Mr Hickey was among departing MPs to give valedictory speeches this week, as the parliament wound down ahead of the March state election.

The former milkman was elected in 1999 after serving on Cessnock City Council.

He was mineral resources minister for two years from 2003, then local government minister.

He was dropped from cabinet following the 2007 election, having admitted to a series of speeding offences the year before.

Yesterday, he cited achievements including money for main street improvements, pushing for the initial planning of the Hunter Expressway and advocating for better roads in Cessnock.

He expressed his frustration at having ‘‘fought the local council for the past 10 years’’ over the lack of progress with Kurri Kurri’s troubled Hunter Economic Zone, which he said had been central to his efforts to diversify the Cessnock economy.

He said the recent decision to stop an electricity contract between the Kurri Kurri and Delta Electricity from being signed was ‘‘probably the most disastrous thing this government could do’’ for Cessnock.

He questioned the government’s attempts to privatise the power industry and the operation of Cessnock Jail.

‘‘I’ve probably been one of the most vocal members around the place and I’ve got to say that privatisation to me for the sake of privatisation is not beneficial for communities,’’ he said.

‘‘Why privatise a monopoly and give it to someone to screw over the community?’’

Mr Hickey had planned to recontest his seat but announced in September he would retire, soon after it was revealed he had lied about having a baby with a parliamentary staffer.

The staffer’s former partner believed the baby girl was his until she was six months old.

‘‘To those flawed individuals who wished to condemn and chastise me, I’ve met a wonderful woman who has had my most lovely daughter and we intend to become husband and wife, so if

that’s such a terrible thing, so be it,’’ he said.