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 Wales for a further three years.

Obviously with the recent redistribution of Federal electorate boundaries things have changed and I am disappointed that at the election towns such as Wellington, Mudgee, Gulgong and Bingara will no longer be in the Parkes electorate.

But as they say, when one door closes another opens with the people of Gunnedah, Broken Hill and their surrounding areas moving into the Federal electorate of Parkes on election day. I will certainly be working hard over the next 8 weeks to visit these communities as well as the towns that remain in this electorate.

I am particularly interested in chatting to people right across Western NSW to hear their thoughts on the state of our economy which will be central to this year’s election campaign.

This election will be a choice: a choice between a Coalition Government which will continue to repair and build a strong, prosperous economy, or the return to a Labor Government with three years of chaos and unfunded promises.

During the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd chaos, the Labor party showed they were not capable of handling the budget over the 6 years they were in Government.

The Coalition Government has operated in a tough economic climate over the past three years but we have still managed to keep the nation going, encouraging growth in both regional and metropolitan centres.

I am committed to continue to work hard not just over the next 8 weeks but throughout the next term of government, travelling thousands of kilometres to meet with as many people in as many towns as I possibly can.

See you on the road!

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Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has very kindly agreed to visit Dubbo next week and I am pleased to be hosting a dinner with him on Thursday 19 May 2016.

The dinner will be held at the Dubbo RSL Club with Tony scheduled to give an address during the evening.

For more information about the dinner or to rsvp for the event, please contact Bruce Henderson on 0417 750 590 or email bruce.henderson@gmhendersons.com.

During his visit, Tony will also stop by the Dubbo Men’s Shed to chat with the guys there and see the amazing work that they do.

On Friday morning, Tony will train with students from the Clontarf academy and talk to the boys about how they are going.

I am very grateful to have Tony visiting this electorate. He is a great politician and a good friend of mine and I look forward to spending time with him during his visit.