Regional NSW came out a winner during the Nationals Federal Conference.
The big ticket item was a pledge to shift $2 billion from an unwanted Sydney rail project to the much needed Pacific Highway upgrade. Much of the credit should go to Nationals MPs and candidates along the NSW coast who lobbied fiercely for the new policy. It is hard to imagine a Labor or Independent MP securing the transfer of $2 billion from the city to the regions.
A series of sensible and affordable policy motions were carried which if implemented by Government would make a real and positive difference to families and communities in New South Wales.
We supported Charles Sturt University’s plans for a rural medical school in Orange because we know that if young people study medicine in regional Australia they are far more likely to go on to practice there.
We asked for a full analysis from Biosecurity Australia on potato imports from New Zealand because diseases like Zebra Chip have ravaged crops over there and could devastate crops in Australia.
We demanded the abolition of the $150,000 parental income test for regional students applying for independent youth allowance, because if you are classified as independent of your parents then their income should not matter. It is just plain wrong that only 33 per cent of regional students attend tertiary education compared to 55 per cent in metropolitan areas.
Finally we elected former NSW Nationals Chairman Christine Ferguson of Gundagai as our new Federal President.
All in all it was a good weekend for regional New South Wales.
Fiona Nash
Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate
