This week in Parliament
9th February 2024

This week in Parliament:
What a way to start 2024, with a visit from the Governor of Tokyo, Her Excellency Ms Yuriko Koike into Australia's oldest Parliament.
Governor Koike’s visit was in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the NSW-Tokyo Sister State Agreement which was first signed in 1984.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with Governor Koike and look forward to an excellent relationship with her and our sister state.
My own family including my wife Lyn and sons Chris and Jessie, granddaughters and their partners also visited Parliament. I believe the experience was one they will never forget, particularly after viewing a robust Question Time.
Legislative wise, the Government introduced a number of bills that will be debated in the upcoming sitting weeks including a bill to prohibit seabed petroleum and mineral mining and exploration in NSW coastal waters and another that will introduce a pathway for council demergers. This bill would provide a legal avenue to reverse some of the problematic forced council amalgamations implemented by the then Government in 2016.