Mark Speakman
|NSW Leader of the Opposition
Damien Tudehope
Shadow Treasurer
Today the Upper House has stood up for the people of New South Wales — not for spin, not for backroom deals, and not for rushed legislation.
The motion for an inquiry was carried on the voices with the Government not calling for a division to avoid labor MPs ashamed of their position being forced to have their names recorded on the vote or worse still crossing the floor.
A proper inquiry will now be established — because when you’re dealing with the livelihoods of every worker and the future costs to every business in this state, you don’t get to say “trust us.” You show your homework.
This was never about 1 July. That deadline is a political invention, not a legal obligation. And today on Sky News, the Treasurer himself admitted there is no impact on the state budget this financial year. As to 2025-26 premiums, they’ve already been set.
In the Legislative Assembly the Opposition voted for the bill on the second reading. If the Government had treated the Opposition’s amendments in a satisfactory way, we would have voted for the bill on the third reading too. On the Government’s own figures, an amended bill through both Houses would have delivered most of their projected savings immediately, without adjusting WPI thresholds. In addition are savings provided by the Opposition’s extra proposals.
Instead the Government, having sat on a deteriorating scheme until the last moment, wants to stop longer term support for severely psychologically injured workers without explaining its workings, releasing the modelling, or ever levelling with the people who will carry the cost — workers, families, and small business owners.
What’s at stake here are real lives.
The teacher, still standing at the whiteboard long after the bell, juggling lesson plans and parent emails, now fearful of being exploited by deepfake technology.
The nurse stepping into a second shift without hesitation — because her patients don’t get to take breaks.
The Service NSW worker on the frontline after a flood, handing over a grant cheque to someone who’s lost everything — no cameras, just care.
These are the people who kept NSW going through fire, flood and pandemic. And now, without modelling, without facts, and without fairness, Labor tried to rewrite the rules on them and got caught.
This isn’t reform. It’s cover. A government trying to hide its own failure to manage a budget, trading in secrecy and panic over transparency and truth.
The NSW Opposition will always support reform that is fair, sustainable and built on integrity. But we will never rubber-stamp legislation written in haste, driven by internal panic, and enforced through political muscle instead of public trust.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said today was about restoring process in the nation’s oldest Parliament.
“Workers, families and business deserve clarity — not confusion, chaos or spin. Today’s decision means the truth can finally come out,” Mr Speakman said.
Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope said the Treasurer’s own words on Sky News undermined every claim made to justify the rushed legislation.
“Why the secrecy? If the numbers stacked up, Labor would have shown them. Now the inquiry will deliver what the government wouldn’t — answers,” Mr Tudehope said.
For workers, for businesses, for the entire NSW community — today was a step towards restoring trust.
And for every person who’s felt left out of this process, the Parliament heard you.