The latest polls point to an Illawarra-wide swing against Labor of 21% from a margin of error of about 2.2%. William Bowe introduces his New South Wales election guide, covering five electorates, from Heathcote to Kiama.
Kristina Keneally
NSW Labor bags NSW Labor
A NSW Labor MP locked in one of the state election’s closest contests has bagged his party’s record on planning, privatisation, climate change, and law and order.
The Media Monitors' Top 20: The Media Monitors’ Top 20
The Premiers feature heavily following the COAG meeting on health reform at the weekend, writes Media Monitors’ John Chalmers.
Battle for Balmain voters: white, rich, divorced gym goers
Not too long ago, being a Balmain Liberal would have led to a public stoning, but the conservative vote is rising, and they are now girding their loins for a real battle.
Fresh from the e drug scandal, Firth fronts the Balmain forum
Twenty-two retiring MPs can’t be wrong. Campaigning to be elected to NSW parliament as a Labor MP in 2011 is a bitch of a task. Crikey went to an MP forum in Balmain to see just how tough it will be for one embattled Labor member.
A People’s Parliament or a News Ltd experiment?
Political participation experts fear the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s much-hyped takeover of state parliament will be a media stunt rather than the “revolutionary new force in Australian democracy” promised by the paper.
NSW Labor members told to focus on federal arena, state conference
New South Wales Labor Party members have been told to zero in on federal election issues as the party prepares for a wipe-out in the lead-up to the March 26 poll.
Keneally’s hysterical pill flip-out another reason not to vote Labor in NSW
The thousands of New South Wales voters who swallowed an ecstasy tablet on the weekend will probably be shaking their heads in amused bewilderment at Kristina Keneally’s hysterical response to the partner of one of her ministers being collared by police for buying a single pill, writes Richard Farmer.
Keneally’s sell off backdown — embarrassing, but smart politics
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally’s decision to defer the sale of the second tranche of the state’s electricity assets may be an embarrassing backdown – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t smart politics.
Crikey Says: All the single ladies …
Women in politics — a series of headlines.
Essential: praise for Bligh, more criticism for Keneally, in flood crisis
Voters have praised Queensland Premier Anna Bligh for her stoic and at times emotional handling of the state’s flood disaster. But they’re lukewarm on Julia Gillard’s contribution to the crisis in a new opinion poll.
Keneally’s electricity sell-off a ‘short-term cash grab’
Explosive testimony at a parliamentary inquiry into the privatisation of NSW electricity assets has revealed that the original $5.3 billion profit promised by the Keneally Government was a gross over-estimate.
Summonses to eight over NSW electricity asset sell-off
Court summons will be issued this week in a bid to force the eight former directors who quit in protest over the privatisation of NSW electricity assets to appear before an upper house inquiry into the controversial sell off, writes Mathew Knott.
Crikey Says: Keneally turns off the lights
If voters can’t trust their government to give them the full story how can they trust them enough to vote them back into power? That’s the question that the Keneally government faces in light of the extraordinary events in NSW since parliament was prorogued in December.
Scramble to get NSW energy bosses to give evidence after sell-off
Opposition and cross-bench MPs are scrambling to convince the former NSW energy bosses to give evidence at next week’s inquiry into the controversial sell-off, writes freelance journalist Matthew Knott.
What is the NSW government hiding?
I really cannot imagine what the NSW Labor Government has to hide from an inquiry into its deal on electricity distribution sales that can be as damaging to its already sordid image as the bad publicity from trying to stop the inquiry, declares Richard Farmer.
Robbo’s rise a bit of a blur, but the NSW powerbroker stands ready to lead
Life’s just one big blur for John “Robbo” Robertson, the man most likely to be NSW’s next Opposition leader. But as NSW Labor hurtles towards oblivion, at least he is the one member of cabinet smiling all the way to the car crash, writes Candace Sutton.
Political snippets: Forget smaller classes, pay the teachers more
Having studied test results, the OECD reached the conclusion that school systems considered successful tend to prioritise teachers’ pay over smaller classes.
Morgan poll: Coalition ahead in NSW
A Morgan phone poll in NSW state politics has Labor on 22 per cent of the primary vote, the Coalition on 53 per cent and the Greens on 13.5 per cent, with the Coalition’s two-party lead at 65-35, reports William Bowe.
Electricity privatisation: Keneally piloting death star that is Labor
NSW Labor is a death star and the Premier’s final undoing will be the reactor at its core — the state’s electricity privatisation plan, writes Candace Sutton.
Victorians heed the NSW and Qld experience, reject a fourth-term govt
Rather than let the rot set in as it did in NSW and Queensland, Victorian voters have opted for a continuation of the same sort of government under new leadership.
