Illawarra Labor MPs have today requested an urgent briefing from the Minister for Corrections, David Elliott MP, following a proposal to build a new corrections facility at Kembla Grange.

The 72 step struggle at Unanderra Station will end if a Labor Government is elected in 12 months.

Member for Wollongong, Paul Scully, has told the Treasurer to stop ignoring Wollongong – the third largest city in New South Wales – and to start investing in the infrastructure the city needs to build on its strengths in a pre-budget submission.

For the first time in five years, overall NSW smoking rates have increased – but the Illawarra-Shoalhaven local health district is improving, bucking the trend with the second lowest smoking rate in the State.

The Queensland Government has announced it will impose a ban on single-use plastic bags from 1 July 2018 leaving New South Wales the only remaining state not to take any action.

Premier Gladys Bereijiklian has been unable to point to one single benefit from her Government’s plans to spend $2.5 billion knocking over and rebuilding Sydney stadia in an answer to a question on notice from Member for Wollongong, Paul Scully.

State Labor has congratulated Illawarra families for their unwavering support for vaccinations – with the region reporting fewer baby whooping cough cases than Sydney, Newcastle and the North Coast. However, State Labor stressed that the community must remain vigilant as we gear up for winter.

Member for Wollongong Paul Scully told Parliament last night that the Illawarra was tired of playing a “game of funding hokey-pokey” with the Berejiklian Government over whether the region is classified as ‘regional’ and that a consistent definition must be adopted.

Independent Bureau of Health figures for the October-December quarter released today continue to show that Wollongong Hospital is under significant pressure with some patients waiting more than 400 days for elective surgery procedures.

Member for Wollongong Paul Scully has taken aim at a $24 million train ‘customer experience’ survey, the funds for which he says should have instead be used to scrap the 72 steps at Unanderra Station.