New South Wales Labor will come under pressure to go further on gambling reform than a modest trial of the cashless gaming card, with several crossbench MPs prioritising the issue as part of their support for a minority government.
Labor’s chances of forming a majority government were fading rapidly on Wednesday, after the party fell short in two key knife-edge contests after Saturday’s election.
Five days after polls closed in the state, and with a new interim government sworn in to power, Labor still needs two additional seats to reach the 47 needed to govern in its own right.
The path to reaching that number has narrowed, with the ABC calling the seat of Kiama for the former Coalition minister turned independent Gareth Ward. Labor also failed to pick up the seat of Miranda, where the former Coalition minister Eleni Petinos is expected to hang on despite a shock swing of more than 12% against her.
But the party has not given up hopes of picking up the two extra seats needed for a majority. It still has the lead in the north-western Sydney seat of Ryde, where it is 235 votes ahead and is sweating on the split of the remaining postal and absentee votes.
It has a slim chance in two others – Terrigal on the central coast and Holsworthy in Sydney’s south-west. The Labor candidates trail by 237 and 526 votes in Terrigal and Holsworthy, respectively but the party is hoping remaining votes can narrow the margin.
There are likely to be 12 MPs on the crossbench (nine independents and three Greens).
While in theory Labor will probably need one or two votes to pass legislation, in practice it is likely to face a more formidable negotiation task.
The crossbench is expected to work together, with expectations that Labor will entertain its legislative ambitions rather than just engage in piecemeal horse-trading.
The three independents who served last term – Alex Greenwich, Joe McGirr and Greg Piper – have already said they will guarantee supply. But they and other independents hope to sit down for more detailed discussions about their priorities.
Greenwich said he acknowledged that Labor had won the right to form government but, like in the last term, the role of the crossbench would be to present legislation it considers important through private members’ bills as well as improving on legislation put forward by the government.
The Sydney MP was instrumental in legalising voluntary assisted dying and decriminalising abortion in the last parliament and has demonstrated that, even with majority government, independents can achieve outcomes.
There are some common themes among the independents: gambling reform, including advertising of betting services; reforms to the planning system to ensure consideration of climate change impacts; prohibitions on conversion practices and other LGBTQ+ issues; reforms to land clearing; expanding koala protections; and other environmental reforms.
On gambling, Greenwich said he would call on Minns to expand his cashless gaming trial beyond 500 machines.
“It may take longer than it would have under the Perrottet government, but I believe we will get there,” Greenwich said. “I am confident there will be a majority of members in the NSW parliament that will support it.”
Other independents – including Michael Regan, who won the northern beaches seat of Wakehurst, and Helen Dalton, who held Murray – also want reform to gambling advertising in NSW.
Dalton was targeted during the election campaign by ClubsNSW over her support of cashless gaming.
“I couldn’t get people to hand out for me in some places, even though they supported me, because [one of the] clubs threatened they would stop providing footy jerseys to the local team,” she said.
Television ads are a federal issue but other promotional material and placement of gaming machines is regulated by states.
Independents will also push for a climate impact statement to be included as part of the assessment for every new and expanded coal and gas project, and create a requirement for decision-makers to properly consider and work to minimise the climate impacts of all projects.
“We are in a race to decarbonise every aspect of society, yet the planning system is failing to act as a gatekeeper, locking the state into decades of massive dirty emissions,” Greenwich said.
“New coal and gas projects will only destroy the air, water, biodiversity, climate and now [the] food bowl.”
The flashpoint will probably be Santos’s Narrabri gas project.
The Greens’ spokesperson on climate change and the environment, Sue Higginson, said that while some approvals had been given, she did not agree with the environment minister, Penny Sharpe, that it was beyond being halted.
The Liberals’ clawback of seats in the latest counting could affect who becomes its leader.
Those seats are all held by moderate-faction MPs, paving the way for the former attorney general Mark Speakman to become the party’s next leader after Dominic Perrottet’s decision to stand down following the election.
Speakman, who is yet to announce whether he will run for the position, is the favourite to win against two potential challengers from the right in former ministers Anthony Roberts and Alister Henskens.
“It’s Speakman’s if he wants it,” one senior moderate said on Wednesday.
