What a week, started off with a visit to Dubbo Christian School, the opening of the Clontarf Academy at Dubbo College Delroy, handed over a new fire truck for Gulgong and attended a highly successful community meeting in Mudgee, and that all occurred last Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a late night road trip back to Sydney on Monday night I was in Parliament for the rest of the week proudly representing the Dubbo electorate.
It was great to visit the Dubbo Christian School last Monday and I thank the principal Mr Warren Melville and all his staff and students for the kind invitation. After a warm welcome I was asked a number of questions about the Premiers Reading Challenge through to my current role as Member for Dubbo and Deputy Premier. I enjoy visiting schools across the electorate and as we approach the end of the year I plan on attending as many school presentation ceremonies as possible.
On Tuesday I spoke in the Parliament about the Mudgee Hospital redevelopment highlighting the importance of quality health facilities in regional communities and the Mid-Western area in particular. I mentioned in my speech that since coming to Government in 2011 the NSW Liberals & Nationals have bought a focus back to health, particular regional health that was basically non-existent for 16 years under Labor.
As a party, the NSW Nationals are listening to our rural and regional communities and are working on delivering results for them. I have said publically many times, my job as your local member is not to dictate to you, it is to listen, understand what you need in your community or what issue is important to you, then work hard to achieve these results with you.
BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL CARE FUNDING: Applications have opened for schools across the region to access funding to establish new out-of-school-hours care services (OSHC).
Delivering on a 2015 election commitment, the $20 million Before and After School Care Fund will help create up to 45,000 additional out-of-school-hours care places for primary school students across the state.
Primary schools from all sectors may apply for one-off grants of up to $20,000 to help with the cost of establishing these services in time for the start to the 2016 school year.
I encourage principals of primary schools that do not presently have before and after school care to consult with their communities to determine the level of demand for an OSHC service at their schools.
EFFORTS TO TACKLE RISING ROAD TOLL: NSW Police will be out in force across the region as part of Operation Saturation which is aimed at tackling the recent spike in the NSW road toll.
Sadly, as of last Thursday we have seen 229 people killed on our roads, 25 more than the same time last year. I am pleading with all road users to be more cautious.
Far too many lives are lost because of dangerous driving, speeding, drink-driving, not wearing seatbelts or talking and texting on your mobile phone.
The current statistics are concerning and are showing an upward trend. On average 15 lives have been lost every fortnight on our roads since the end of April.
I join with the NSW Police in pleading with the community to keep to the speed limit, don't drink and drive and get your hand off your mobile phone while behind the wheel.
I'm sure that your family wants to see you home safe and sound tonight.