Media Release

27 April 2020

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Labor is calling on the Berejiklian Government to put the NSW Parliament back to work, and establish a timetable to permanently reinstate parliamentary sittings.

Labor Manager of Opposition Business in the Legislative Assembly Ryan Park said: “It’s time to get NSW Parliament back to work developing and scrutinising legislation to help get people and businesses through this pandemic and back on their feet.

“Put Parliament back to work. Sporadic, one off days don’t provide our State with the governance it needs during this pandemic. The Berejiklian Government must work with health authorities and establish a timetable to restore permanent parliamentary sittings.”

Mr Park noted that it might be necessary to return Parliament in a reduced form, or with a different sitting calendar, but indicated that Labor would negotiate with the Government on changes.

“At the moment the Berejiklian Government is only planning to bring Parliament back for one day, to deal with rental laws. But there are a lot of important reforms that the Parliament could be getting back to work on right now to support NSW through this pandemic” — Adam Searle MLC, NSW Labor Leader in the Legislative Council

“For instance the Berejiklian Government has indicated they will fast-track a number of infrastructure and residential construction projects to support the State’s economy.

“But while the Berejiklian Government is pushing all this new development, they’ve dragged their heels on important building standards legislation needed to stop potential repeats of the Mascot and Opal Towers fiascos from happening.

“The Berejiklian Government needs to put Parliament back to work. We can’t let this pandemic stop our Parliament from doing the work it needs to do to protect people and businesses in NSW.”