Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment

Premier Perrottet was quoted as saying he disagreed with Scott Morrison's earlier criticism of ICAC being a "kangaroo court".

“I think the ICAC plays an important role in upholding integrity and confidence in politicians and in public servants here in our state, and they have done that for many years,” Perrottet said.

“Now, there will always be different views in relation to the judiciary, or the ICAC or integrity agencies and people are entitled to have their opinions.

“But when we do have opinions, and we do raise concerns, we need to do so in a way that doesn’t undermine confidence in our integrity agencies.” ... See more

The article states:
“To make uninformed comments that this commission is a kangaroo court has the real capacity to undermine the commission’s work, and just as importantly, public confidence in public administration,” Rushton said.
Morrison last month indicated he intended to abandon his plans for a federal ICAC and blamed Labor for not supporting the government’s proposal, unamended, in the previous parliament.
Former judges and legal experts criticised the Coalition for breaking its pledge, saying its proposed model would have insufficient powers and would be the “weakest watchdog” in the country.
The ICAC chief commissioner Peter Hall told the inquiry on Monday that the NSW agency’s extensive powers were given “on purpose”.
Hall said that an understanding of how the ICAC functioned would reveal to any critic that “he or she is simply wrong”.
“Corruption involves acts performed under conditions of great secrecy, often concealed and there is seldom an eyewitness witness to it,” Hall told the inquiry. ... See more

BETTER PLANNING RULES CAN'T FIX THE HOUSING SHORTAGE
BETTER PLANNING CAN
It is concerning when even the SMH has drunk from the development industry's koolaid and starts to believe that the housing shortage can be fixed if only councils "freed up more (and more and more) land for the construction of high-rise housing".
What do you think councils have been doing for the past 10 years? That's why Sydney now has thousands and thousands of units in areas with no infrastructure like Wentworth Point (pictured). Meanwhile the Premier wants to dramatically increase the population of Sydney to the delight of the developer lobby groups. "Glass and a half of full cream milk" crammed into every block comes to mind.
It's really disappointing to read the SMH editorial suggesting "NIMBYs at local level sometimes put irrational obstacles in the path of new home construction to preserve their way of life". BPN members and supporters know that it's often only the local residents standing between the community and the paucity of services, traffic gridlock problems, overshadowing, privacy impacts, poor design, clear-felled sites, non-compliant heights and setbacks and appalling build quality which is being foisted upon Sydney.
This is NOT nimbyism, people are trying to preserve Sydney's quality of life against the rapacious development industry. SMH should keep that in mind.
https://www.smh.com.au/.../better-planning-rules-can-fix... ... See more

NSW Building Commissioner Chandler extending his term for a further 2 years!

The Urban Developer Article states: "While his priorities have shifted now that the reform process he helms has progressed to a point of bearing results, Chandler will remain the tough cop on the beat.

“The development industry is getting the fact that this legislation is serious. It's got teeth and it's going to turn the dial,” Chandler said.

“Our data assets are the second largest, outside the Defence department, in New South Wales. If you think we don't know how to find you, if you are a bad player, we do.”

“We know now who's providing the money on every single job. We know whether it's good money or dirty money. Almost anything that you can think of as a question, we’ve probably got the answer to it.

“So the regulator will land on the bad guys.” ... See more