After a tumultuous week in politics involving the resignation of Premier Barry O’Farrell, the appointment of Mike Baird as the new premier and a front bench reshuffle, Mr Souris told The Hunter Valley News yesterday he was not in the new ministry but that this would give him more time to serve the Upper Hunter.

“I am not in the new ministry and after 26 years (23 of them on the front bench and a Minister of three Cabinets under the Greiner, Fahey and O’Farrell leadership , I have had a good innings,” Mr Souris said.

“The best side is that juggling the demands of ministerial office and electorate commitments has become a whole lot easier and I will be able to devote my entire efforts on the Electorate that has supported me all those years.

“I am going to be even more determined to ensure our fair share of Budgets and proceeds from the various funds that exist and I look forward to concentrating myself on the Electorate without all those conflicts, especially of time,” Mr Souris said.

Commenting on Mr O’Farrell’s departure, Mr Souris said  his treatment is not matched with his lapse  but ‘politics is an unforgiving creature’.

He also wished the new Premier Mike Baird, well.