Catching up with local communities

By Mark Coulton, federal Member for Parkes

Last week it was great to spend some time on the road with The Nationals’ candidate for Parkes Jamie Chaffey.

In Coolah, we had discussions with people about the Central-West Orana REZ, which includes the Liverpool Range Wind Farm.

We also heard about some of the other big issues facing Coolah during visits to the Coolah Men’s Shed and Coolah District Development Group, which had received a $2000 Volunteer Grant to purchase a laptop for the Coolah Historical Society to digitise its archives.

We visited St Michael’s Primary School in Dunedoo to speak to the students about my role and inspect the new flags I’d recently sent the school after their old ones were damaged. We also stopped by the new mural in Dunedoo of local Paralympian Jamieson Leeson who is currently in Paris competing in the 2024 Paralympics in boccia. Best of luck to Jamieson over the coming days!

It was to great welcome 16 new citizens at Dubbo Regional Council’s citizenship ceremony on Friday, as well as meet with constituents about various issues.

These few days provided Jamie with a good taste of life on the road.

National Flag Day

This week marks 123 years since the Australian National Flag was first officially flown over the dome of the Exhibition Building in Melbourne – the ceremonial opening site of the first Parliament of Australia.

Australian National Flag Day was proclaimed in 1996 as a national day to celebrate the first time the flag was flown on September 3, 1901. It is an opportunity for individuals, community organisations, local authorities, businesses and schools to celebrate the anniversary of the Australian National Flag.

Our national flag is a symbol of great importance and unites us all in pride for our country. I encourage all in the Parkes electorate to acknowledge this special day on Tuesday, September 3.

Disaster funding announced

Last week I welcomed the announcement that nine Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the Parkes electorate will receive funding under Round Two of the Disaster Ready Fund Round.

The Disaster Ready Fund is a program designed to support disaster resilience and risk reduction, by funding projects that address the physical and social impacts of disasters on our communities.

A total of 27 projects were successful in NSW, totalling over $83 million. LGAs set to receive funding for one or more of the successful local projects include Bourke, Cobar, Dubbo Regional, Gunnedah, Lachlan, Moree Plains, Narrabri, Walgett and Warren.

All of NSW will also benefit from funding to create a Heatwave Hub, an Aboriginal Peoples Engagement Program and a pilot to study the safety of emergency shelters through a gendered lens.

Further information about the Disaster Ready Fund, including a full list of funded projects can be found at www.nema.gov.au/programs/disaster-ready-fund.