Commenting on the rental reforms introduced to NSW Parliament today, Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown and Greens spokesperson for Housing and Renters said: “The Greens, alongside renters across the state, welcome that the new Labor government is prioritising rental fairness reforms in the first week of Parliament. "Renters are bearing the brunt of the housing and cost of living crisis, we welcome portable bonds as a simple and practical way to ease the financial stress renters’ face moving house. “But when it comes to the changes proposed  to end “secret” rent bidding we hold serious concerns that this will have significant unintended consequences, and will  entrench rental auctions instead of stamping out rent bidding.  "When it comes to rent bidding, it shouldn't matter whether it’s solicited or unsolicited, secret or out in the open, the practice itself is driving up the cost of rent and needs to be banned outright. “Renters are already struggling with the soaring cost of rent and a brutally competitive market. The last thing we should be doing is entrenching a system of renting to the highest bidder.  “We look forward to working with tenants advocates, renters and the government to ensure this Bill does what it is intended to do - and protects renters from the harms of rent bidding. “The Greens have also today given notice of our emergency rent freeze bill. We want to press pause on skyrocketing, unchecked rent increases, and work constructively with the incoming government to fix the rental crisis.”

With more Greens MP’s in our party room, a new government, and a new parliamentary term about to kick off, there have been some changes to our portfolio responsibilities.  We’re looking forward to continuing our ongoing work in the Housing, Renters Rights’ and Homelessness, Industrial Relations, Anti-Racism and Multiculturalism, and Women’s portfolios.  After 8 years of leading the Greens NSW LGBTIQA+ work, we are excited to announce that Amanda Cohn will be taking up this portfolio to continue the Greens long and proud work for rainbow rights.  We’re thrilled to be expanding the Human Rights portfolio to include anti-discrimination, where there is so much work to be done and continues our close work with the Rainbow community on much needed protections and reforms.  We can’t wait to get stuck in! You can see the full list of Greens NSW MP’s portfolios below.

Today’s announcement from the NSW Liberal National Government to redevelop empty land across from Redfern Oval, that until 2013 was 100% public housing, will see more public land flogged off for private profit. The plans announced today propose to build 300 new apartments at the site, of which none appears to be public housing, only one third would be for community housing and the vast majority for private development.

We’ve just finished a very busy two weeks of Parliament - and we’ve only got a few more weeks of Parliament sitting for the year - so I wanted to share with you all the things we've been up to. Renters’ rights are at the top of our agenda, and this sitting we introduced our bill to finally put an end to unfair, no grounds evictions. Right now, too many renters don’t know where they’ll be living from year to year, or even month to month, because at the end of their lease they can be evicted for no reason even if they’ve met all of their responsibilities and paid all of their rent on time. It is seriously stressful, seriously costly, and driving the out of control cost of rent. Our bill would set out the reasonable grounds that an eviction could occur, and would make a massive practical difference to the two million renters in NSW.  We also co-hosted a briefing for MPs to hear about the Healthy Homes for Renters campaign, with Minister Dominello, Opposition Energy spokesperson Jihad Dihab MP and Independent Alex Greenwich MP. Speakers from Better Renting, Sweltering Cities and the Tenants Union outlined how renters are shivering in winter, sweltering summer, and too stressed to ask for basic repairs or negotiate rent costs because of the threat of being evicted. There’s so much we need to do to strengthen renters’ rights, which is why we want to hear from you - or anyone you know who has been hit with a rent hike or unfair eviction - so we can keep up the pressure on politicians.  Share your story This week the Liberal/National Government moved to rush through two significant pieces of legislation - without proper consultation or consideration of concerns by experts. The bill to criminalise coercive control passed the Lower House, despite the women’s safety and family violence sector and victim-survivors unanimously expressing their serious concerns. Criminalising coercive control is a hugely important, and hugely consequential, reform. But it has to be done right or it has the potential to harm the very people that it was designed to protect.  Domestic violence victim-survivors, frontline workers and experts have been urging the government to slow down and consult properly, rather than trying to ram it through Parliament in the eleventh hour before the election. And Abigail Boyd, my Greens colleague in the Upper House, has secured an inquiry into the legislation that will hopefully achieve just that. Watch my contribution to the debate here The Liberal/National Government also rammed through their bill to introduce land tax with the expectation that it would just be voted through within the week in the dying days of this parliamentary term. While the Greens support a widespread, planned transition from stamp duty to land tax, this is not a blanket support that means we’ll back in anything dressed up as an attempt to transition us from stamp duty to land tax. The government’s proposal does not genuinely ensure a transition from stamp duty to land tax, it does not apply to the big wealthy investors, and it does not even keep pace with land values. Instead it is a half-baked reform to allow first home buyers to pay their stamp duty in instalments. The Greens have again secured an inquiry into this proposed reform, and will work to strengthen it before it becomes law.  Watch my contribution to the debate here It was shameful to see Labor and the Liberal/National Government teaming up to back online gambling corporations and oppose a ban on gambling advertisements.  The Greens and Independent MPs were the only people in Parliament to vote to reduce the harm gambling causes to our communities. Both the Coalition and NSW Labor have a history of accepting donations from organisations with links to gambling -  remember who sits in the pockets of the gambling industry! Watch my speech here When reports emerged that the NSW Government refused UN inspectors access to NSW prisons, we took it straight to the floor of Parliament and asked the Premier: what is the NSW Liberal/National Government hiding in NSW prisons that they so desperately do not want the United Nations to see? NSW is the only jurisdiction in Australia blocking the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment access to prisons.   Given the failures of the NSW Government to implement the full recommendations from the Royal Commission's Deaths in Custody report and its track record of mistreating people in prison, it is deeply disturbing that they think they are above the scrutiny of the UN torture watchdog. Watch my Question to the Premier here But that’s not all. We also acknowledged the protest movement in Iran taking to the streets to demand for a life free from the patriarchy and oppression, co-hosted an event with the Parliamentary Friends of Co-Operatives, attended Homelessness NSW’s Ending Homelessness Together launch, and stood with taxi drivers who were protesting outside Parliament for fair compensation. Remember, we can always raise issues that are concerning our community in Parliament – so don’t hesitate to get in touch if there’s anything we can do!

After hearing the concerns of local residents and organisations, the Greens do not support the Department of Planning and Environment's proposal to privatise public land in Redfern and North Eveleigh through the Paint Shop Sub-Precinct rezoning. We share the community's concerns that no clear justifications have been presented for creating such a large business and commercial zone on the site, and are opposed to the proposed low percentage of affordable housing and the complete lack of any mandated social housing. In our submission, we highlight issues including the prioritisation of commercial development and private profit over housing for the community, lack of community consultation, and the particular importance of meaningful consultation with First Nations individuals and organisations, for whom Redfern has long been a significant historical and cultural site. Read our full submission to the Department of Planning and Environment here.

Jenny Leong MP last week joined her Greens colleague Senator Mehreen Faruqi on the picket line at the University of Sydney in solidarity with staff and NTEU members striking for secure jobs and improved work conditions. The strike marked the fourth time NTEU members at the university have taken industrial action since May this year. Dr Nick Riemer, President of USyd's NTEU branch, described the strike as "the biggest yet". Staff are calling for a pay rise above inflation, an end to casualisation, improved job security, increased protections against overwork, and preservation of academic staff's right to conduct research. Jenny supports all of these demands and condemns recent decisions by USyd management that have cut staff wages, worsened their work conditions, and harmed the quality of education students receive -- all while the university continues to reap massive profits. The Greens will always support the right to strike and stand in solidarity with USyd staff walking off the job for job security, respect at work, workload protections, and in defence of high quality higher education.

The Legislative Council's Transport Committee today handed down its long-awaited report on the State's acquisition of land in relation to major transport projects. The Committee has found that NSW residents have been on the receiving end of a systemic process of undervaluation, bad faith negotiations and time delays by government acquiring authorities, in service of the government’s intensive transport infrastructure pipeline.