New South Wales Labor Party leadership aspirant Chris Minns came to Dubbo on Sunday to convince branch members he is the man to beat Gladys Berejiklian at the next state election.
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If Mr Minns is successful in his bid to the lead the party, he says Labor will be just as focused on the bush as they will be on city seats.
"We will have a shadow minister for regional NSW that is focused on jobs," he said.
"The Labor Party was always competitive in regional seats because we were seen as the party of jobs, we know it is not an easy challenge, but we must bring jobs to regional and rural towns like Dubbo.
"We will show our commitment to the bush by bringing our entire shadow cabinet out to Dubbo. We want to meet with people who love the Labor Party and those who hate the Labor Party. Because the only chance we've got in regional NSW is to start making those connections and breaking down the cynicism about us that rural people hold."
Mr Minns said the Labor Party did a good job of convincing people to not vote for the National Party but did not do a good enough job of convincing rural voters to vote Labor.
"The Labor Party is a party of equality of opportunity," he said.
"A lot of people believe Labor is antagonistic to people succeeding and we are not.
"It is the whole reason we were are all involved; we want to lift people up and celebrate their success."
Mr Minns said Labor must have a jobs plan for the bush to be successful at the next election.
"Labor has not had a regional employment plan for 20 years, well nothing specific anyway, Labor did exceptionally well when we were the party of jobs.
"We are about to have the most disruptive decade in a century due to automation and changes to the workplace; the Labor Party is a party of empathy it is the only one that genuinely cares if people are thrown out of their jobs. We have a big part to play to make sure there is a transition to new jobs, new economic growth and new employment opportunities, whether it is in the regions or the city."
Mr Minns said Labor MPs must make one on one contact with rural voters.
"We can't do it via Twitter or Facebook, we have to front up," He said.
"We must present a new generation of labor leadership, that's the easiest way to show that Labor has changed.
"We need new faces advocating new ideas, we can't keep relying on the titanic achievements of Bob Hawke or Ben Chifley, they are big shoes to fill, but all of us have to try."