Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton toured Maari Ma Health’s new Wilcannia Health and Wellbeing Centre, which will be officially opened this week. The former Federal Coalition Government provided funding for the construction of this new purpose-built facility.

Big week out west

I spent last week on a big road trip visiting many of my western communities, including Warren, Cobar, Wilcannia, Menindee, Broken Hill and Nyngan.

I caught up with each of the councils in these towns to discuss a range of local issues. I also met up with a number of constituents, community groups and various organisations.

One of the highlights of the week was my visit to Klondyke Range Complex – a military-grade testing facility located on approximately one million acres of uninhabited land about 130 kilometres north of Wilcannia. Able to accommodate a diverse range of testing and live firing capability, there’s no other testing range in Australia like it, making it a unique asset for the Parkes electorate.

Construction on Broken Hill’s new library begins

I was thrilled to join Broken Hill City Council Mayor Tom Kennedy and General Manager Jay Nankivell in Broken Hill last week for the turning of the first sod for the city’s new library development.

This project has been a long time coming and I’m proud to have helped secure $8.7 million under the former Coalition Government’s Building Better Regions Fund to go towards Broken Hill’s CBD revitalisation.

Having a modern library is a key part of attracting families to town.  A library is more than just books; it’s a meeting place, a cultural and educational centre and an important community facility, and this project will provide a wonderful asset that the people of Broken Hill will be able to enjoy for years to come.

I look forward to seeing the development come to life over the coming months.

Grants benefitting local community groups

Last week it was wonderful to catch up with a number of recipients of Round 8 of the former Coalition Government’s Stronger Communities Programme (SCP).

In Cobar, I met up with members of the Cobar Pony Club which received a $7,499 grant to purchase a new lawnmower. This has made it much easier for the local volunteers to keep the Pony Club grounds neat and tidy, for the safety of horses and riders.

The Cobar Roosters Rugby League Club was also awarded $11,500 to rebuild the ticket booth and refurbish the toilet block and change rooms. This has significantly improved the ground’s facilities making it much more welcoming for the hundreds of rugby league fans who attend home games throughout the football season.

Meanwhile, Menindee Charities Incorporated received $14,125 to replace the Op Shop’s old tile flooring with new heavy duty lino which is safer and easier to clean, as well as paint the walls so it now looks less like the butcher shop it once was and more like a welcoming store.

It’s these grants that allow groups like Menindee Charities to donate their profits to organisations that directly benefit locals, without having to dip into what little savings they have. In fact, while I was there, the volunteers donated $1,000 to Menindee Health Service for upgraded beds, which wouldn’t have been possible if they had to fund the store upgrades themselves.

More overseas workers to help fill job vacancies

I’m pleased that a new and expanded Orana Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) has been reached between the Federal Government and Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana.

The Orana DAMA enables employers to sponsor skilled overseas workers in specified industries in our region that are currently experiencing critical skill and labour shortages. Previously covering just the Orana region, the DAMA has been expanded to include the Central West, Murray, Riverina and Southern Inland regions – a further 41 Local Government Areas – which now covers more than 60 per cent of NSW. Businesses across this area will now also have access to overseas workers from 129 occupations, up from 65 previously.

This is very positive news for those businesses that are in desperate need of people to fill positions but were finding the original DAMA guidelines too specific to sponsor overseas workers. They’ll now have more flexibility to find potential employees from overseas to fill the skills shortage that we’re experiencing throughout regional NSW.

I have long been an advocate for the DAMA because I believe that our regional areas won’t reach their full potential while we’ve got positions vacant. One of the biggest issues currently facing our region is the labour shortage, with job vacancies across a range of different occupations, from hospitality and retail to trades and farmers, school teachers and medical professionals. I’m hopeful these changes will bring more workers to our region to fill these vacancies.