Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton pictured with the family of the late Cedric Bede Poole and Raymond Victor Abrahams in Moree – Kat Williams holding Jack Christopher Poole, Sue Poole, David Poole and Kathleen Downey.

Plan to fix agriculture

On National Agriculture Day last week, The Nationals pledged to fix 10 terrible Labor policies that are harming agriculture in the Parkes electorate.

National Ag Day is a timely reminder of the important role Australia’s agriculture industry plays in feeding and clothing the country and the world. We’re lucky to have the best farmers in the world right here in the Parkes electorate and I thank everyone involved in the industry for the incredible work they do every day.

However, our farmers are struggling as a direct result of Labor policies. As part of a future Coalition Government, The Nationals plan to:

• Reinstate the live sheep export trade
• Bring back the Agriculture Visa and fix Labor’s PALM scheme mess
• Stop Labor’s changes to the Murray-Darling Basin
• Introduce an import container levy
• Reverse cuts to regional infrastructure
• Stop the truckie tax and vehicle efficiency standard
• Create a mix of energy, rather than Labor’s all-renewables approach, which is destroying agricultural land
• Scrap harmful emissions profiles, or Scope 3
• Stop proposed taxes on superannuation, which will impact family farms
• Ensure the 88-day backpacker work visa remains in place for the agriculture sector.

Narrabri to Turrawan Line Upgrade complete

I was delighted to hear that the Australian Rail Track Corporation has completed the Narrabri to Turrawan Line Upgrade last week.

The 35-kilometre project involved the replacement of outdated steel and timber sleepers with heavy-duty concrete sleepers, upgrading existing rail and associated civil works.

Narrabri to Turrawan is an essential link along the rail network and this upgrade will support heavier train loads, allowing greater volumes of freight to be transported from North West NSW to the Port of Newcastle, reducing transport costs and taking more trucks off the road. It’s also an important link to the Inland Rail.

The completion of this project will be welcome news for farmers in North West NSW who are in the middle of one of the largest grain harvests.

This $44.7 million project was funded by the former Coalition Government, not the Albanese Government as touted by the Minister for Infrastructure Catherine King. It’s very frustrating to see the Labor Government claiming credit for projects like this, saying how important it will be for the Inland Rail when they’ve done nothing but hold up the Inland Rail project ever since coming into Government. For Senator Deb O’Neill to say it’s “another example of the Albanese Government delivering meaningful investments in rural and regional NSW” is a bit rich when our regions have been starved of investment under this Government.

Honouring local veterans

I was honoured to be able to present Saluting Their Service Certificates of Appreciation to the family of three World War II veterans from the Parkes electorate recently, coinciding with Remembrance Day.

Moree’s David Poole and his family were presented with certificates for David’s late father Cedric Bede Poole who served in the Australian Army Medical Corps and David’s late stepfather Raymond Victor Abrahams who was a Leading Aircraftman in the Royal Australian Air Force.

In Dubbo, I presented a certificate to Mark and Tom Gallagher for their late father and grandfather Patrick Augustine Gallagher who served in New Guinea in the Royal Australian Air Force Radar Unit.

Thank you to Cedric, Raymond and Patrick for their service and sacrifice. Even though they are no longer with us, these certificates will be a memento for their family to pass onto future generations to remember the role they played in World War II. For more information about Certificates of Appreciation and how to apply for one, visit: www.dva.gov.au/recognition/certificate-appreciation

Funding to improve mobile network resilience

Round 3 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program (MNHP) is currently open for applications to fund upgrades to improve the resilience of mobile network telecommunication infrastructure in areas impacted by or at risk of natural disasters.

This funding opportunity is particularly timely given the widespread power outages in the Far West recently after a storm hit the Transgrid powerlines, which impacted telecommunications.

Telstra and Optus were awarded funding to upgrade a number of sites in the Parkes electorate during the last round, so I’d hope that we also have some success in this latest round.

Up to $20 million is available to co-fund projects with mobile carriers and tower companies, however this round is split into two streams, with $10 million for projects in regional, remote and very remote Australia, and $10 million for projects in the peri-urban fringe. This means less money on offer for regional areas – yet another example of Labor taking from the regions to give to peri-urban areas close to major cities.

For more information about the MNHP visit: www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications-arts/phone/mobile-network-hardening-program