Latest news with #DavidElliott
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
NSW Premier Chris Minns rejects proposal to redevelop Sydney's Long Bay prison into housing
NSW Premier Chris Minns has rebuked a proposal to close Sydney's Long Bay prison and to instead use the site for housing following the failed Rosehill racecourse purchase. Former Liberal minister David Elliott suggested closing the Matraville prison and hospital on Monday and instead using the 45ha of land for a new housing development. It comes after the Australian Turf Club shot down a $5bn proposal by the government to redevelop the historic Rosehill racecourse into 25,000 homes and a Metro stop. Asked about the Long Bay site, Mr Minns told reporters on Monday that he was 'grateful that different ideas for housing are coming up' but voiced concerns about transport. 'The real challenge with Long Bay jail is the public transport … the closest heavy rail station from Maroubra is Central Station – it's a long way' Mr Minns said. 'If we're going to have a dramatic or massive increase in population, we have to take that into consideration.' Mr Elliott suggested closing the prison and relocating it to regional NSW in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. The former minister said he had pushed for the plan almost 10 years ago while serving as prisons minister, but it had faced resistance. 'For the life of me I don't understand why we've still got Long Bay jail,' Mr Elliott said. 'This is not a modern prison. It was designed along Victorian-era prison principles. All the rehabilitation programs and facilities are last century. 'You could sell that and build a new state-of-the-art, fit-for-purpose correctional facility in the outer suburbs or regional NSW where you'd get so much more bang for buck.' Mr Elliott said the Long Bay site could provide 'a magnificent place to live' for people working in the CBD and floated extended the existing city to southeast light rail. The state government's long-term plan for housing in Sydney was back under the spotlight last week when the ATC voted down the 'once-in-a-generation' plan. ATC leadership had supported the buyout, which chairman Peter McGauran said would have provided fiscal security for the club for the next '100 years'. The project would have involved 25,000 new homes and a Metro West station but faced pushback from stalwarts of the horse racing community. Mr Minns has, so far, failed to outline his 'Plan B' but revealed on Friday that the state government was discussing 'contingency' plans. 'I'm very disappointed by the Rosehill decision, but I don't regard it as a waste of time,' Mr Minns said. 'I think it's really changed the nature of the discussion about where people will be living in Sydney.'
The Age
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Sydney's commuters are sick of delays regardless of who is to blame
If the NSW Labor government hopes commuters' memories are short, it is hopeful at best, deluded at worst. When public services fail, governments are in the firing line. Tuesday's peak hour chaos, which started as students were trying to get home from school and extended well into the commuter hour, will have seriously tested the patience of heavy rail users. It was a broken overhead live wire landing on the roof of a train in Sydney's west that caused the delays but that is irrelevant. Sydney's commuters are tired of delays, regardless of who is to blame. Only as recently as February, commuters were collateral damage in the bitter ongoing wages dispute between the state government and rail unions. Few will forget Valentine's Day this year, when Sydney experienced massive train delays and cancellations. The city was thrown into chaos as a significant number of train drivers and guards called in sick, according to Transport for NSW. The unions, however, maintained the absences were no more unusual than other Fridays. After an elongated industrial dispute, last minute-negotiations broke down when the government said it was blindsided by a union claim for a one-off $4500 sign-on bonus. 'I think the union is gaslighting Sydney,' NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union was having none of it. They insisted that the bonus was a deal signed by the former Liberal transport minister David Elliott. It was a classic case of he said, she said. It was not the only major disruption on the city's rail network during the months-long dispute, but it had a big impact.
Sydney Morning Herald
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney's commuters are sick of delays regardless of who is to blame
If the NSW Labor government hopes commuters' memories are short, it is hopeful at best, deluded at worst. When public services fail, governments are in the firing line. Tuesday's peak hour chaos, which started as students were trying to get home from school and extended well into the commuter hour, will have seriously tested the patience of heavy rail users. It was a broken overhead live wire landing on the roof of a train in Sydney's west that caused the delays but that is irrelevant. Sydney's commuters are tired of delays, regardless of who is to blame. Only as recently as February, commuters were collateral damage in the bitter ongoing wages dispute between the state government and rail unions. Few will forget Valentine's Day this year, when Sydney experienced massive train delays and cancellations. The city was thrown into chaos as a significant number of train drivers and guards called in sick, according to Transport for NSW. The unions, however, maintained the absences were no more unusual than other Fridays. After an elongated industrial dispute, last minute-negotiations broke down when the government said it was blindsided by a union claim for a one-off $4500 sign-on bonus. 'I think the union is gaslighting Sydney,' NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union was having none of it. They insisted that the bonus was a deal signed by the former Liberal transport minister David Elliott. It was a classic case of he said, she said. It was not the only major disruption on the city's rail network during the months-long dispute, but it had a big impact.
Sky News AU
16-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Nuclear is the Coalition's ‘modern-day' GST
Former New South Wales police minister David Elliott likes the Coalition's nuclear policy to their plan to implement the GST in the 90s. 'I think nuclear is the modern-day GST, we lost the election in 93 because we could not explain GST, we did not explain nuclear,' Mr Elliott told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'Then, 5 years later, we explained GST and we won an election.'
Sky News AU
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Greatest fear': Voters rejected Greens holding the ‘balance of power'
Former NSW Police Minister David Elliott says the 'greatest fear' for most Australians was the Greens holding the balance of power at the federal election. The race for the leadership of the Liberal Party has heated up with factional camps trading blows about Deputy Leader Sussan Ley and Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor. 'Because they have seen in living memory, minority governments and how dysfunctional they are, I think there was very much a case of ... if Albo is going to win, we better make sure that he can win and govern properly,' Mr Elliott told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
