Premier's Office

NSW LIBERALS MUST COME CLEAN ON DEVELOPER DONATIONS

Premier Nathan Rees today challenged the Opposition to admit if they were still accepting donations from property developers.

"I pledged last weekend that the NSW ALP would not accept another cent from developers," said Mr Rees.

"The Liberal and National Parties are using weasel words to delay making the same clear public commitment.

"Mr O'Farrell said on Saturday our ban was a ‘good start' and that they supported it - so when will he put in place the same ban?

"I pledged to send back any developer donations made after Saturday.

"The Opposition needs to stop talking about reform and make a clear public statement that their doors are closed to developer donations effective from last weekend.

"I will introduce legislation during the current Parliamentary session to see these donations banned for all Parliamentarians, Local Government Councillors and political parties," said Mr Rees.

The Premier also announced that draft terms of reference are being distributed today for the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters inquiry into donations and campaign funding.

"I want to finalise the terms quickly and allow the cross party committee to get to work on reforms," said Mr Rees.

"Caps on donations and caps on campaign spending are crucial to restore public confidence.

"Following the findings of the inquiry, I am committed to seeing further legislation introduced to allow for publicly funded campaigns in time for the March 2011 election."

Draft Terms of Reference

That the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters inquire into and report by 12 March 2010 on a public funding model for political parties and candidates to apply at the state and local government levels, including the following:
(a) the criteria and thresholds that should apply for eligibility to receive public funding;
(b) the manner in which public funding should be calculated and allocated, including whether it should take into account first preference votes, parliamentary representation, party membership subscriptions, individual donations and/or other criteria;
(c) any caps that should apply, including whether there should be an overall cap on public funding and/or caps on funding of each individual party or candidate either absolutely or as a proportion of their total campaign expenditure or fundraising;
(d) the persons to whom the public funding should be paid, including whether it should be paid directly to candidates or to political parties;
(e) the mechanisms for paying public funding, including the timing of payments;
(f) whether any restrictions should be imposed on the expenditure of public funding and, if so, what restrictions should apply and how should the expenditure of public funding be monitored;
(g) whether any restrictions should be imposed on expenditure by political parties and candidates more generally and, if so, what restrictions should apply and how should expenditure be monitored;
(h) how public funding should apply as part of a broader scheme under which political donations are banned or capped;
(i) whether there should be any regulation of expenditure by third parties on political advertising or communication; and
(j) any other related matter.

Highlights of the first 12 months

• Record infrastructure spending of $62.9 billion over the next 4 years, the largest infrastructure investment program in Australia.

• The best literacy and numeracy rates in Australia,
with 94-97% of children reaching nationwide literacy and numeracy benchmarks.

• The shortest Emergency Department waiting times and the highest percentage of people seen within the recommended time for Elective Surgery of any state or territory in Australia.

• Crime rates falling or stable in 16 of 17 categories, as measured by the independent Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

• Best rail reliability since the Olympics, with 95.4% of CityRail trains arriving on-time.

• Leading the nation in rolling-out the Commonwealth's stimulus package.

• Building the Sydney Metro rapid transit network, the future of public transport in Sydney.

• Introducing the most generous solar feed-in tariff of any State in Australia.

• Our AAA credit rating re-affirmed by international ratings agencies.

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September 4, 2009

In an Australian first, Premier Nathan Rees will launch a $100,000 competition today looking for better ways to provide government information to the public.

The APPS for NSW competition will encourage software developers to come up with new and innovative ways to store, use and analyse Government data.

The competition is based on the Applications for Democracy Model developed in Washington DC.

"Top entries in this competition included providing tourist friendly maps on i-phones and finding the best parking spots in various parts of the City," Mr Rees said.

"This is about making government information accessible for people, businesses and community groups.

"It will mean government information is available in a 21st century format on 21st century technology like i-phones.

"NSW is serious about drawing on our thriving knowledge sector, including our strengths in ICT, and our tech-savvy young people."

Minister for Science and Medical Research Jodi McKay said the prize comes on top of the recent NSW Energy Challenge Prize, a new $5 million international prize to keep the State at the forefront of clean energy provision.

"Prizes have demonstrated their effectiveness in promoting innovation activities and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge," Ms McKay said.

"They might all have different objectives and themes but prizes all have one thing in common, they use competition to stimulate ingenuity, resourcefulness and problem solving.

"As the clever state, NSW wants to reward research and innovation."

The prizes will be judged by an expert panel and there will also be a People's Choice Award and the opportunity for the best entry to go to a prototyping phase.

Mr Rees announced the inaugural APPS for NSW competition at the NSW Public Sphere: Government 2.0 at Parliament House, a forum exploring how new technologies (known as Web 2.0) can improve collaboration, participation and service delivery in NSW.

The competition will run for a three month period. Details will be soon available on the NSW Chief Scientist's website and on an apps4nsw website.

On track for delivery of new State Plan

1 September 2009
NSW Premier Nathan Rees outlined to Parliament today that services and new infrastructure were front and centre in state-wide consultations for the new State Plan.
"We are listening directly to public to shape the Government's priorities," said Mr Rees.
"We have already completed 17 community consultations in towns and centres across the state.
"More than 1600 people attended these meetings to help us update and refocus the State Plan.
"Giving the public direct access to Ministers delivers on one of my key promises to make the government more accessible and our decisions transparent.
"For many it was the first time they had been involved in a direct conversation with the government.
"People who could not attend these meetings can still have a say on the State plan website.
"The website has already been visited by more than 2,000 people.
The Premier welcomed community feedback reflected that people were proud of their local community and generally satisfied with frontline services, but that jobs and services for the aged and the disadvantaged were of concern.
"This feedback will all be critical as we prepare to finalise the new State Plan by October."
Mr Rees said that since the State Plan was first published three years ago there had been significant progress including:
• falls in personal crime
• outstanding performance in literacy and numeracy
• thousands of jobs created as a result of $10.3 billion of infrastructure approved.
State Plan consultation meetings have been held in Randwick, Mt Annan, Sutherland, Parramatta, Canterbury, Maitland, Shellharbour, Armidale, Penrith, Port Macquarie, Liverpool, Central Coast, Lismore, Cooma, Sydney's Inner West, Dubbo and Albury.