NSW News Archives - Clover Hill Diaries - Join Me and Be the Change

Daily News Round Up – 23 May 2026

Very local, state, national and the wider world, in everyday language, for people who haven’t got all day.

From a Council meeting that could decide who runs Kiama, to a budget fight reshaping Canberra and the Iran war still at the petrol pump, here’s the local-to-global wrap for 23 May 2026.

Betty from Blacktown and her brother Kevin from Kiama, making sense of the world’s chaos the only sensible way: over toast, a strong cuppa, and a good long natter on the phone. That’s what this Catch Up is for.

Very Local: a special Council meeting you’ll want to know about

Council has called an Extraordinary Meeting for 5pm this Wednesday 27 May, and there’s only one item on the list. That alone tells you it’s BIG. It’s Council’s formal response to the Minister’s proposed changes to the Performance Improvement Order, the “lift your game” notice that’s been hanging over Kiama. Here are the bits that caught my attention.

The big stick is now named out loud. The order spells out what happens if Council doesn’t lift. First a Financial Controller could be parachuted in to take the wheel on the money. And if that’s not enough, the Minister can suspend the Council entirely and install an administrator. In plain terms, our elected councillors could be sent home and an appointee put in charge. That’s the shadow behind every budget decision being made right now.

The good news, said out loud by the Minister. It’s not all stick. The Minister has handed Council an extra year to balance the books, now out to 2027-28, and openly acknowledged Council has made real progress. Better still, he’s pushed back on Council’s own deeper cuts, saying he’s worried about what slashing services would do to the community. So the bloke holding the order is actually arguing for gentler cuts, not harder ones. Worth remembering next time someone says Sydney is out to gut us.

Your bins are safe. The order flatly bans Council from outsourcing domestic waste services. The Minister reckons the small saving wouldn’t be worth the long-term loss to the community. Council half-agrees but is quibbling over the wording, asking that “waste management” be narrowed to “waste collection,” because it doesn’t run its own tip and needs to keep using outside contractors to cart rubbish away.

Jobs versus services, the $7 million question. This is the guts of it. Council has to close a $7 million gap between what it earns and what it spends. The order says do the gentler stuff first, the efficiency savings, before reaching for the big staff cuts. Here’s the eye-opener from Council’s own response. There were two options on the table. The bigger-saving option, $2.7 million, would mean axing community services, winding back tourism, and cutting library and Leisure Centre hours. The other saves less, $1.8 million, but hits staff numbers harder. Council is effectively saying it would rather restructure its own back office than gut the services residents actually use. That’s the choice to watch.

The accounting fight that sounds dull but isn’t. Council has lobbed back a sharp point. It says the Office of Local Government measures its performance in a way that even the NSW Auditor-General disagrees with. Council reckons that if you measured every council in the state the Auditor-General’s way, around 90 of them, roughly seven in ten across NSW, would be running at a loss. The unspoken message: don’t single Kiama out as uniquely hopeless when most of the state is in the same boat.

And yes, the parks again. Remember our holiday parks question? It’s here in black and white. The order tells Council to review its “strategic assets and revenue opportunities,” and Blue Haven Terralong gets its own special mention, with Council ordered to prepare a business case on whether to keep it, lease it, partner it out, or sell it, partly because of unresolved fire safety problems. So the asset shake-up isn’t a rumour. It’s a written instruction from the Minister.

The bottom line: this one meeting is the whole story in miniature. A small council under real pressure, an extra year of breathing room, a Minister who actually wants the cuts softened, and a quiet but crucial choice brewing between trimming the back office and trimming the services we use. It’s livestreamed on the Council website if you want to watch.

Across NSW (State)

A grim run on the roads this week, worth a mention if only because it’s the sort of thing that makes you drive a bit more carefully. Three people died in a two-car crash at Sans Souci in Sydney’s south early this morning, and there’ve been separate fatal crashes out near Warialda and Mudgee in the past few days. A sobering stretch.

On the brighter side, Vivid Sydney is now in full swing, lighting up the city every night until 13 June. If you or the family fancy a night out, the light walk and the drone shows are free, which counts for a lot just now. Rug up. It’s proper winter.

Across the Country (Federal)

The politics is getting willing. The big national story is the scrap over Jim Chalmers’ budget and its tax changes, and it’s reshaping the whole landscape. One Nation has surged in the first poll since the budget, and the Coalition, now split after the Nationals walked out earlier in the year, is promising to hand money back to workers by tying tax rates to inflation. The Opposition under Angus Taylor is also floating cutting welfare for non-citizens, which has stirred plenty of anger. The short version for the kitchen table: tax and cost of living are the whole ballgame now, and the minor parties are the ones cashing in.

The same money squeeze, everywhere. Notice the thread. The fight in Canberra over budgets and tax is the exact same fight playing out at our Council, just with more zeros. Everyone from the Treasurer to our Mayor is wrestling the same problem: not enough coming in, too much going out.

Around the World (International)

The Iran war grinds on, and it’s still about your petrol. The ceasefire in the US and Israel’s war with Iran is holding, just, but more than 400 people have been killed since it came into effect in mid-April. The latest twist: Iran’s Supreme Leader has reportedly ordered that the country’s enriched uranium not be sent abroad, which is the sort of thing that keeps everyone nervous. The Strait of Hormuz disruption is still rippling through global fuel prices, which is why petrol stays dear here at home.

Russia and China cosy up further. Vladimir Putin has been in Beijing meeting Xi Jinping, the two of them talking up closer ties, just a day after Donald Trump left the same city. Meanwhile the war in Ukraine drags on, with reports Russia’s economy is starting to wobble under the strain.

The bottom line

It all joins up, Betty. A war on the other side of the planet keeps petrol dear, which feeds the cost-of-living squeeze that’s shaking up politics in Canberra, which is the very same money fight our little Council is having on Wednesday night, just closer to home and with our library hours and bins on the line. Everyone’s wrestling the same beast. Not a bad lot to talk over with Kevin and a cuppa.

Sources: Kiama Municipal Council agenda, NSW Police, SBS, Yahoo News Australia, Al Jazeera, Sydney Morning Herald, and others.

A note on Betty and Kevin: Betty grew up in Kiama before life took her to Blacktown. Her brother Kevin still lives in their old home town. Keeping up with what’s happening down the coast is partly nostalgia for the place she came from, but mostly it’s how she and Kevin fill those long phone calls she looks forward to all week. That’s what this Catch Up is really for. Not just the news, but the conversations it keeps alive.

Daily News Round Up – 22 May 2026

Very local, state, national and the wider world, in everyday language, for people who haven’t got all day.

From a fired-up Kiama Council saying no to amalgamation, to jobs slipping and the Iran war keeping petrol dear, here’s the local-to-global wrap for 22 May 2026.

Very Local: what our Council got up to this week

A busy night at the Kiama Council meeting on Tuesday 19 May. Here are the bits that caught my attention.

“No to amalgamation.” The big one. Councillors voted unanimously to reaffirm Kiama as a “strong, proud and independent council” and say a flat no to any merger. The clever part: they’re writing to the sitting member for Kiama and every declared candidate for the 2027 state election, asking each one to put their position on amalgamation in writing so it can be tabled in public. Everyone on the record before the next election. Watch this space.

Money is the cloud over everything. Behind the scenes sat a finance and governance improvement plan, a budget review, and a note about Council’s Performance Improvement Order, which is the state government’s “lift your game” notice hanging over Kiama. That pressure is the real reason the amalgamation fight matters. A small council is scrapping to prove it can stand on its own two feet.

Youth services under a question mark. The Mayor tabled a letter from federal MP Fiona Phillips flagging the possible closure of Council’s SENTRAL Youth Services. The Assistant Minister’s reply says headspace Kiama and others can pick up the slack. Reassuring on paper, but if you’ve got teenagers it’s a sign local youth services may be on the chopping block as budgets tighten.

More homes for Gerringong. Two greenlights worth noting: two residential flat buildings approved at 104 Belinda Street, and 48 Campbell Street set up as an “Urban Release Area,” which is planning-speak for land rezoned for new housing. Housing supply is the thread tying the whole region together right now.

A Jamberoo house off to the lawyers. A dwelling and farm shed on Minnamurra Lane got messy. Councillors split four-all and the item was carried on the chair’s casting vote, deferring it for legal advice first. It’s back in June. A tied vote tells you it’s genuinely contested.

Skate park families, take note. Council backed Option 3 for the Kiama Sports Complex. The promise to find a new and better skate park site got softened to simply relocating it “as per the revised plan.” Keep an eye on where it actually finds a home.

Looking after the locals with fur and roots. In-principle support for the “Save the Greater Glider” campaign and a possible expansion of Seven Mile Beach National Park, plus a long-term plan to tackle the asparagus weed choking the Werri Beach dunes.

The bottom line: it all comes back to money. The improvement order, the budget reviews, the stand against amalgamation, and the worry over youth services are really one story. A small council fighting to stay its own boss while the dollars get tighter. The homes, the gliders, the skate park are all happening on top of that.

Across NSW (State)

Cost of living is still the song that never ends. Sydney’s hung onto its title as the dearest city in the land, and the jobs picture just took a knock too (more on that under Federal). The one bit of breathing room remains rents, which after years of brutal rises have finally levelled off, though nobody’s exactly celebrating at the checkout.

And tonight the city goes a bit magic. Vivid Sydney switches on this evening and runs every night until 13 June, lights glowing from 6pm to 11pm. There’s a 6.5km walk of light displays from Circular Quay through The Rocks, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour, and the drone shows are back, though they’ve shuffled over to Cockle Bay this year. It’s free to wander and look, which is the main thing in a year when everything else costs the earth. Rug up if you go. It’s proper winter now.

Across the Country (Federal)

Jobs took a hit. Today’s big home-front number. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.5% in April, the worst it’s been since late 2021. About 33,000 more people found themselves out of work, and nearly 19,000 jobs actually disappeared over the month. It hit young people hardest (youth unemployment is now over 11%), and this month the losses landed mainly on women, who drove the whole fall in employment while the men’s rate held. This means work is getting harder to find, and that’s the kind of thing that worries a household before it ever worries a politician. Oddly, the share market had one of its best days in weeks on the very same day. A reminder that what’s good for the big end of town and what’s good for your kitchen table aren’t always the same story.

The Budget shake-up, still rumbling on. You’ll remember Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his big-swing Budget on 12 May. The headline change for ordinary folk: the government wants to limit negative gearing to new builds from July 2027, and change capital gains tax so it’s tied to inflation with a minimum tax on profits. If you already own an investment property, or had one under contract before 7:30pm on Budget night, you’re left alone. The idea is to give first-home buyers a fairer shot, and they reckon it could help around 75,000 people into a home over a decade. The Opposition’s dead against it.

And here’s where Michael West earns his cuppa. While the big mastheads chase the Budget headlines, the independents are digging where it’s uncomfortable. Two beauties this week from Michael West Media. First, a coal miner versus the Big Australian: BHP, a $300 billion giant, is taking Michael West Media itself to the Federal Court to try and shut down its reporting on an injured coal miner’s wage-theft case. They tried to rush through urgent orders to pull the stories down, and the court told them to wait their turn. The fact they’re being sued and still publishing the file number tells you what kind of outfit they are. Second, Cricket Australia is running an “independent review” into a $600,000 cloud-computing deal at the centre of “contracts-for-mates” allegations, but the whistleblower who raised the alarm has already been made redundant. Exactly the sort of follow-the-money stuff worth your support if you’ve got a spare dollar. Their whole model is “don’t pay so you can read it, pay so everyone can.”

Around the World (International)

The Iran war is still the one that reaches your petrol pump. The US-and-Israel war with Iran has been grinding on since late February, and a shaky ceasefire brokered by Pakistan keeps wobbling on and off. The latest worry is that US intelligence reckons Iran is rebuilding its military faster than expected and has already restarted making drones during the truce. Pakistan’s army chief has flown to Tehran to keep the talks limping along. The fighting keeps squeezing the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, which is exactly why fuel’s been dear the world over, and why so much of our Budget was built around cushioning petrol prices.

Outrage over the Gaza flotilla. This one’s moved fast. Aid activists who’d tried to sail to Gaza were intercepted by Israeli forces, and a video posted by a far-right Israeli minister, taunting them while they knelt bound on the ground, sparked a global firestorm. At least ten countries summoned Israeli ambassadors to explain themselves, Australia and New Zealand among them. As of today, Israel has now deported all the activists, sending them home via Turkey, after even Israel’s own PM called the minister’s behaviour out of line.

A nasty Ebola outbreak in Congo. The head of the World Health Organization has raised the alarm about a rare type of Ebola spreading quickly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One to keep half an eye on.

The bottom line

It all joins up, Betty. A war on the other side of the planet pushes up oil; oil pushes up the petrol in the car and the price of everything trucked to the shops; and that’s why the Budget was built around fuel relief while the jobs market softens at home. Closer in, our little Council is fighting the same fight in miniature, scrapping to stay independent while the dollars tighten. And through it all, the watchdogs like Michael West keep poking at the powerful so the rest of us can see where the money really goes. Not a bad day’s reading over one cup of tea.

Sources: Kiama Municipal Council minutes, Sydney Morning Herald, ABS, Michael West Media, Al Jazeera, The Conversation, CNN, CBC, and others.

Daily News Round Up – 21 May 2026

Very local, state, national and the wider world, in everyday language, for people who haven’t got all day.

Forget the media releases and the big-picture pitches. It’s what ordinary residents stood up and asked the Premier that tells you what’s really worrying this town. Overdevelopment, a highway land grab, and petrol prices that reach all the way down to Kiama.

Not much happening today. Just the way we like it. Betty’s on the crossword, Kevin’s resting his eyes, and the world can wait till after the toast. (Image by AI. Betty awarded it a gold star for the kookaburra and a firm “see me” for the spelling.)

Why I’m doing this

Like a lot of you, I don’t have hours to sit and trawl through the news. Between work, family and everything else that lands on the to-do list, keeping across what’s actually going on falls to the bottom of the pile. So I’ve started doing the digging for you.

I’ll post these whenever I get the time – no set schedule, no promises. When life gives me a window, I’ll do the rounds and put one up. But the idea stays the same every time: a quick, no-jargon round-up of the stuff that actually touches your week, pulled from the papers worth reading so you don’t have to.

Grab a cuppa. This won’t take five minutes.

Very Local: what our community actually asked the Premier

The big one this fortnight was the NSW Community Cabinet at The Pavilion on May 19. More than 300 of us turned up to put questions straight to Premier Chris Minns and most of his cabinet. You’ll have read the Council’s media release about the projects it pitched (Spring Creek, the Bombo Waste Treatment Plant, the Kiama Sports Complex). That’s all worthwhile, but it’s the big-picture stuff. Here’s what ordinary residents got up and asked, because that’s the part that tells you what’s really worrying people around here.

Overdevelopment and our town’s character. This was the question that opened the night and drew applause. Locals asked why Kiama, a heritage town, is being pushed to take so much high-density development when there’s approved land elsewhere. One resident put it bluntly: South Kiama Drive already has around 400 approved lots and Jamberoo around 1,000, so why are luxury apartments worth millions being proposed in the middle of town where ordinary families can’t afford them, while we lose car parks and town space? Minns said he respected the concern about “character,” talked up a meeting with the Mayor about opening up new housing to the north of town, and pitched what he called “density done well.” Make of that what you will.

The Princes Highway land grab. A resident said the government is acquiring far more land than needed for the highway upgrade – in their case about 2,000 square metres – leaving a service road just 10 metres from their son’s bedroom instead of over 100 metres away. They also slammed being given only 14 days to wade through a 1,000-page environmental document. The Premier admitted it was “deeply regrettable” but said you can’t build infrastructure without sometimes taking private land.

Parkinson’s nurses. Lesley Errington from Parkinson Support Kiama pushed for funding for Parkinson’s specialist nurses in country regions, arguing they save the public hospital system money. Health Minister Ryan Park wouldn’t pre-empt the budget but said they’re “looking at that very, very closely.”

The South Coast rail line. A union rep asked when we’ll get a firm commitment to upgrade and electrify the line. Minns acknowledged a decade of underinvestment in heavy rail while Sydney got new metros, pointed to an emergency repair package, and said any commitment needs a fairer share of federal infrastructure money.

EV charging. A local who started a transport business using an electric vehicle said there are no fast chargers in the Kiama area at all, forcing him to leave the LGA to recharge. Minns pointed to statewide funding and, tellingly, linked the push to “dramatic rises in petrol and diesel prices as a result of the Middle East.” (Hold that thought for the international section.)

Other questions covered youth crime prevention, Indigenous housing funding, food waste, and staffing and plastic waste at the new Shellharbour Hospital.

Read more: Was the Kiama boycott brave, or an own goal? See bottom of post

Across NSW (State)

The cost of living is still the headache that won’t quit. Sydney remains the dearest city in the country, with house prices tipped to push past $1.88 million this year. There’s one small mercy for renters, though. After years of relentless rises, things have finally steadied, with Sydney house rents holding around $780 a week, the longest calm spell in nearly a decade. Groceries, mind you, are still pinching everyone.

Housing supply is the theme tying the state together, and as the Community Cabinet showed, it’s landing hard right here on the South Coast.

Across the Country (Federal)

Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down a big-swing Federal Budget on May 12. The bits that matter for ordinary households:

Fuel relief. A $14.8 billion package to shore up fuel supplies and ease petrol prices, a direct response to trouble overseas (more on that in a tick).

Housing tax shake-up. The government wants to limit negative gearing to new builds from July 2027 and change capital gains tax, aiming to give first-home buyers a fairer shot. The Opposition is dead against it.

The tightrope. The Reserve Bank is so worried about inflation that Governor Michele Bullock has signalled she’d rather risk a recession than let it run loose. So Chalmers is walking a fine line between giving people relief and making prices worse.

Around the World (International)

The big one is a US and Israel war with Iran, which has been running for weeks now, and it’s a big reason your petrol’s gone up. This week Trump warned of fresh attacks within “two or three days” if there’s no deal, while Iran says it’ll widen the war if it’s hit again. Much of the fighting centres on the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, which is squeezing fuel prices the world over. That’s the same petrol pain our EV bloke raised at the Community Cabinet, so it really does reach all the way down to Kiama.

In Gaza, a fragile ceasefire is wobbling, and there’s been global outrage after several countries, including Italy, France, Canada and the Netherlands, summoned Israeli ambassadors over the treatment of captured aid-flotilla activists.

The bottom line: trouble in the Middle East pushes up oil, oil pushes up petrol and prices here, and that’s why so much of the Budget was built around it. It’s all connected, even from the South Coast.