$31 million in additional funding for veteran mental health The Nationals-Liberal Government will provide an additional $31 million to support veterans’ mental health as part of its response to the Senate Inquiry into veterans’ suicide. We best honour the diggers of 1917 by ensuring our veterans in 2017 receive the support they need and deserve.…
DetailsAged care beds and funding I am delighted to announce 60 new aged care beds and more than $3.8 million in funding for two aged care facilities in Dubbo and Coonabarabran. Coonabarabran’s Cooinda Nursing Home will receive $3,830,000, which will go towards a major refurbishment and an extension of facilities. I rang Cooinda’s General Manager,…
DetailsDelivering faster payments for small business The Nationals-Liberal Government will ensure small businesses providing goods and services to the Government will receive faster payments. The Government will now be required to pay invoices for contracts worth up to $1 million within 20 calendar days, an improvement from the current policy of 30 days. This will…
DetailsContinued Federal Government support for Merriman Shearing School There are many very worthwhile employment and mentoring programmes which operate in the electorate of Parkes that achieve great outcomes for Indigenous students and young people. Recently, I was fortunate to accompany the Minister for Indigenous Affairs Senator Nigel Scullion to witness the positive results of one…
DetailsSupporting Early Release of Superannuation Benefits on Compassionate Grounds The Nationals-Liberal Government has released for consultation the exposure draft regulations on the transfer of the early release of superannuation benefits on compassionate grounds to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). These regulations provide the necessary administrative changes to reflect the transfer of responsibility for early release…
DetailsThe Nationals-Liberal Government is committed to maintaining a strong social security safety net. The Government announced a significant package of welfare integrity measures which are being implemented from 2015-16 to 2019-20. The package consists of five measures which were included in the 2015-16 Budget, 2016-17 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook [MYEFO] and the 2016-17 MYEFO…
DetailsCalls for submissions to regional education review Members of the Electorate of Parkes community are invited to have their say in a landmark review into regional, rural and remote education initiated by the Nationals/Liberal Government. This marks an important milestone of the independent review with the release of a discussion paper and launch of an…
DetailsAll eyes were on Broken Hill with the NSW Nationals State Conference. As the Federal Member for Parkes I was delighted to welcome conference delegates as well as a number of high profile colleagues and visitors. From the Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Leader of The Nationals, Barnaby Joyce, Premier of NSW Gladys Berejiklian, NSW…
DetailsContinuing rollout of Local Drug Action Teams across Australia The Nationals-Liberal Government is continuing to take action to combat the scourge of ice and other illicit drugs with more Local Drug Action Teams set to rollout across Australia. Applications are now open for the third round of the Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) program, which…
DetailsNationals welcome Banking Royal Commission The Federal Nationals have welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a Royal Commission into banks and financial services. This comprehensive inquiry became necessary to restore trust and confidence in Australia’s banking and financial sector following years of concerns, particularly in rural and regional communities, about alleged misconduct and unethical behaviour…
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