Kirsty Needham

Kirsty Needham is State Politics Editor for the Sun-Herald.

Law on foetal rights 'will put many women at risk'

Kirsty Needham The medical care of more than 100 women a year in NSW could be put at risk if a controversial law giving personhood status to a foetus of 20 weeks is passed through Parliament, the Australian Medical...

Access to sperm donor data by children backed

Kirsty Needham Children of anonymous sperm donors should be allowed access to genetic information such as health history, height and eye colour, and an agency set up to quickly collect these records because they...

Push for help fighting bars, bottle shops

Kirsty Needham A community defender's office should be established under the liquor law so residents, schools and hospitals can fight a flood of unwanted bars and bottle shops, an alliance of medical and research...

Dodgers lose right to drive

Kirsty Needham Tens of thousands of interstate drivers who have refused to pay NSW fines will have their right to drive on the state's roads removed.

Laws on phone use while driving could get tougher

Kirsty Needham Drivers illegally texting or using mobile phones may be photographed by police, and their phones surrendered as evidence after a crash, under a NSW government plan to increase prosecution rates and...

Sex criminals' halfway house to shut

Kirsty Needham One in four released prisoners housed in the Community Offender Support Program - to be dismantled by the O'Farrell government next month - is a serious sex offender.

Job cuts blamed for outflows

Kirsty Needham Job cuts at Sydney Water are linked to increasing bypasses at wastewater treatment plants, resulting in partially treated water being released into waterways, NSW Labor says.

Push for rogue pubs and clubs to pay more

Kirsty Needham Pubs and clubs should pay more for liquor licences if they breach the Liquor Act, the NSW Attorney-General's Department has argued.

Park bill puts fear in residents

Kirsty Needham Tens of thousands of retirees opting to live in residential park villages along the NSW coast will be affected by a controversial new law changing the way the villages are run.

John Robertson called to explain Michael McGurk bribe reaction

Kirsty Needham The O'Farrell government has leapt on comments by NSW Opposition leader John Robertson that he rejected a $3 million bribe from murdered property developer Michael McGurk.

Aborigines get seat at development table

Kirsty Needham Aboriginal sacred sites and cultural practices will be protected by a new law requiring property developers, state planners and local councils to consult a register of Aboriginal heritage before any...

Enrol in less popular schools: minister

Josephine Tovey, Kirsty Needham Education Minister Adrian Piccoli has rejected claims of a school enrolment ''crisis'' in inner Sydney or that new schools are urgently needed, arguing families may have to travel longer distances to...

Temporary problem for equality agency

Kirsty Needham Almost half of those employed in the NSW government's gender equity agency, Women NSW, are temporary staff, despite such employment being recognised as a key obstacle in the gender pay gap.

School out of bounds for siblings

Kirsty Needham Siblings are being prevented from enrolling in the same school as their older brothers or sisters as the number of children in Sydney's inner city swells, squeezing classroom space and forcing public...

Residents to choose ALP candidates in Sydney seats

Kirsty Needham NSW Labor has named five seats where the community will choose the Labor candidate for the next state election, throwing open the decision-making to anyone living in the electorate, not just ALP...

Revamped Zoe's Law 'does not add' protection to women

Kirsty Needham The head of a domestic violence service says the bill won't provide extra protection.

Proposed amendment to Zoe's bill dismissed by critics

Kirsty Needham Doctors and women's groups have dismissed NSW Liberal MP Chris Spence's amendment of his controversial bill Zoes Law 2, saying it doesn't address their serious concerns about the impact changing the...

Prisoners back above 10,000

Kirsty Needham The NSW prison population has topped 10,000, rising this year for the first time since the O'Farrell government took office and prompting Labor to accuse Attorney-General Greg Smith of hypocrisy.

House-swap schemes 'good for tourism'

Kirsty Needham NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson has slammed Sydney councils for cracking down on home owners offering rooms to international guests through social websites, describing it as ''bureaucracy gone...