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- Exclusive
- Liberal Party
‘Complacency, leaking, infighting’: Libs blasted in election probe
As Liberals plot a path out of opposition and wall-to-wall red governments, a review of planning for the March NSW election said officials put factional power games ahead of victory.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Why Liberals fear Boris Johnson’s go-to pollster has lost its touch
NSW and Queensland officials are worried that CT Group can’t help the party woo younger voters, women and some ethnic groups.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Meet Bran Black: how Macquarie Street’s Mr Nice Guy got the BCA gig
He’s the congenial politico who has spent his career building consensus behind closed doors. And now he’ll represent big business to government. Is he ready?
- Samantha Hutchinson
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Berejiklian’s wilful ignorance of the personal and political
An otherwise highly capable premier, who led both NSW and Australia out of pandemic lockdowns, has fallen to an all-too-human lapse of judgment.
- The AFR View
- Updated
- Berejiklian inquiry
Berejiklian conduct corrupt, ICAC faces reforms
The NSW corruption watchdog will be forced to stick to “time standards” under reforms being drafted by the Minns Labor government after taking nearly three years to investigate former premier Gladys Berejiklian.
- Updated
- Samantha Hutchinson and Tom Rabe
May 2023
Perrottet’s stamp duty reforms set to be torn up by Minns
Two steps forward, one step back: NSW Premier Chris Minns is set to introduce legislation tearing up stamp duty reforms in favour of more stamp duty breaks.
- Samantha Hutchinson
NSW flags 4pc public sector pay rise to head off strike action
NSW Premier Chris Minns is facing his first industrial relations test just two months into power.
- Samantha Hutchinson
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman: ‘I’m not really a head kicker’
In his first major interview since taking on his new role, the former barrister talks about adjusting to life on the opposition benches and steadying a party used to being in power.
- Samantha Hutchinson
‘Bleak’: No work for Liberal lobbyists because Labor keeps winning
Grahame Morris, a former chief of staff to John Howard, has left his long-time job at conservative lobby shop Barton Deakin, which is facing an uncertain future after Liberal defeats in every mainland state.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Nats dump leader on eve of NSW sitting week
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the leadership change was unlikely to derail the Coalition Agreement but could affect shadow cabinet appointments.
- Samantha Hutchinson
NSW Liberals elect Ward deputy leader after historic rule change
The lawyer and mother of two was elected after members voted to change party rules to allow upper house MPs to take the deputy leadership role.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Banning WeChat would ‘damage’ democracy, experts say
Banning WeChat risks causing ‘emotional, psychological and practical harm’ to Australia’s Chinese-speaking community, experts have told a Senate inquiry.
- Gus McCubbing
April 2023
- Exclusive
- State Parliament
How Mark Latham blew himself up
The former Labor leader was primed to emerge as a powerful figure in NSW politics as a conservative populist. Then he miscalculated.
- Aaron Patrick
Mark Speakman elected leader of the NSW Liberals, promising renewal
The Cambridge-educated barrister, who comes from the Liberal’s moderate faction, won the leadership 22 to 13 in a party room ballot on Friday.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Mookhey skipped PE for maths classes. Now he’s treasurer
He’s ready for tough decisions, but consultation and an unwillingness to shoot from the hip will define the new NSW treasurer’s time steering the country’s largest economy.
- Samantha Hutchinson
- Exclusive
- NSW budget
NSW’s AAA credit rating at risk as Mookhey starts budget repair
Secret briefings have revealed rising borrowings and expenses are putting pressure on NSW’s two remaining AAA credit ratings.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Online gaming lobby sees problems, demurs on solutions
Other industry players are far more open to things like blanket advertising bans, so it’s unsurprising many are blaming Sportsbet for the policy vacuum.
- Myriam Robin
Trips on Melbourne’s toll roads remain below pre-pandemic levels
Transurban reported a 13 per cent rise in group average daily traffic flows, or around 2.4 million trips, compared to the same period last year.
- Jenny Wiggins
NSW delays budget, flags ‘tough choices’
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has pushed the budget back by three months and urged taxpayers to brace for pain as he prepares to swing the axe on Coalition spending commitments.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Three NSW public servants will get $1.5m after being sacked
The NSW Premier unveiled a new-look public service structure including a plan to split the state’s Department of Premier and Cabinet.
- Samantha Hutchinson
- Exclusive
- Liberal Party
Liberal Party war: How the Perrottet-Kean dream team unravelled
In the last months of the NSW Coalition government, tension between premier Dominic Perrottet and treasurer Matt Kean’s offices reached extreme levels.
- Aaron Patrick
Electricity bills no higher as Liddell powers down in NSW: Sharpe
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe has indicated the Eraring power station might have to stay open longer than intended to keep the lights on.
- Samantha Hutchinson
NSW drivers could soon see the cost of tearing up toll road contracts
The cost of tearing up Transurban’s existing toll road contracts in NSW could be released publicly by the end of the year under the newly elected Labor government.
- Jenny Wiggins
Independents got more votes than the National Party on March 25
The advocacy group’s chief executive Byron Fay revealed that it backed Sydney independent Alex Greenwich during the election campaign.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Liberals bank on homeownership to fix ‘broken’ party
Liberal MP Keith Wolahan says boosting home ownership is the pathway back to government, as it is traditionally tied to a conservative vote.
- Gus McCubbing
