Voters should remember the hardship the Liberal-National coalition has caused the Grafton region, opposition leader John Robertson told the state Labor conference on the weekend.
A Labor state government would reopen the prison, he added.
He called the premier and deputy premier ‘cowards’ over their failure to ‘front-up’ to the people of Grafton after announcing the almost complete closure of the jail with the loss of more than 100 jobs.
‘Very easy to make a decision and hide in Macquarie Street… it takes real courage, conviction and a real leader to front up and look people in the eye when you’ve just cut their heart out,’ he told ABC radio this morning.
The industrial relations issue will today open hearings into the employment ramifications of the prison’s downgrade.
