The resilience of Western NSW has well and truly been on show during the past few days, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro taking Community Cabinet out to Bourke, via Dubbo, Nevertire and Nyngan.
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On Sunday, I had the pleasure of joining the Premier and Deputy Premier at a meeting with representatives of councils from small western NSW towns, and the event was a huge success.
After the election in March, a huge emphasis was placed on listening to the needs of people in regional NSW and these events are a big step in the right direction.
The Dubbo electorate has been lucky enough to be visited by many of the Ministers, but to have the whole Cabinet in our part of the world, seeing and hearing about the issues confronting people in the bush, is a wonderful opportunity and hopefully it paves the way for more to be done for our region.
Seemingly, the power of a visit centred around drought wasn't lost on the weather gods and we received a welcome drop of rain on Sunday night, but it is important to recognise that while the rain was welcomed it does little to end the drought.
Buy from the bush
After the meeting with councils, I went to Trangie to do some shopping with the Premier and Deputy Premier.
We visited Ewe Two, where we put our money where our mouths are and did some shopping as part of the #buyfromthebush campaign.
The quality of goods on offer is tremendous, and I've been heartened to hear stories of how business has picked up for so many regional operators as a result of this campaign.
If you would like to have a look at some of the hidden gems of regional NSW shopping, visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/improving-nsw/regional-nsw/buy-regional-this-christmas/ for information on how you can help regional NSW this festive season.
Foster Carers
Earlier on Sunday, I joined with the Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward to host a special morning tea for Foster Carers in our region.
Due to the obvious sensitivities involved, there isn't a lot of publicity drawn to the work done by foster families but they perform one of the most crucial roles in society.
Caring for children who, for a variety of reasons, can't be looked after by their biological families is a special thing, and Sunday's morning tea was a small way for the NSW Government to say thanks to these real hidden gems.
Big News
We have a few big announcements coming up over the next few days and I look forward to speaking more about them in next week's column.
Cash payments to ease drought burden
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said farmers and contractors across his electorate can now apply to access one-off payments of $3,000 thanks to the Coalition Government's Drought Community Support Initiative (DCSI). For program guidelines and a full list of eligible Local Government Areas, see: www.business.gov.au/assistance/drought-community-support-initiative
Until next week, Dugald
