Key issues motivating Tony Windsor

TONY WINDSOR'S BIGGEST BEEFS

* Against the Shenhua coal mine proposal for the Liverpool Plains: "An area with some of the best soil in the world, only bettered, in my view ... by the black soils of the Ukraine."

* Upset coalition government guttered Labor's Gonski school funding model: "For the government to attack Gonski, the needs-based funding arrangements, on one hand and then talk about innovation ... the two things just don't gel."

* Angry the national broadband network has moved to fibre-to-node: "What if we were able to keep aged people in their homes for one, two or three or five years longer because of the real-time connection with ... their doctor?"

* Wants more action on climate change: "How can you possibly develop a white paper looking at ... the future of agriculture without looking at the implications, the potential risks of climate change?"

* Called for more renewable energy investment to create jobs: "We've got a current member who thinks renewable energy is a bit of a joke."

* Laments the loss of a Defence contract for a flying college in the New England electorate: "Our guy (Barnaby Joyce) didn't fight (to keep it)."