Changes to Coalition Ministerial Arrangements Last week, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced changes to the Coalition Ministry that he will be recommending to His Excellency the Governor General. I take this opportunity to congratulate Greg Hunt who will become the Minister for Health and Minister for Sport. I also congratulate Ken Wyatt, who will become…
DetailsNatural disasters have hit the Parkes electorate on many occasions, but the recent bushfires in the Narrabri and Warrumbungle local government areas have been particularly devastating. Scorching temperatures across the electorate and other parts of New South Wales culminated in a number of fires breaking out across the State on Sunday 12th February. At Boggabri,…
DetailsNatural disasters have hit the Parkes electorate on many occasions, but the recent bushfires in the Narrabri and Warrumbungle local government areas have been particularly devastating. Scorching temperatures across the electorate and other parts of New South Wales culminated in a number of fires breaking out across the State on Sunday 12th February. At Boggabri,…
DetailsI would like to urge regional Australians to have their say on plans to decentralise more government offices and agencies to country Australia as part of The Nationals plan to boost job opportunities in the bush. With the launch of the new Get out of the City Campaign (getoutofthecity.com.au), which aims to drive submissions from…
DetailsAlready 800 submissions have been received for the new www.getoutofthecity.com.au campaign. The Senate inquiry was launched to put a stop to The Nationals’ plan of decentralisation. Regional Australians must tell city-based politicians why they need jobs and adding to the firepower from the bush is the Country Women’s Association calling for regional Australians to make…
DetailsNational Wastewater Drug Monitoring report to help flush out the crooks I welcome the release of the first National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program Report which will change the way our nation fights the scourge of ice. The Coalition Government provided the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) with a $3.6 million boost to detect ice hotspots,…
DetailsIt was an exciting time for the Parkes Electorate when the Assistant Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie visited Dubbo to announce a Regional Health Training Hub and a new University Department of Rural Health for Western NSW. Health and medical students will have greater opportunities to live, study and work in rural and regional Australia…
DetailsWhen I climbed off my tractor to stand for the seat of Parkes, the establishment of the Inland Rail from Melbourne to Brisbane was a key priority of mine. I spoke about it in my Maiden Speech in February 2008. Now with the allocation of $8.4 billion in the Federal Budget the completion date of…
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…
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,…
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