Joel Fitzgibbon says he harbours no regrets about retiring from politics, even though Labor is leading the polls after almost nine years in opposition.
"None at all. You know when it's time," the 26-year Hunter MP told Election Diary. "I just turned 60. I've still got time to go and do some other things."
He said the government was in "serious trouble, but we're still months out from an election, and a week's a long time in politics".
The former defence minister said he would not be "overt" in Daniel Repacholi's Hunter campaign but would work behind the scenes.
"It's time for me to fade away a bit," he said.
He expects the election to be on May 7 or 14.
Fitzgibbon, who has fought a battle in Labor over climate policy, said the party's stance was now "moderate" and in line with the community, giving the Coalition less room to "weaponise" the issue than in the past.
Fitzgibbon and his father, Eric, have held the seat of Hunter for 13,587 days.
Popular destination
The hi-vis and hard hats were out again in Kurri Kurri this week as yet more Coalition cabinet ministers made the trek to the Hunter.
Barely a week after texting enthusiast Barnaby Joyce was in town to throw $5 million at Newcastle art lovers, Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley walked stride for stride with Snowy Hydro boss Paul Broad and Lib candidates Brooke Vitnell and Nell McGill across the post-apocalyptic landscape that is the site of the soon-to-be-built "Hunter Power Project".
When asked if the good people of Kurri wanted a 660-megawatt gas-fired power plant in their back yard, Ms Vitnell said they did and pointed out that the potholes in the town's main street were testament to years of Labor neglect.
(It's not clear to ED what the potholes have to do with the gas plant or the federal Opposition, but we are sure Kurri would welcome some TLC for its admittedly patchy roads.)
Political test
Media hacks were asked to provide proof of a negative RAT test before being allowed within the orbit of the luminaries at Kurri.
This was a first for ED and perhaps ironic given the scarcity of non-dodgy RATs in this neck of the woods.
For our part, the only available tests came courtesy of the comrades at "Building 4, No.1418 Moganshan Road, Gongshu District, Hangzhou, 310011 Zhejiang, P.R. China".
On later investigation, it turned out the manufacturer had not yet supplied evidence to the World Health Organisation that the tests could detect omicron, but troubled times call for ... etc.
Numbers game
Sliding seamlessly into NSW politics for a second, has the premier's mid-morning COVID update morphed into something else?
In a fine example for the state's manufacturing industry to follow, Mr Perrottet appears to have value-added by blending daily public health messages with spruiking the government at well chosen locales around Sydney.
With the no doubt busy chief health officer in tow, it was off to the Stone and Chalk start-up hub in York Street on Monday then underground at a Central Station construction site to deliver Tuesday's numbers.
The premier and Dr Jeremy McAnulty took in the new Metro West Hunter Street (no, not ours) Station on Wednesday before Dr Chant was on deck again for Thursday's gathering with NRL stars at the new Parra Stadium and Friday's outing to the Museum of Contemporary Art at The Rocks.
Omicron has buried the PM of late, but our Dom appears to be riding the wave.
Factual deficit
Clive Palmer continues to carpet-bomb Australian voters with election guff.
His most arresting contribution to the week's political discourse came on Monday, when he took out another front-page ad in the Newcastle Herald calling on Australia to "throw them out".
"Over 1 trillion dollars in debt but no new hospitals," the ad boomed in UAP's usual yellow and black palette.
It's hard to fathom where this pronouncement came from given, even in the Hunter, the new $470 million Maitland Hospital opened just three weeks ago and planning has started for a new John Hunter Hospital.
And, of course, hospitals are a state government responsibility anyway.
Reflecting on the ad, one uncharitable MP told ED he expected the NSW government to be accused at the next state election of failing to fund a defence force.
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