As a former Police Officer and now as Minister for Police it always brings back memories when I attend these events.

I congratulated the new recruits on graduating from the Police Academy and thanked them for their commitment to preventing and disrupting crime.

On a local level I pleased that four of our newest Police recruits will be stationed in the Orana region.

I know the qualifications our officers have completed at the academy, together with on-the-job training they will undertake at the Orana Local Area Command will ensure they are more than adequately prepared for the task ahead.

Policing can be an extremely challenging profession. Our officers encounter the best and the worst of humanity in the line of duty, so I’m very pleased that our community will benefit from the enthusiasm of the Officers starting their career on the beat.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals Government has undertaken to boost frontline police numbers across the State through the re-engineering process.

The men and women attesting today will bring the number of individuals who have become sworn NSW Police officers since 2011 to 4,163.

Every police graduation day gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary commitment and dedication of the men and women who have chosen a career in law enforcement.

Class 331 includes 226 recruits who have attested as Probationary Constables. These new recruits will commence on-the-job training on Monday and will continue distance education before graduating with an Associate Diploma in Policing Practice.

The NW Government is committed to boosting the authorised strength of the NSW Police Force to 16,795 over this term of Government.

The NSW Government is investing $1.3 billion in regional areas through six funds, Resources for Regions, the Regional Cultural Fund, the Stronger Country Communities Fund, the Regional Sports Infrastructure Fund, the Growing Local Economies fund and Connecting Country Communities.

The funds will enable regional communities to grow, draw in more investment and attract skilled workers.

The funded projects will be led by the community and applications are invited from Councils, regional organisations, industry and other community bodies.

I encourage anyone interested in learning more about these funds to attend the Dubbo Information session.

Monday, August 28 from 12pm - 1:30pm at Dubbo RSL Club. Cnr Brisbane and  Wingewarra Street, Dubbo. For more information about the Regional Growth Fund visit www.nsw.gov.au/regionalgrowth

Dubbo Regional Council received another boost on its way to becoming the true Capital of Western NSW with just under $28 Million in investments announced for sporting, tourism and emergency services infrastructure.

I have been working closely with the Administrator and Council to push for funds for projects that were deserving of support but missed out in being funded as part of the $10M.

The opportunity for our region to become an the economic powerhouse I predicted it could be is partly reliant on sporting, tourism and emergency services infrastructure. 

Successful projects Include: $8M Victoria Park re-development, $4.5M for Wellington Swimming Pool, $1.5M Upgrade/relocation of the NSW SES Dubbo Unit and $750K Upgrade/Relocation of the NSW VRA Unit to mention a few.

Until next week, Troy