Raising the Barr

People living on Struggle Street In this past 2 weeks I have had the very good fortune to increase my awareness of the many many people across the Hunter Valley;…

NSW Budget – What you won’t hear the Government say As you read this column you will have spent the past 24-48 hours hearing many stories from the NSW Budget…

Emergency Services – Workers Compensation – and a 15% Fee Coming Your Way Late last year, literally the last day of Parliament, a new piece of Legislation was passed that…

Imagine Our Country Without Medicare? Last week, Bob Hawke passed away.  Reading the many tributes and lists of achievements I was reminded about the historic path of our wonderful scheme…

NSW Parliament Heads Back to Work On Tuesday of this week the new session of the 57th Parliament officially began. It is quite a series of tradition, pomp and ceremony…

Surprise Election Win Considering the Amount of Hate Out There Can I start my first column, post-election, by thanking the many people that voted to support my bid to serve…

Our Police are listening There is no doubt that our local area could use more Police.  This is, as always, an ongoing work in progress.  Certainly our crime rates, our…

My Position on Coal Last week there was some media attention suggesting that Hunter Members of Parliament, State and Federal, did not support the coal industry. It was an absurd…

The Political Spin of Elections Will Be Enough To Put You Into a Spin As someone who works and lives inside of the state political “bubble” I see all kinds…

A life of privilege is something we can all give to our kids For most of us, when we use the phrase “life of privilege” we immediately think of money…