"At the moment the spread in NSW is confined to northern NSW – the north coast and the rivers region – but if things don’t change they are gradually moving south and if we don’t solve this problem we can expect them to be in the Hunter sometime in the next decade or two."
Read More"We have to be frank and honest with people . . . I welcome the jobs and the income that the coal industry has delivered in our region and will continue for a couple more decades. I do welcome that. I’m not ashamed to come from a coal region. But we need to take a national approach to reducing emissions rather than piecemeal decisions around individual mines and that’s why it is important to take action to reduce emissions properly. That’s wh...
Read MoreI don’t think anything will change until we alter the system significantly and, quite frankly, ASIC, when they find a criminal breach, instead of their automatic response being to negotiate a settlement, they should be prosecuting banks and in fact laying criminal charges where it makes sense. And where someone has broken the law they should go to jail. That’s the only way bankers will learn.
Read MoreWe are at 48% female representation, something I'm exceedingly proud of, the Liberals around 20% and that goes to the culture of their organisation and the culture of bullying and intimidation that we saw on display last week where some blokes in the Dutton camp were clearly running around threatening preselections forcing people to sign petitions.
Read MorePAUL BEVAN: Pat Conroy, Thanks for joining us. PAT CONROY: Afternoon Paul. BEVAN: I can just hear you over the sounds in the background (plays recording of cork popping and celebrations). The party's underway? CONROY: No, sadly it isn't. It's just a gross embarrassment for the nation and the scenes today in Parliament when the Liberals adjourned the House early and we forced a vote on it... the Parliament had so much to do. Just to gi...
Read MoreCONROY: Well, we've been positive about the NEG. We recognise that we do need a framework that is bipartisan in nature. We can have disagreements about targets. As long as there is a bipartisan agreement about the framework, that will help reduce uncertainty in the energy sector and lead to greater investment that will over the long-term reduce power prices. But this Government keeps moving the goalposts, so it is hard to sign up to a NEG when...
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