NSW lower house rejects watered-down laws

The NSW government has formally rejected opposition moves to water down tough sentencing laws for drunk and drug-affected offenders.

The coalition wants mandatory minimum jail terms to apply to six violent offences if they are committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But Labor, with the support of crossbench MPs, passed amendments in the legislative council on Wednesday night that would apply mandatory minimum sentences to just one "gross violence" offence.

The changes included a provision that would spare young attackers who can demonstrate "psychosocial immaturity" from mandatory minimum jail terms.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell slammed the amendments, which have been welcomed by legal experts, saying they gave young offenders a free pass and were not in line with community expectations.

"We don't want to see more young people in hospital fighting for their lives because they've been hit," he told parliament on Thursday.

"We don't want to see more talk."

The coalition-controlled lower house has now voted to send the bill straight back to the upper house - along with the message that the proposed amendments are "unworkable and entirely unnecessary".

Wednesday's amendments have the support of the NSW Bar Association, which says the judicial discretion they would allow is crucial.

"Although the creation of any minimum sentence offends legal principle and basic notions of fairness, the amendments at least provide the courts with some flexibility," president Phillip Boulten SC said.