What promises has Chris Minns kept since his 2023 Bradfield Oration?

Premier Chris Minns made some bold promises and pledges at last year’s Bradfield Oration. Here’s where they are up to.

The Minns government still has no firm proposals to overhaul how emergency services are funded, a year since Premier Chris Minns announced that the Emergency Services Levy (ESL) tax on insurance would be scrapped.

While the government has passed legislation allowing the Treasurer to design a new model, bureaucrats are still working through more than 100 submissions made to a consultation paper released in March.

In his Bradfield oration last year, Mr Minns announced that he would scrap the ESL, which acts as a tax levied on top of insurance premiums.

The ESL funds NSW’s emergency services; under the current system, emergency services are only funded by people who have home insurance policies. As insurance becomes more expensive, people are becoming increasingly uninsured – meaning the ESL gets more expensive for those who are insured.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has now written to around 180 insurance companies, underwriters and brokers requesting modelling on how the ESL impacts insurance premiums.

The Emergency Services Levy is a tax on home insurance premiums that funds things like the Rural Fire Service. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Legislation has passed parliament to put an “insurance monitor” in charge of making sure premiums fall when the ESL is removed.

And, councils are now working to determine how 3.5 million parcels of land are used, to provide data on how to replace the levy.

The insurance industry, which has campaigned for the ESL to be scrapped, said the delay is justified in order to “get it right”.

Premier Chris Minns promised to scrap the Emergency Services Levy in his 2023 Bradfield Oration. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“Reform of this nature require broad support, and we encourage all members to work together to remove this inefficient tax for the benefit of NSW,” a spokeswoman said.

“This is an important reform and it’s vital that we get it right.”

The promise to scrap the ESL was among a number of announcements made by the Premier at last year’s Bradfield Oration.

He also promised to establish a league table ranking councils’ performance on lodging development applications. That league table has been running since July – currently, North Sydney is the slowest council when it comes to lodging DAs.

Mr Minns also declared that Sydney’s housing future would be shaped by a “pattern book” of approved terrace and unit block designs.

The scheme would put developers on a planning fast-track if they choose from a list of pre-approved designs.

Those five designs have been released today, with the public invited to have their say in a “people’s choice” vote to find the most popular terrace or apartment block.