O'Farrell set to bag generous pension

Despite his recent resignation, Barry O'Farrell will still enjoy a generous pension for many years. Source: AAP

BARRY O'Farrell, despite having his NSW premiership unceremoniously cut short, will still enjoy a generous taxpayer-funded pension for many years.

Mr O'Farrell, who resigned after giving misleading evidence to a corruption hearing about a $3000 gift of a bottle of wine, will collect a taxpayer-funded pension of more than $164,000 a year if he retires at the next election, Greens MP John Kaye says.

Mr O'Farrell will also have the choice of receiving a $1.6 million lump sum payout instead of the yearly payment.

Dr Kaye says it's unfair Mr O'Farrell will enjoy the generous payout after cutting public sector salaries.

"As premier, Mr O'Farrell froze wages for nurses, teachers and paramedics behind inflation, slashed workers compensation benefits and retrenched 15,000 public sector workers," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

"He will have a much more comfortable post-work life than injured workers and most of the rest of the population."

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Baird announces new-look NSW cabinet

NSW Premier Mike Baird says the decision to drop Greg Smith (pic) from his cabinet wasn't easy. Source: AAP

NSW Premier Mike Baird says his new-look cabinet balances experience and renewal.

The big winners are Andrew Constance, who replaces Mr Baird as treasurer, and Pru Goward, who becomes the new planning minister.

Brad Hazzard has been promoted from planning to Attorney-General, at the expense of Greg Smith.

Mr Baird said the new ministerial team balanced "experience, renewal and hunger".

The announcement came an hour after veteran north coast MP Don Page said he was retiring from politics.

Mr Baird confirmed the Nationals MP had been demoted from Local Government Minister and paid tribute to his service to the state.

Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner said he wouldn't be surprised if George Souris - another Nationals MP who has also been demoted - would also step away from parliament before the next election.

"It is a group that brings experience but just as importantly, it brings a hunger," Mr Baird told reporters of his new team.

"A hunger to make this great state even greater. A hunger to transform New South Wales."

He described Mr Smith as a "good man and a good friend", but stood by his decision to replace him as Attorney-General.

"I've had to weigh up what I think is the right team to take us forward, to provide a renewed focus on how we can turn this great state to an even greater state," he said.

"Part of that involves some difficult decisions ... but I strongly think that they were in the right long-term interests of this state."

The reshuffle also hands Gladys Berejiklian, who represents the Sydney electorate of Willoughby, the North Coast ministry, in addition to her transport portfolio.

Mr Baird, who is from the northern beaches electorate of Manly, replaces Mr O'Farrell as Minister for Western Sydney.

He said it was "entirely appropriate" he represented the west given the many infrastructure projects being built there.

"I'm going to be there a lot," the premier said.

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Wran could have been PM: Bob Carr

FORMER NSW premier Bob Carr says Neville Wran could have been prime minister if it wasn't for Bob Hawke.

Mr Wran died in Sydney on Sunday aged 87 after a long battle with dementia.

Mr Carr on Monday hailed his predecessor as one of Labor's greatest leaders, saying Mr Wran could have been prime minister but didn't want to contest Mr Hawke for the Labor leadership, preferring to remain premier.

"Neville might have beaten Bob Hawke for the federal Labor leadership, but I think he was very reluctant to give up running NSW," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"He relished the use of power in good causes, and you don't surrender that easily for the prospect of being marooned in opposition in Canberra."

Mr Carr, who surpassed Mr Wran's record for the longest continuous service as NSW premier, said working under him as a Cabinet minister had shaped his own approach to politics.

"To sit at a cabinet meeting and watch him at work, to have him interrogate you as a minister, was an education in how a crafty, alert, earthy, political mind was roaming over the landscape."

As premier, Mr Wran's greatest achievements included saving the rainforest in northern NSW and putting conservation on the political agenda, said Mr Carr.

The lowest point, however, was a Royal Commission in 1983, which examined allegations he tried to influence a magistrate over a misappropriation hearing against rugby league boss Kevin Humphreys.

Even though he was cleared, it hung over the Wran government.

"He was stung by that. He was hurt by it. He was like a wounded lion in the parliament - but still magnificent," said Mr Carr.

He said Mr Wran was generally non-abrasive, but also someone who wasn't afraid to say what he thought.

"I remember his cheeky humour, and sometimes his foul mouth, especially when he was pulling a minister into line," recalled Mr Carr.

He described the former premier's battle with dementia as a blow to Mr Wran's renowned intellect.

"He was aware it was happening to him, which is very sad. He told a friend that he felt it close on him like a cloud."

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Direct Action is a waste of money: Palmer

FEDERAL MP Clive Palmer has strongly indicated his party won't support the Abbott government's climate change direct action plan, labelling it a "token gesture" and a waste of money.

The Palmer United Party leader and mining magnate said the money allocated for the policy should be used for pensions, which could be under review in the May budget.

Mr Palmer said the rights of pensioners were more important and had greater priority than "a token gesture to addressing carbon issues".

"On one hand the government makes broken promises, yet on the other hand they commit to campaigns that waste money like direct action," Mr Palmer said in a statement on Monday.

"It would take some convincing for us to support a bill such as this."

This throws up a major hurdle for the government, which will need the support of PUP in the new Senate come July to repeal the carbon tax and get its alternative policy across the line.

Two PUP senators - Queensland's Glenn Lazarus and Tasmania's Jacqui Lambie - will make their political debut in the next Senate, with Dio Wang also expected to take a seat once the vote count in West Australia's by-election is finalised.

The government will need the votes of at least six crossbench senators to get its legislation passed.

Mr Palmer is an outspoken critic of the carbon tax, and has been pushing for its repeal to be made retrospective so payments made under the scheme can be refunded.

He abstained from voting on the repeal legislation in the lower house, which if passed by the Senate will save his resource companies millions of dollars a year.

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Huge crowd at Sydney zoo for royals' visit

EXCITEMENT is building at Sydney's Taronga Zoo for the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - and possibly baby Prince George - on Sunday afternoon.

Hundreds of royal fans are filing into the zoo at Mosman, eager to catch a glimpse of the royals, who are due at the entrance about 2.20pm.

At 1.30pm, the zoo put up the full house sign.

"Taronga Zoo is currently full and there will be no more admissions. Please check the website for updates. Thank you for your understanding," the zoo tweeted.

The duke and duchess, who attended an Easter church service at St Andrew's cathedral on Sunday morning, are due to be met by dignitaries outside the zoo, before taking a short tour of the facility.

They are expected to stop at the zoo's bilby enclosure - named after Prince George as part of the nation's gift following his birth.

They are also scheduled to feed tree kangaroos, walk past giraffes, enjoy a bird show, and take in the rhino conservation display.

Tracee Harley, 42, and her eight-year-old daughter Charlotte were lining up to get into the zoo.

"I'm coming to see baby George and the bilbies - that's what we're here for," Ms Harley told AAP.

"I'm really excited. Actually Kate's gorgeous, we can't wait to get a glimpse.

"With baby George it's a new generation of royals, so it's really exciting."

Charlotte Harley was wearing a rainbow wrist band she planned to give Kate.

"I'm really excited to see the baby bilby and George, and I want to know what Kate wears," she said.

Kate, 37, said she'd turned up to the zoo because she thought the duchess was a good role model for girls.

"She's made an impression in such a positive way, much like Diana," she said.

She described it as "a once in a lifetime opportunity" to see the royal couple.

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NSW premier flags hospital privatisation

NEW South Wales' new premier has flagged he will be looking to privatise the state's public hospitals as a way to "transform and improve health care".

Only days after taking the state's top job, Premier Mike Baird highlighted the role that the private sector already has in running NSW hospitals.

"These (services) extend anywhere from cleaning, to the public-private partnership to design, build, operate and maintain the new Northern Beaches Hospital," he said in a statement to AAP.

"My government will continue to look for ways to transform and improve health care."

The "key thing", he said, was that whatever the model the government pursued, public patients would be cared for as they are currently.

All they would notice was "enhanced services and facilities", he said.

But Opposition leader John Robertson said NSW families would lose out.

"Our hospitals are here to service the people of NSW, they are not here to be run as businesses," he told reporters.

Mr Robertson accused the new premier of being "out of touch", saying he was a "former merchant banker who lives on the northern beaches of Sydney".

"He just doesn't get what it is like to be a family that is struggling to make ends meet."

He said Mr Baird's "mode of operation" was to privatise the state's assets, including electricity poles and wires.

The Health Services Union (NSW) secretary Gerard Hayes said its members would campaign against the privatisation of hospitals.

"The private sector does not take this work on out of the goodness of its heart. It does so to make a dollar."

To turn a profit, he said they would either slash jobs and wages or offer inferior services.

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Call to identify unconscious jogger

CANBERRA Hospital is trying to identify an unconscious male jogger.

The man passed out on Carbeen Street in Rivett between 9am and 10am on Saturday.

ACT Health says he's aged in his late 30s to early 40s and is about 175 centimetres tall with a slender build.

He has dark brown hair, a trimmed beard and was wearing a Tuggeranong Soccer Club jumper and blue and silver shorts.

A small black and white terrier dog was with him.

The unknown man is being cared for at Canberra Hospital.

People who might know his identity should ask the man's family to contact the hospital on 6244 3300.

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