Damien Tudehope
Shadow Treasurer
Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations
Workers compensation in NSW needs reform, but the Minns Labor Government is trying to make it even harder for seriously injured workers to get the help they need. While mental health services across the state are stretched thin, Premier Chris Minns and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey are pushing changes that will restrict access to help for serious psychological injury.
These changes will not prevent injuries, and they will not support frontline workers. They will simply make it harder for seriously injured people to access the care they need to recover.
Labor promised the world before the election. Labor MPs and MLCs signed a pledge to remove section 39 (the whole personal impairment threshold [WPI] for ongoing support) completely and protect injured workers. The signatories included 19 current ministers and the Minister who would normally have portfolio responsibility for these reforms, the Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis. However, as this is about the mismanagement of the budget, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey is in charge. The Labor MPs and MLCs shook hands and smiled for cameras before the election , but that promise was tossed aside in the early hours of this morning.
Debate on the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 began at 2:35pm yesterday and dragged on until almost 5am today. When it came time to call a division on the WPI clauses, Labor MPs refused. They would not have their names recorded. They knew that their vote betrayed the very frontline workers they claimed to stand up for. They also knew it betrayed the unions who fund their campaigns.
Their behaviour exposed what really goes on in this Government, when issues hit too close to home. Their instinct is to ignore the substance, attack the messenger and pretend the problem doesn't exist.
What makes it worse is the Premier's refusal to face Sydney media today to explain what is going on with his Government in the Legislative Council. Instead of fronting up and explaining why his Government is trying to sell out injured workers, he is running off down the South Coast to prop up a Labor MP who has delivered nothing for her community.
Labor's cowardice sits on top of one of the most shameful parliamentary weeks in years. The Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council Penny Sharpe was formally censured yesterday for failing to comply with multiple orders for papers relating to the Premier's secret Moore Park deal with Clover Moore and Bob Carr. If the Government refuses to comply, the Legislative Council retains the option of suspending her from the Parliament.
This is the transparency standard of the Minns Labor Government. It is a Government that blocks scrutiny, filibusters debate and runs from accountability every chance it gets.
The Minns Labor Government has failed the transparency test and now the basic decency test.
Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope said what we have seen from Labor is a disgrace, breaking their election promise while also hiding from their record.
"When the moment came for a division, they refused. If you cannot put your name to a vote that affects injured workers across NSW, you are in the wrong job," Mr Tudehope said.
