Wintry blast to hit Sydney

PETER HANNAM A wintry blast is heading Sydney’s way that will knock temperatures 14 degrees below where they were last week, Weatherzone said.

Powerhouse Museum to clear staff

HEATH GILMORE The troubled Powerhouse Museum will be getting rid of nearly one-fifth of its staff under a major restructure of the cultural institution.

Wran farewelled by both sides of politics

Damien Murphy Neville Wran has been farewelled at the scene of some of his greatest triumphs, the Sydney Town Hall.

Anti-coal seam gas activists allowed to stay

SAFFRON HOWDEN Less than a week after a council vowed to shut down a large anti-coal seam gas protest camp, the activists have been told they can stay.

ICAC: Caputo gave cheques to Hartcher

MICHAELA WHITBOURN A Liberal Party official linked to Tony Abbott and Mike Baird has come under fire at a corruption inquiry over thousands of dollars in cheques he gave to former state energy minister Chris Hartcher.

WestConnex: buses will double in speed

JACOB SAULWICK Rest assured, frustrated Sydney bus commuters: your bus will somehow start travelling twice as fast in the next few years.

Welcome to Fight Club, Young Liberal style

Kate McClymont, Michaela Whitbourn They were Young Liberals on a covert mission, codenamed Black Ops. The dress code was black, the meeting time was 10pm, and it was BYO ladder.

$80 million gets washed out to sea

JULIE POWER Floods in Green Square, Zetland and Alexandria are to be prevented with a massive stormwater drain project.

Estephan jailed over McGurk murder

PAUL BIBBY The young Sydney man who drove the getaway car after the murder of businessman Michael McGurk and then concealed the crime from police has been sentenced to at least five years in jail.

Newcastle port sale adds to Libs' war chest

The NSW government will tip more than $1 billion into its infrastructure fund Restart NSW from the privatisation of the Port of Newcastle, giving it a pre-election spending war chest.

Tourism

Australia lures wealthy, adventurous tourists

Jamie Freed The Chinese tourist is wealthier and more independent than ever before - and Australia's most lucrative guest.

Labor MPs surprised as Faulkner calls time

Michael Gordon and Anna Patty Labor Party elder and reform campaigner John Faulkner will be replaced under the NSW ALP factions-controlled system of preselections that he has long criticised as undemocratic.

'Your worst nightmare': Baird to wrongdoers

SEAN NICHOLLS Mike Baird has delivered a stern warning to any government MPs found guilty of corrupt conduct during current hearings into illegal political donations: "I'm your worst nightmare."

Wordsmiths take to streets to push message

LEESHA MCKENNY Walter White, the central character from the hit television series Breaking Bad, might count among the few people to recognise the unique potential of a Sydney street-cleaning truck.

Surf mates vow to help protect marine areas

ANNA PATTY New state Environment Minister Rob Stokes shares a passion for the ocean with Premier Mike Baird and has vowed to enhance protection of marine areas during his tenure.

'Green-lighting hate speech': Robertson

ANNA PATTY NSW Opposition leader John Robertson has questioned the Federal Government's proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, saying they risk "green-lighting hate speech".

Cyclist fights for life after truck collision

EMMA PARTRIDGE A cyclist is in hospital after he was trapped under an Australia Post delivery truck for about an hour in St Peters.

Liberal fund-raising bodies in the firing line

Labor is calling on the Liberal Party to shut down its fund-raising body, the Millennium Forum, whose chairman Paul Nicolaou has resigned over allegations that it was used to solicit illegal donations.

New life breathed into rescued battery hens

ESTHER HAN Loulou made a dash for the golden patch, flopping down and stretching a sore leg and a wing. It was only the third day the hen had felt the warmth of the sun on her naked skin.

Hartcher laundered donations, ICAC told

Kate McClymont and Michaela Whitbourn Former NSW mining minister Chris Hartcher used his old law firm Hartcher Reid to “wash” $4000 in bank cheques that had been made out to the NSW Liberal Party.

Justin North: Becasse star to banned owner

Ben Butler, Rachel Browne He was once a star of Sydney’s restaurant scene, his flagship restaurant Becasse opening in the city centre with a $4 million, crystal and silk-clad fit-out.

Rich should pay for public schools: report

ALEXANDRA SMITH High-income families should pay to send their children to a public school, according to a new report.

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Poor priced out of Sydney's property market

RACHEL BROWNE A new study shows that less than 1 per cent of private rental properties in Sydney are affordable for minimum wage earners or welfare recipients.

Keneally resigns as basketball CEO

David Dale The former NSW premier has resigned as chief executive officer of Basketball Australia to spend more time with her teenage children.

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Liberals rejected public funding of elections

Sean Nicholls, State Political Editor The NSW Liberal Party argued strongly against full public funding of state election campaigns as recently as 2010.

Greiner has mastectomy after diagnosis

Jill Margo Former NSW premier Nick Greiner has undergone an extremely rare operation for a man, having his left breast removed after being diagnosed with cancer.

'Something stunk' about donation, ICAC told

An adviser to former energy minister Chris Hartcher urged a property developer not to declare a $5000 donation that was channelled into a secret Liberal Party slush fund, a corruption inquiry has heard.

Officer defends charges of groping colleagues

LOUISE HALL A NSW policeman will "vigorously defend" allegations that he indecently assaulted two junior female colleagues, groping their breasts and attempting to kiss one of them.

Public safety fears as food lab axed

ESTHER HAN The state’s only public food testing laboratory will close mid-year and its services put out to private tender, in a shift critics say will compromise public safety during food poisoning outbreaks.

Badgerys Creek airport: more train stations

LEESHA MCKENNY The Badgerys Creek plan is one station short, compared with those earmarked in the draft western Sydney employment lands strategy.