As the New South Wales parliament draws to a close at the end of November, expect it to be dominated by feral horses, feral pigs and feral politics.
The Minns Labor government has two major pieces of legislation it desperately wants to pass before parliament rises. But it faces obstacles in the upper house where a clutch of minor parties hold the balance of power.
The first is the bill to streamline the planning system. The changes have been billed as necessary to fast-track major housing projects, but it’s become clear that the bill could also apply to mining and energy projects.
The Greens say it gives the planning minister unprecedented powers to decide that the public interest or environmental matters can be ignored. That’s why they are opposing the bill and calling for significant amendments.
The bill will probably pass with the support of the Coalition, which is also proposing amendments. But it’s a race against time and there is no guarantee the Nationals won’t arc up about abolishing regional planning, and fast-tracking transmission lines and windfarms.
The other big headache for the government is changes to the workers’ compensation system, to dramatically curtail claims for psychological injury. It has been trying to gain support since May, warning that the entire system is in danger of financial collapse and that premiums will skyrocket.
But there’s pretty much universal condemnation of the bill from the Liberals, Greens, union movement, doctors, psychologists and lawyers.
Another parliamentary report due soon, on the proposal to lift the threshold for whole-of person impairment from 15% to 31% and icare’s handling of cases, will be highly critical.
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The government has not given up on getting its workers’ comp legislation through the upper house, but it needs six votes from the minor parties – which may require some serious horse-trading.
One option being touted is to extend parliament for an extra day (or days) into the reserve week, with additional time to get private members’ bills through.
This would be a way of wooing support, as it would deliver several crossbenchers a win on their pet projects – and the attendant publicity that goes with it.
A spokesperson for the government said an extra day “may be needed to pass legislation” but it was hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
Several private members’ bills are in the pipeline: the Shooters and Fishers’ conservation hunting bill, Dr Joe McGirr’s repeal of the heritage horse act that protected brumbies, a bill to restrict voluntary assisted dying in faith-run aged care, and a bill making sex-selection abortions illegal.
So first to the feral pigs.
The government walked away from its overt support for a hunting bill proposed by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party after a campaign by anti-gun lobbyists, led by Walter Mikac whose wife and children, Alannah and Madeline, were killed during the Port Arthur massacre.
A spokesperson for the premier, Chris Minns, confirmed in September the government would not use its business time to support the passage of the legislation, meaning the Shooters would need to try to push the bill through a largely hostile upper house while dealing with the dozens of amendments.
“Labor will never vote to water down gun laws – not now, not ever, and we have made clear we are not supporting a right to hunt,” a spokesperson said at the time.
But Labor desperately needs the Shooters’ votes for workers’ compensation. While it denies there is a deal, it will probably vote for a watered down bill – if the bill can ride its way through to a vote.
The feral horses bill is easier – Labor, the Libs and the Greens are supporting it. It just needs the debate time. That would be a win for the Legalise Cannabis party’s Jeremy Buckingham, who is championing the bill in the upper house.
Then there are the two other private members’ bills that will go to a conscience vote.
John Ruddick of the Libertarian party is proposing the abortion amendment, which he says would introduce fines for doctors who perform sex-selection abortions. He says a more recent study from Edith Cowan University looking at birth numbers has undermined the findings of a 2020 parliamentary committee, which found that the number of sex-selection abortions in NSW was negligible.
Abortion is always a lightning rod issue, evidenced by the crowd of 500-plus who blocked Macquarie Street last Wednesday to mark the introduction of Ruddick’s bill. He doesn’t think it will get debated until next year.
Voluntary assisted dying is also one of those issues that will unite the conservatives in the upper house. The Liberal MLC Susan Carter has introduced a bill to parliament to amend VAD laws to allow residential aged care providers which object to VAD on faith grounds to “decline to facilitate the administration of voluntary assisted dying services in the same way, and subject to the same obligations to make alternative arrangements, as hospitals”.
It’s got support among fellow Liberals and from Mark Latham and the Shooters. Labor has said it will be a conscience vote, so it too may pass.
Whether the government can cobble together the six votes it needs in the upper house to allow more time for private bills remains to be seen.
But this strategy, if it goes forward, will mean the hunting bill is back on the agenda and the workers’ compensation legislation stands a fighting chance.
Strap in for a feral lead-up into Christmas in the NSW parliament.
• Anne Davies is Guardian Australia’s NSW state correspondent
