When the helium-driven investment bank Babcock & Brown collapsed into the arms of the administrator last Friday, the major political parties lowered their flags to half mast, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW Labor Government
GEO joins NSW privatised jail race
John Robertson is following in the former Treasurer’s footsteps by implementing the private management of jails in flagrant opposition to NSW Labor Party policy, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW spin doctors find another frog to save
Whenever there is a controversial development, the NSW Government spin doctors reach into their top drawer and produce a frog yarn, writes Alex Mitchell.
Ethics of NSW MPs — annual reports a joke
The annual reports of the Parliamentary Ethics Adviser of the NSW Parliament have been tabled and each report is typed on less than two pages of foolscap paper, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW MP caught in jail privatisation conflict
Can the Public Service Association “comrades” union expect tireless support from Paul McLeay, their former deputy general secretary? Asks Alex Mitchell.
Premier Rees’ latest recruits offer new hope
The cavalry has arrived to provide some relief for the besieged Nathan Rees Government in the form of Graham Wedderburn and Bob Leece, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW mafia stains Labor and Liberal alike
The overnight decision by the AFP to re-investigate donations to the Liberal Party by colourful characters with alleged Italian Mafia links is like an unguided Exocet missile.
Botany Bay car park doomed
The outrageous proposal by Rockdale City Council to build a 100-vehicle car park on the beachfront of Botany Bay has been scrapped, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW Planning Minister Keneally romperstomps
NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally has trampled over community objections in two major development approvals this week , writes Alex Mitchell.
Reward: Plum jobs for wrecking bureaucratic disaster
Three NSW government asylum seekers have fled the scene of the crime and been rewarded with salary packages worth more than $300,000 in Canberra, writes Alex Mitchell.
Cherie Burton MP, Part Three: From tireless to exhausted
While Cherie Burton may be hyper-active in the high streets and back streets of the electorate, her performance in parliament has been lamentable, writes Alex Mitchell.
Cherie Burton MP part two: Sussex to Macquarie St
Ms Burton’s entire career has been as a factional player in NSW ALP politics, writes Alex Mitchell.
Newcastle TV reader’s dazzling ministerial rise
The meteoric parliamentary career of Jodi McKay, the Labor MP for Newcastle, continues to amaze her caucus colleagues in Macquarie Street, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW, the premier state: for unemployment, dysfunction …
Yesterday’s news of a fall in retail sales in NSW in the September quarter points to the extraordinarily serious problems the NSW economy currently faces, writes Bernard Keane.
Meagher’s evidence blows Newman case wide open
Evidence from Reba Meagher casts a new light on the conviction of Phuong Ngo for the murder of NSW ALP MP John Newman writes Alex Mitchell.
Sydney’s Metro Line goes down the gurgler
The train standing on platform 1 is the Labor Government special service to electoral oblivion. It will be leaving at the state election in March 2011, writes Alex Mitchell.
Currawong Beach, Labor and the laps of developers
What a spectacle: the conservatives and arch-conservatives voting with the Greens to protect the Unions NSW-owned holiday venue from Labor-backed developers, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW Labor swears in Rt Hon “Robbo” MLC
For the first time in recent memory, the ALP’s Sussex Street machine seems to have chosen a parliamentarian of substance and ability, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW Libs give Premier Rees a glimmer of hope
Before the ALP coffin is rolled into the furnaces there is a tiny sliver of hope for Premier Nathan Rees – the NSW division of the Liberal Party, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW ALP: Thistlewaite to be general secretary
Thistlewaite’s background is in the trade union bureaucracy, not the ALP’s Sussex Street machine from where previous general secretaries have been recruited, writes Alex Mitchell.
Baseball bats ready at four NSW by-elections
Next Saturday’s four by-elections in NSW will show the electoral toxicity of the Labor Government, writes Alex Mitchell.
NSW power privatisation dead: any life in Iemma?
The utter failure of the power sale project can be sheeted home to two people – the Premier and his Treasurer, writes Alex Mitchell.
Richard Farmer’s political bite-sized meaty chunks
Give ‘em a serve Julia … The wise Aristotle … No solos in this government … Eat a whale, save the planet … The Daily Reality Check … The Pick of this Morning’s Political Coverage …
Manildra shells out $348,300 in ALP donations
There was a time when the ALP sent back a $50,000 cheque from the head of the Manildra Group of companies Dick Honan but times have apparently changed, writes Richard Farmer.
DPP takes over Tabcorp credit bet prosecution, then drops it
Nicholas Cowdery, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, has just made what could only be described as a bizarre decision. Mr Cowdery’s decision will be heartily welcomed by Tabcorp and the NSW Labor Government, but has devastated one Chris Fitzsimons.
Who’s Chris Fitzsimons? He’s the former Chatswood solicitor who wagered more than $10 million from 2002 to 2006, punting on horses while utilising a credit betting facility extended to him by the NSW TAB, writes Andrew W Scott.
