I am pleased to announce that I have been re-elected as the Federal Member for Parkes following the election held on Saturday 2 July 2016. I am absolutely humbled that the people of the Parkes electorate have thrown their support behind me for a fourth time. I would like to thank the people of the…
Two significant election commitments were announced last week that are focused on improving rural and regional areas including communities across the Parkes electorate. Firstly, it was announced that a re-elected Coalition Government will re-focus its billion dollar National Stronger Regions Fund (NSRF) to be eligible only to regional, rural and remote Australia and be broadened…
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote that there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. It could be argued that there is in fact another certainty in life that we all experience every second of every day: ageing. Australia has an ever increasing ageing population and the people of the Parkes electorate are…
I was very pleased to have my colleague, Deputy Leader of the Nationals and Minister for Rural Health Fiona Nash, in Dubbo last week confirming that a re-elected Coalition Government will contribute $25 million towards construction of an integrated cancer centre for Western New South Wales (NSW), based at Dubbo Hospital. On another health issue,…
I was very pleased to be joined by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester and former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson in Narrabri last week where we reaffirmed the Coalition’s commitment to the Inland Rail project. I first spoke about the importance of the Inland…
I was very pleased to receive a call from the office of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce late last week advising me that we had successfully secured a pledge that a re-elected Coalition Government will contribute $25 million towards vital cancer services for the people of Western New South Wales (NSW). According to Cancer Council…
If you’ve been following the Federal election campaign, you’ve probably heard Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull referring to the Government’s national economic plan for jobs and growth. With last week’s announcement of a review of the non-permanent resident tax rate to backpackers, I found myself reflecting on not just the economic but also social issues that…
There has been a lot of talk about the nbn rollout of late with many questions being asked about who will be able to access what services and when. One service that is particularly relevant for many businesses and residents in the Federal electorate of Parkes is nbn’s Sky Muster satellite network which was officially…
On Sunday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that a double dissolution election will be held on Saturday, 2 July 2016. It has been a great honour to have represented the Federal electorate of Parkes for the last three parliamentary terms and I would be privileged to continue to represent the people of Western New South…
I was very concerned to hear of Labor’s announcement that they intend to introduce an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and use Commonwealth legislation to reinstate native vegetation laws and restrict land clearing if elected to Government at this year’s Federal election. Labor’s intention to introduce an ETS represents yet another new Labor tax on hardworking…