns' call that lower prices could help curb surging levels of illegal tobacco in the community. Tobacco prices have been driven by a federal excise topping $1.40 a cigarette in March, excluding shop mark-ups, with the average pack of 20 costing about $40. Tobacco tax revenue peaked at $16.3 billion in 2019/20 but has dipped to a projected $7.4 billion this financial year, which experts say illustrates cigarette prices becoming unaffordable and smokers turning to the black market. Ruling out a change to the excise, the treasurer said the revenue decrease was for both good and bad reasons. "More people are giving up the darts, but more people are also doing the wrong thing (and) I'm not convinced cutting the excise on cigarettes would mean that would be the end of illegal activity," Mr Chalmers said. "I respectfully disagree with Chris … I don't think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people, the answer here is to get better at compliance." Earlier in the week, Mr Minns said police had better things to do than tobacco enforcement and the "commonsense option" would be for the federal government to acknowledge the excise was not working. He pointed out the excise had increased from $16 to $28 per pack in six years but total revenue was going backward as consumers fled to the black market. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insisted he would raise the issue with his federal counterpart despite the flat rejection. "We can't ignore the fact there's an interaction between the federal exercise and the emergence of illegal tobacco," he said. Increased scrutiny on illicit tobacco came as police on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven people over 20 million untaxed cigarettes and other drug imports. A tobacco tax that's helped drive Australian cigarette prices to world-leading highs won't be lowered despite suggestions it has aided a rampant black market. Treasurer Jim Chalmers ruled out changing the tobacco excise on Wednesday, dismissing NSW Premier Chris Minns' call that lower prices could help curb surging levels of illegal tobacco in the community. Tobacco prices have been driven by a federal excise topping $1.40 a cigarette in March, excluding shop mark-ups, with the average pack of 20 costing about $40. Tobacco tax revenue peaked at $16.3 billion in 2019/20 but has dipped to a projected $7.4 billion this financial year, which experts say illustrates cigarette prices becoming unaffordable and smokers turning to the black market. Ruling out a change to the excise, the treasurer said the revenue decrease was for both good and bad reasons. "More people are giving up the darts, but more people are also doing the wrong thing (and) I'm not convinced cutting the excise on cigarettes would mean that would be the end of illegal activity," Mr Chalmers said. "I respectfully disagree with Chris … I don't think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people, the answer here is to get better at compliance." Earlier in the week, Mr Minns said police had better things to do than tobacco enforcement and the "commonsense option" would be for the federal government to acknowledge the excise was not working. He pointed out the excise had increased from $16 to $28 per pack in six years but total revenue was going backward as consumers fled to the black market. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insisted he would raise the issue with his federal counterpart despite the flat rejection. "We can't ignore the fact there's an interaction between the federal exercise and the emergence of illegal tobacco," he said. Increased scrutiny on illicit tobacco came as police on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven people over 20 million untaxed cigarettes and other drug imports. A tobacco tax that's helped drive Australian cigarette prices to world-leading highs won't be lowered despite suggestions it has aided a rampant black market. Treasurer Jim Chalmers ruled out changing the tobacco excise on Wednesday, dismissing NSW Premier Chris Minns' call that lower prices could help curb surging levels of illegal tobacco in the community. Tobacco prices have been driven by a federal excise topping $1.40 a cigarette in March, excluding shop mark-ups, with the average pack of 20 costing about $40. Tobacco tax revenue peaked at $16.3 billion in 2019/20 but has dipped to a projected $7.4 billion this financial year, which experts say illustrates cigarette prices becoming unaffordable and smokers turning to the black market. Ruling out a change to the excise, the treasurer said the revenue decrease was for both good and bad reasons. "More people are giving up the darts, but more people are also doing the wrong thing (and) I'm not convinced cutting the excise on cigarettes would mean that would be the end of illegal activity," Mr Chalmers said. "I respectfully disagree with Chris … I don't think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people, the answer here is to get better at compliance." Earlier in the week, Mr Minns said police had better things to do than tobacco enforcement and the "commonsense option" would be for the federal government to acknowledge the excise was not working. He pointed out the excise had increased from $16 to $28 per pack in six years but total revenue was going backward as consumers fled to the black market. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insisted he would raise the issue with his federal counterpart despite the flat rejection. "We can't ignore the fact there's an interaction between the federal exercise and the emergence of illegal tobacco," he said. Increased scrutiny on illicit tobacco came as police on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven people over 20 million untaxed cigarettes and other drug imports. A tobacco tax that's helped drive Australian cigarette prices to world-leading highs won't be lowered despite suggestions it has aided a rampant black market. Treasurer Jim Chalmers ruled out changing the tobacco excise on Wednesday, dismissing NSW Premier Chris Minns' call that lower prices could help curb surging levels of illegal tobacco in the community. Tobacco prices have been driven by a federal excise topping $1.40 a cigarette in March, excluding shop mark-ups, with the average pack of 20 costing about $40. Tobacco tax revenue peaked at $16.3 billion in 2019/20 but has dipped to a projected $7.4 billion this financial year, which experts say illustrates cigarette prices becoming unaffordable and smokers turning to the black market. Ruling out a change to the excise, the treasurer said the revenue decrease was for both good and bad reasons. "More people are giving up the darts, but more people are also doing the wrong thing (and) I'm not convinced cutting the excise on cigarettes would mean that would be the end of illegal activity," Mr Chalmers said. "I respectfully disagree with Chris … I don't think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people, the answer here is to get better at compliance." Earlier in the week, Mr Minns said police had better things to do than tobacco enforcement and the "commonsense option" would be for the federal government to acknowledge the excise was not working. He pointed out the excise had increased from $16 to $28 per pack in six years but total revenue was going backward as consumers fled to the black market. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insisted he would raise the issue with his federal counterpart despite the flat rejection. "We can't ignore the fact there's an interaction between the federal exercise and the emergence of illegal tobacco," he said. Increased scrutiny on illicit tobacco came as police on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven people over 20 million untaxed cigarettes and other drug imports.
Sky News AU
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Sky News AU
New Sydney buses assembled in China months after Premier Chris Minns' government said fleet will be built in NSW
A fleet of new electric buses set for Greater Sydney have been built in China and not locally, months after NSW Premier Chris Minns' government said the state's South Coast would become a 'manufacturing hub'. The NSW government announced in January that it had awarded vehicle manufacturer Foton a contract to build 126 electric buses at a new manufacturing facility in Nowra. A statement by the government outlined a plan for the buses, which would be added to Greater Sydney's transport network, to be built at the 6,000 square metre bus factory from late 2025. 'The South Coast is set to become a new manufacturing hub for the next generation of public transport,' the statement said. However, pictures posted on Foton Motor's Facebook page, which now appear to have been deleted, have showed over a dozen buses lined up at a Chinese facility before they were shipped to NSW, the Saturday Telegraph has reported. Photos of the buses showed ribbons attached to the front of them, as it appeared a ceremony for the newly completed fleet was held, and another picture showed the unfinished interior of one of the vehicles. It is understood some features such as Opal card reading devices will be added to the buses in NSW. Mr Minns has defended the buses being built overseas, according to the masthead. In January, when the Nowra facility was announced, the Premier said that under his government, bus builders in NSW were 'building them here again.' 'The offshoring of public transport by the former government was a complete disaster, which is why we're building these buses here in NSW – creating local jobs and public transport that works,' Mr Minns said. 'This state of the art facility in Nowra will create ongoing skilled jobs in regional NSW while also delivering emissions free world class public transport for the people of our state." NSW Minister for Transport Jo Haylen had said 100 jobs would be created once the new facility in Nowra was completed. 'We want our local manufacturers and suppliers to have good opportunities to get involved in building the Zero Emissions Buses that we need. That's why we have structured our zero-emissions bus program in a way that builds our bus manufacturing capacity for the long term,' Ms Haylen said. The Nowra factory site is yet to be developed and features such as seats will be installed on the newly built buses at a temporary site on the South Coast, according to The Saturday Telegraph.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Victoria, NSW frustrated by federal funding cuts to domestic violence partnership
Sources in the NSW and Victorian governments have expressed frustration over the diversion of federal cash from a national partnership on domestic violence that will cut funding to the states by millions after a spate of femicides. The $365.9 million National Partnership Agreement on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses was part of a bigger package announced in September in response to what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a national crisis of gendered violence. It provides operational funding for the states and territories to direct to local services. Analysis by this masthead found that although the Commonwealth has increased funding to other domestic violence initiatives, it will put on average $5.4 million less per year into the next five-year partnership – equivalent to a 7 per cent drop, despite indexation – when it takes effect on July 1. Despite federal funding increasing with indexation over the coming five years, the annual average investment over the life of the partnership is still $1.7 million lower for NSW and $1.25 million lower for Victoria compared to the former two-year deal. For the first year of the new deal, this amounts to a $3 million drop for NSW and a $2 million drop for Victoria compared to the annual average under the previous two-year deal that wraps up on June 30. Loading Federal commitments are matched by each state and territory. Negotiations for the new partnership began back in September. But NSW and Victoria only signed up in late March, days before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the federal election and the Commonwealth entered caretaker mode. All other jurisdictions had signed up weeks earlier, in February and early March. NSW Premier Chris Minns' office declined to comment. But sources with knowledge of the negotiations said that although the NSW government was frustrated by the decision, there would be no cuts to services as a result of the shortfall.
