From my Desk

The eternal optimist in me would like to think that after years of drought, bushfires and COVID-19 we, as a society, may be given a break in 2021. But the realist in me suggests there will be issues that present themselves this year that will test us. Despite everything we have been through in recent years, everyone across our region has shown an incredible ability to roll with the punches and bounce back, which gives me a great feeling of hope and pride heading into the New Year. Every day we get one step closer to beating COVID-19, and from […]

When the clock ticked over to midnight and we said goodbye to 2019, little did we know that a year that featured the continuation of the worst drought in living memory and a black summer of bushfires could be outdone. The early part of 2020 featured not only the continuation of the fires, drought and dust storms, but it brought a new threat to our way of life – the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the incredible work of our fire services, rain helped to put out the fires and provide renewed hope across our region by filling rivers and dams,

We find ourselves once again in uncertain times with the COVID-19 outbreak in the Sydney’s Northern Beaches region. With Christmas fast approaching, it is just as important as ever for all of us to keep up-to-date with the situation at https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19 and follow the health advice. It’s also vital that people continue to practice good hand hygiene and physical distancing, stay home if sick, and get tested. We lost Easter to this pandemic – we don’t want to lose Christmas as well. *** I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the Year 12 students in our region

The NSW Government’s Community Building Partnerships is a program designed for groups that make our communities great places to live, and there’s no shortage of those in the Dubbo electorate! Some very deserving groups have secured funding in the latest round and I was thrilled to be able to deliver the news to some of them last week! The successful projects include: Enabling Orana Support Service to take its ‘Meals on the Main’ initiative on the road (literally!) to Wellington, Narromine and Trangie with $50,000 to purchase a food van; $18,235 for Wellington community radio station Binjang to create a

I was very proud that last week’s NSW Budget delivered so much funding for regional areas including the Dubbo Electorate! Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced funding for Dubbo Hospital, the Western Cancer Centre, Mudgee Hospital, Mitchell Highway overtaking lanes, the police training facility at Dubbo Airport, Mudgee arts and cultural precinct and much more! This builds on the funding already announced for 350 additional car parks at Dubbo Hospital, a drug rehabilitation facility in the Dubbo region and $22.8 million for a platypus refuge and wildlife hospital at Taronga Western Plains Zoo! The NSW Government is investing in the regions because

There was a NSW-first in Dubbo last week as the Regional Rail Maintenance Facility became the first Transport maintenance centre in the state to be given an Indigenous name! ‘Mindyarra’ is a Wiradjuri word meaning ‘to fix or repair’, and was chosen to represent the work that will occur at the maintenance facility, as well as the work we are doing to create a future of healing with the Traditional Owners of the land on which the facility is located. It was also exciting to see the start of construction at the site on Friday with Regional Transport Minister Paul

Last week I was joined by Attorney-General Mark Speakman to announce the Dubbo Courthouse’s largest upgrade in more than a decade! A new, multi-purpose, state-of-the-art courtroom will include a dock for custodial matters and will be equipped with the latest audio visual link technology. The $3.6 million upgrade will increase the capacity of the complex – one of the busiest in inland NSW – and help meet the future needs of our community! Even more regional communities will benefit from the Australian and NSW Governments’ commitment to improve local roads and create local jobs, with Round 2 of the accelerated

In February 2019 I stood at Mudgee Public School alongside the Deputy Premier John Barilaro and committed to an upgrade of the toilets at the school if I was elected as the Member for the Dubbo electorate. Last week, I was able to announce that upgrades to the amenities in the infants section are complete and other works at the school are ongoing. I joined with new principal John Carters in making the announcement, and it was great to be able to formally welcome John to his new role and wish him luck for the future. The announcement came during

It has been another big week in the Dubbo electorate, with flying cars, rugby league and golf high on the agenda. The big announcement of the week came at Narromine, where I was joined by Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Mayor Craig Davies to announce AMSL Aero will use the town’s Aerodrome precinct as the manufacturing and testing base for its electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. It’s fantastic to see businesses expanding and bringing job opportunities to regional areas, especially given the drought and COVID-19 has had such an impact on our communities. ** Another great announcement was