The big day has come and gone and while the Penrith Panthers might have taken the chocolates on Sunday against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the real winner was Dubbo!
Our city put on a great show for all the visitors from across NSW, and the vibe around the town for the past week has been electric! It was great to see ‘No Vacancy’ signs across Dubbo and even at places like Wellington, so great was the influx of people clamouring to see their team in action at Apex Oval for the first time.
As Chair of the NSW Government’s NRL Regional Taskforce, I’m a firm believer that bringing events like this to the bush is a win-win for the region, and the teams involved. No doubt both teams scored a host of new fans young and old, with Dubbo locals Matt Burton and Isaah Yeo putting on heart-warmingly outstanding performances in front of their home-town crowd. Burton in particular starred with three tries, an assist and three line breaks, and I was pleased to present him with a Man of the Match award with thanks to Taronga Western Plains Zoo.
While the end result probably wasn’t what the Bunnies would have wanted, you still couldn’t wipe the smiles off the faces of hundreds of young Souths fans as they met their heroes like Latrell Mitchell. Souths will be back in 2022, and hopefully for many years after that!
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Recently the NSW Government announced $50 million to help households, small businesses and farmers battle the mouse plague currently impacting our region.
That support includes free grain treatment for farmers, and last week it was great to reveal that two of those treatment sites would be in Dubbo and Mudgee!
The NSW Government has secured 5,000 locally-sourced litres of this mice-killing chemical. Now it is up to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to give us approval, once we get that we can start treating grain within days.
Primary producers will be able to have their grain treated with the mouse-killing chemical at the sites free of charge. This could then be used in combination with zinc phosphide to create multiple options for primary producers.
Certified Local Land Services staff will be able treat farmers’ grain with bromadiolone free of charge so they can build a mice-free fortress to protect their paddocks. When used in conjunction with in-field zinc phosphide baiting, landholders will have a multi-layered defence against the rodents.
There’ll be 20 grain treatment sites in total, including at Nyngan, Coonamble, Coonabarabran and Walgett, giving western region farmers as much access as possible to this necessary treatment.
Go to www.lls.nsw.gov.au/mice to register your interest.