What an amazing week it has been for the Dubbo electorate, particularly in the area of sport.
After taking in the sights and sounds of the annual Gulgong Show, I ventured to Mudgee where I joined Deputy Premier John Barilaro in Mudgee to watch the annual Charity Shield contest between South Sydney and St George-Illawarra.
A massive crowd flocked into the Glen Willow Stadium for the match, and while I may be a devoted Manly supporter I have to admit I was impressed by the Rabbitohs, who scored a 26-12 victory.
Just recently I announced $10 million in funding from the NSW Government to facilitate the completion of Stage 2 of the Glen Willow expansion, which will allow a number of sports to be played out of the precinct.
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On Sunday I was proud to join the Deputy Premier at the presentation of the NSW Womens Open golf tournament held at Dubbo Golf Club.
Announcing that the tournament would be played in our part of the world was one of the first jobs I undertook when I was preselected as the Nationals candidate in August of 2018, so to see the tournament roll around was amazing.
The NSW Government were terrific supporters of the event, with $1.3 million worth of funding provided to install irrigation for the course and a lift for the clubhouse in the lead-up, while Destination NSW provided marketing support.
A total of 156 players from more than 30 countries competed in the event, and after 72 holes it was Julia Engstrom from Sweden who was victorious with a score of 14 under.
Well done also to our own Ella Murray, who had an amazing chance to compete in her first professional event at the age of just 14.
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Last week the NSW Government released the report into the Special Commission of Inquiry into the drug “Ice”.
There were 109 recommendations made as part of the report, and Recommendation 14 relates to drug courts and suggests that “the NSW Government expand and adequately resource the Drug Court of NSW to meet demand at existing locations and to progressively expand the Court to priority regional areas, together with appropriate support for local services”.
It is also noted in the report that the “NSW Drug Court has been evaluated and consistently found to reduce significantly the risk of recidivism among drug-related offenders and to be more cost-effective than prison”.
Given that recommendation and the comments associated with it, and the fact I have always said I would advocate based on the outcome of the report, I spoke with the Treasurer Dominic Perrottet last Thursday and asked him to include whatever funding is required to bring a drug court to our region in the budget.
Until next week, Dugald