Police commissioner warns rail chaos could trigger NYE fireworks cancellation

The NSW government warns that major train delays on New Year’s Eve caused by industrial action risk causing deadly crowd crushes and anti-social behaviour among large numbers of revellers frustrated by disrupted services.

The safety claims are made in government filings with the Fair Work Commission as part of its urgent bid for orders to suspend or terminate the industrial action due to economic harm or public safety.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb says she is worried about the safety of revellers.Credit: Kate Geraghty

With unions insisting that work bans will remain, Police Commissioner Karen Webb also said she had “grave concerns” for Sydneysiders’ safety on New Year’s Eve and may recommend fireworks be cancelled if the industrial action continues.

Webb said she could not rule out calling off the event if the 250,000 people expected to visit the city can’t get home safely. “I haven’t ruled out that I will recommend to [the] government that we cancel the fireworks; it’s that serious,” she said.

“When it’s time to go home, and the fireworks are over, the job is to get them out safely and quickly, and if there’s no transport, we can’t do that, and I can’t guarantee safety.”

A day after the Federal Court threw out an interim injunction blocking industrial action, the government unsuccessfully sought on Friday an urgent hearing of Fair Work for the action to be suspended due to significant harm to large hoteliers and other businesses. That case will now be heard on Christmas Eve along with the government’s separate application for the action to be terminated or suspended on economic harm or public safety grounds.

RTBU NSW Secretary Toby Warnes says industrial action won’t cause a safety risk on New Year’s Eve.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Toby Warnes accused the government of “resorting to hysteria” and having public servants “come out and tell fibs about the effect” of industrial action. “The information that the police commissioner has in terms of the disruptions is not likely to be correct,” he said.

“The NSW government has resorted to scaring the people of NSW because it wants to pursue a particular industrial strategy and support its case in the Fair Work Commission, and has asked the police commissioner to come out and up the rhetoric about New Year’s Eve and cancelling fireworks.”

He walked back his comments early this week that the resumption of industrial action could halve train services on January 31. Instead, he insisted on Friday that the bans would have a limited effect on services, adding he had not considered that 40 per cent more staff would be working that night in his earlier remarks.

Warnes said he gave an undertaking that the industrial action would not result in “any form of safety risk” on New Year’s Eve.

While trains were still running on Friday, some services were delayed or cancelled across the network.

Transport authorities said the unpredictable nature of the union’s actions reduced service frequencies and added to journey times, service gaps, and last-minute cancellations. Nine trains, totalling around 80 trips, were cancelled by mid-afternoon on Friday and about 30 per cent of services were delayed.

The dispute caps off a turbulent year of industrial relations for the NSW government, which has navigated a series of disputes with public sector unions while also delivering significant pay rises to teachers, paramedics and police among others.

But Premier Chris Minns said on Friday that the government was “drawing a line” on the negotiations with the rail unions, saying giving into the union’s pay demands would encourage further industrial strife.

“We appreciate members right across the public service are finding it difficult to pay their mortgages and make ends meet, but there’s a limit to how much we can pay and [a pay deal] can’t come because of a threat to the millions of people that live in Sydney,” he said.

“We can’t be held hostage to a situation where people are unnecessarily interrupted in the run-up to one of the most important and busy periods of the entire year.”

Warnes said the RTBU had advised the government five weeks ago that it would not enact a ban on members working if trains did not operate 24 hours a day on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

However, he said all the other actions which total about 200 “are in play”, adding that a ban on signallers utilising a manual system was the one causing train delays.

Peak body Business NSW estimates cancelling the fireworks will cost the economy $98 million.

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she would request an urgent meeting with the premier if the police formally recommend cancelling fireworks.

“Our priority is maintaining public safety, and we will follow direction from police,” she said.

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