‘Not a party of protest’: Sloane brokers deal in first policy test

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has personally intervened to end the stalemate on workers’ compensation reforms, which will include freezing insurance premiums for 18 months, sparing businesses from big price rises.

In the first big policy win for the new leader, Sloane has brokered a deal with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, also managing to convince her shadow treasurer, Damien Tudehope, to shift his long-held opposition to one key element that has been part of the six-month stand-off.

The NSW Labor government had been pushing to have reforms to the state’s troubled workers’ compensation scheme finalised by the end of the year but failed after the changes were blocked in the upper house.

A major sticking point was the proposal to curtail injured workers’ access to the scheme, which Tudehope would not consider until Sloane’s intervention.

Tudehope was not present at a media event to announce the compromise on Thursday, despite being the Coalition’s spokesperson on workers’ compensation issues.

When asked if Tudehope would still be the opposition treasury spokesman by Christmas, Sloane said she was yet to work through the details of her new shadow cabinet. Her reshuffle is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

“I want Damien to continue to play a senior role in our team. I have not had discussions with the team about what that looks like yet,” she said.

Under Sloane’s deal, new legislation would see the state insurer icare freeze premiums at the current rate for 18 months while the Chief Psychiatrist finalises a report into how to better “determine psychological impairment” replacing the “whole of person impairment”, or WPI.

Sloane’s deal would see workers cut off from regular compensation payments after 3½ years (instead of 2½) unless they can prove a WPI of at least 25 per cent. The government had wanted that rate to be 31 per cent, which would have excluded a significant number of workers.

Mookhey has argued reforms are critical to address an increasingly unsustainable compensation scheme where a doubling of psychological injury claims has placed significant pressure on the system’s financial viability, resulting in rising premiums for businesses and charities.

Most psychologically injured workers cut off from support under the reforms would return to work, the treasurer said, but he also foreshadowed some would shift onto federal programs like the NDIS.

“That is the reason why there is a DSP [Disability Support Pension] and other forms of federal assistance and support. We are not expecting those numbers to be particularly high,” he said.

Asked how many injured workers would no longer access compensation under the reforms, Mookhey did not provide a figure, instead saying “we’ve provided multiple scenario analysis extensively to the parliament”.

“The government has been incredibly candid and incredibly transparent about how this scheme is going to be expected to work, but you’re right to say it is complex, and so we’re happy to provide as many scenario analyses we have,” he said.

Tudehope was subjected to a sustained attack by Business NSW over his opposition to the government’s reforms, later conceding the campaign had caused concern to his colleagues.

Business NSW chief executive Dan Hunter had pleaded with MPs to resolve the impasse to ensure businesses did not go into Christmas with the threat of increased premiums hanging over their heads. On Thursday, he praised the deal as a common-sense approach.

A senior Liberal MP, who was extensively briefed on the changes but not authorised to speak publicly before the announcement, said it was a new approach for the opposition.

“We have returned to core Liberal values – backing enterprise, small business and fiscal responsibility,” the MP said.

“Kellie managed to achieve even greater protections for workers than either the unions or independents could convince Mookhey to accept. It’s a win-win – great for business and good for workers.

“This is a new standard for how the opposition will engage. We won’t be another party of protest. There is a newfound seriousness about returning to government.”

After the government failed to reform the workers’ compensation scheme, Premier Chris Minns said efforts to limit workers’ compensation insurance premium rises were “over” and he attacked the Coalition as the “so-called party of small business”.

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