Andrew Gee
Calare · Independent · Australia
“She also plans to engage medical, nursing and allied health students, giving them a unique opportunity to assist local patients while gaining invaluable 'community credits' for their participation. This initiative proves once again that the spirit of community care is alive and well in Bathurst.”
“There just aren't as many providers in country areas, and participants and providers often have to travel long distances in order to meet and get those services delivered—and to help country Australians on the ground. So I will be supporting these amendments. I think they are very important for the modern Australia that we live in.”
“I wish to support the amendments moved by the member for Fowler. They are important amendments not only for the member for Fowler's electorate but for all electorates across this country.”
“I rise today to celebrate a wonderful new community initiative in the Central West, the official launch of the Friends of Bathurst Hospital. Hospitals can be daunting, confusing and stressful places for anyone to navigate.”
“I want to say a big thank you to outgoing Rotary Club of Bathurst Daybreak president, Craig Ronan, for his leadership over the past 12 months and offer my congratulations to incoming president Erik Mol.”
“Volunteer coordinator Sylvia Gore so beautifully put it: Our health service and its staff do such important work caring for our community every single day, and the Friends of Bathurst Hospital is an opportunity for people to support that work but also help look after one another too.”
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“He says: Whilst I am aware that the ACCC has threatened to investigate wholesalers and retailers, we cannot afford to wait for a potential investigation which will not see proceeds returned to the customers being hit. Regional NSW also does not have the luxury of relying on public transport infrastructure as a an alternate form of commute due to decades of federal and state government neglect of this issue. Jules Fotheringham writes: Of particular concern in regional communities like ours is the availability of diesel. Supply disruptions, cancelled shipments, and increased demand have led to shortages at service stations, with some areas experiencing difficulty accessing fuel altogether. This is deeply worrying given the reliance of regional economies on diesel for agriculture, transport, and essential services.”
“People really can't afford building now, let alone if pricing will increase again. Ric Ross from the Mudgee area believes that 'to not have adequate supplies is inconceivable in the current world economic climate and shows a lack of foresight and complete incompetence'. My former colleague the late Jim Molan would agree with that. He championed our country having greater fuel reserves, but, sadly, that fell on deaf ears. Edward Brown from my electorate has written in to point out the discrepancy between the price of crude oil and the price at the petrol pump. It is proof of the price gouging and the profiteering that is occurring. Josh from the Calare electorate indicates that the price increases are soaring, and they are increasing multiple times per day.”
“Our usage is generally around 900L a month, and climbing. When fuel hits $3 a litre this means our business will be consuming around $2,700 a month in fuel alone, that's $32,400 a year. This is not sustainable long term for us. Elise writes in and tells me about the school excursions which are being cut because of these skyrocketing fuel prices. Luke Knight from L-Con Building & Construction in Orange has written to me. He told me about the skyrocketing price increases from suppliers for the materials used to build our homes and factories. He says: Using PVC as a prime example, the rise will be basically equal to the entire covid and subsequent 4-year period combined. This is extraordinary. I am very alarmed by these increases. Let's hope it's not for long as any momentum with housing supply increase will be lost, just as we get traction.”
“They said: This latest crisis of fuel prices, coupled with the closure of Victoria Pass has brought us to our knees … … … … Without immediate relief, Bathurst Community Transport will have no choice but to reduce services to only those assessed as highest need—leaving thousands of clients in your electorate at risk of losing the transport that allows them to live independently. Alex runs a disability support business. He said: I, like many, am also feeling this at the hip pocket both from my business and my family. My business is a small, family run disability support company who prides itself on being able to get the members of our community out and about to much needed medical appointments and social engagement with friends and family. While our fuel use isn't as much as other businesses, it still hurts.”
“Everyone in the country knows it's happening, and it's got to stop. That's why my bill, the Fair Fuel Price Bill, is so important. But I want the House to be made aware of how much pain this issue is causing in our area. I received an email from Kristy, who is an assistant in nursing. She has to drive about 45 minutes to get to work. She's earning $26.61 an hour. She says: With current fuel prices, it is no longer financially viable for me to continue in my role. Despite working full-time, I have been forced to take on a second job just to survive. Even then, I am left with only $2.30 in my account this week after paying my mortgage. I am currently limiting myself to one meal a day so that my children can have three. That's one example. Bathurst Community Transport have contacted me.”
“When I was raising the issue of sky-high fuel prices in Mudgee with the Treasurer, he helpfully set up a meeting with the ACCC, and we met with them. But it didn't result in any action, because they don't have the ability to take it. All we've done is double penalties for price gouging, but we haven't actually given the ACCC more or better powers to prosecute petrol price fixes. Our communities are tired of there being all talk and no action, and we want decisive leadership on this. The ABC's Alan Kohler recently pointed out that Australian retail petrol prices have risen to levels higher than they were in 2022 even though global crude oil prices have not returned to these peaks. He points out that this discrepancy indicates that margins have expanded significantly. In other words, it's petrol price gouging. We know it's happening.”
“People in the bush have been putting up with sky-high fuel prices for many years. We've been campaigning on this in Mudgee for a long time. Prices in the main street of Mudgee are regularly 40c a litre more expensive than they are in other parts of the state. If you want to have a look at the current market, look no further than Yeoval. Today in Yeoval, the price for diesel is $3.479. These prices are not just high prices; they're like ransom notes to country people. We know that people in country communities have further distances to drive, so these skyrocketing fuel prices have a disproportionate effect on country people. I saw that the Treasurer is writing to the ACCC to ensure that this excise saving is not eaten up by price increases. It's just talk. We're sick of the talk; we need action.”
“Our communities expect that members of this place come in with constructive comment, constructive ideas and constructive legislation, and that is what I have done with this legislation. Sky-high prices are throttling our country, community members and businesses. Our farmers can't get the diesel they need to put their crops in the ground. As we are speaking, farmers in the Central West of New South Wales are meeting and talking about whether they should actually put a crop in the ground. That's where we are. If farmers aren't going to be putting crops in the ground, the food's not going to turn up on the supermarket shelves in the cities and this country will not eat. So this fuel crisis can very easily turn into a food security crisis. It's happening before our eyes.”
“It's smashing our local businesses and it's stinging everyone, from pensioners to families. So urgent action is required and leadership is required. That is why this fair fuel price bill, which I brought to this place, is so important. It will reintroduce fuel price controls of the type ushered in during the Second World War to Australia. In 1939, this parliament passed the National Security Act, which gave the federal government the power to set fuel prices for the duration of that conflict. It was aimed at preventing price gouging, and it was effective. The fair fuel price bill gives the government the power to set fuel prices for the duration of the current conflict in the Middle East.”
“They are happening and have been happening for a long time. We're no stranger to it in country New South Wales. We can't wait to act. The parliament is not going to sit again until May, so either we can do more now or we can watch prices continue to spiral towards $4 a litre. My fair fuel price bill would allow the Commonwealth government to temporarily regulate fuel prices during periods of extraordinary global disruptions, such as a war or similar crises. It would allow the minister, in consultation with the Treasurer, to set and control the price of unleaded petrol and also diesel. This bill demands to be heard urgently because our country is in the midst of this devastating crisis. Both country and city communities are being pummelled by these prices.”
“So this initiative on excise can't be the end of the story on fuel price relief; more is needed to complement what the government has put in place. The government has increased penalties for price gouging, but it hasn't made it any easier to prosecute price gouging offenders. You can count the number of successful price gouging prosecutions over the last 20 years on one hand. What the government has done is akin to doubling the jail time for theft but never actually finding very many people guilty of it. It sounds good, but it doesn't deliver the fuel price relief that our communities are demanding. The underwriting of fuel shipments to Australia is a good thing, and I support it, but it's still not going to stop the price gougers and the rip-offs. That is exactly why my fair fuel price bill is so essential—it stops the rip-offs.”
“City motorists might see some immediate relief, but regional Australia knows that it will take a lot longer before even a cent of that relief filters down to our local pumps. Residents in the Central West are concerned that there is no guarantee that this reduction will actually be passed on at all. Given the predatory patterns we have seen so far, we know that any relief may be short lived. In regional Australia, we are very concerned that potential savings could easily be eaten up by service stations, fuel retailers and petrol companies jacking up the prices yet again. We saw fuel prices jump before the effects of war had even started. Prices were rising on fuel that was already in the country. Since then, pump prices have been rising faster than crude oil prices, which means that price gouging has been occurring.”
“I support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026. The government has finally listened to the call of many on the crossbench, including me, to cut the fuel excise. Last week I introduced my fair fuel price bill into parliament. When I did so, I called on the government to slash the fuel tax. In fact, when I raised it in question time last week with the Prime Minister and I asked him to slash the excise, certain members in this place laughed. Well, they're not laughing now. The announcement that the fuel excise will be halved for three months is a welcome piece of news. It's a step in the right direction and it is what the crossbench had been calling for. This is what I had been calling for. So I appreciate the Prime Minister heeding the call. It's the right decision to make and it's the right call, but more is needed.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Our communities are being throttled by the twin crises of the fuel supply emergency and the indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway caused by the failure of a bridge built by a convict chain gang in 1832. Firstly, will you now support my Fair Fuel Price Bill, which would bring in federal government fuel-price controls and stop the rip-offs? Secondly, will your government slash the fuel excise tax? Thirdly, will you and the New South Wales government deliver a support package for our local businesses being smashed up by this highway closure?”
“Whether it's Margaret and Allan seeing business vanish by 90 per cent, Shannon struggling to pay his staff or Ken seeing his fuel costs double while his productivity halves, the message is the same: enough is enough. The Great Western Highway is not fit for purpose, and we are done with the broken promises and funding heists. Our community's demand of this government today: (1) an immediate fuel guarantee for farmers and transport operators in country communities; (2) an immediate slashing of the fuel excise tax until this crisis is over; and (3) a support package for businesses across the region hit by the closure of the Great Western Highway. We are sick of the empty words and broken promises. We want action, and we want it now.”
“One primary school principal from Lithgow wrote to me and said they are witnessing increasingly impatient and unsafe driver behaviour around the school, and their community feels they are being left exposed to unnecessary risk. And what about the kids from the Hartley Valley? Their commute, just to get to a classroom, has tripled. They are spending hours trapped in transit because a bridge built by a convict chain gang in the 1830s is apparently the best option that a 21st century government can muster. I've stood with Shannon in Erin's Outdoor Quality Power Centre and in the gardens of Margaret and Allan's Maple Springs Nursery. I've spoken with Ken Muldoon from Mully's Transport in Hartley. These aren't just impacted stakeholders. They are families watching their bank accounts bleed out.”
“It's in the failure of a bridge built by a convict chain gang in 1832 that serves as the main highway in and out of our region. The devastating indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass has turned our local communities into a high-stakes traffic experiment. In Lithgow the safety of our schoolchildren is being gambled with every single day that passes. We have thousands of huge heavy haulage vehicles diverted off the highway and funnelled directly through the heart of Lithgow. Parents and teachers are terrified, and rightly so. We are one tired driver or one mechanical failure away from tragedy.”
“The closure of the Great Western Highway and the crippling fuel supply emergency mean that the people of the Central West are being systematically strangled by twin crises and treated as second-class citizens. Right now the national food bowl is running on empty, and we are about to see a total collapse of the basics. There's an old saying that you reap what you sow, but what can you say to farmers who can't sow because they have empty diesel tanks? If this government can't guarantee the fuel required to put seeds in the ground, it forfeits its right to talk about the cost of living. Let's be clear. Farmers with empty fuel tanks will equal empty supermarket shelves. It's that simple. It's regional and remote areas that have been hit hardest with this national fuel crisis. But for our region the pain isn't just from the bowser.”
“Decisive action is needed to stop the gouging and deliver fair fuel prices to the Australian public. I urge all members of this House to come in now, support this bill and deliver urgent and badly needed price relief to the Australian public.”
“And we've hardly seen any successful prosecutions. That's the problem with the government's approach. We don't need a taskforce out there to tell us that price gouging is occurring. Ask anyone out there. You've heard the emails; you've heard from our constituents. Many members have come into this place and told stories of the pain and suffering that is being inflicted on families and pensioners and businesses because of these skyrocketing fuel prices. Well, we need some leadership, and this is the moment to take it. This bill should be used as part of a suite of measures to control these skyrocketing prices. Look, during COVID, the fuel excise was halved for six months. Why is the government not doing this again? Communities around our nation are at breaking point.”
“The government wants to increase penalties for price gouging, but I don't think that is going to do very much at all, with all due respect to the government, because there have only been a handful of successful prosecutions for petrol price gouging over the last 20 years. We have been fighting price gouging in the Mudgee area for a long time, and, when we raise it with the government, they say, 'Go and see the ACCC.' We have a meeting with the ACCC. They meet with us with good faith and with the best will in the world but nothing happens. We're sick of it. Our country communities are sick of it. They are being strangled by these sky-high prices, and we want some positive action, not just window-dressing. Increasing penalties for price gouging is going to do nothing if you can't actually prosecute them properly.”
“It's twice the cost because of fuel, twice the time because of the highway closure and half the profit, and he makes it very clear that it's just not sustainable. As I've said, if farmers can't get the diesel they need, the crops cannot be planted and, if the crops can't be planted, this nation does not eat; it's as simple as that. Many farmers have contacted me with examples of them placing orders for diesel for on-farm fuel, and their suppliers have just failed to turn up. It just doesn't arrive when they need it. We need to control these prices and the fuel supply for country Australia. The government's recent initiatives don't go far enough. The ACCC does not have sufficient power.”
“I have received an email by a parent in our electorate who reports that, with respect to schooling, this week they have been told that certain excursions will need to be curtailed because fuel is too expensive or hard to come by for the buses, and families are unable to cover the increasing cost of transport to excursion and sporting events, with household bills and interest rates continuing to rise. The correspondence goes on and on. The pain is real and it is being compounded because, in our part of the world, the Great Western Highway is closed. On the weekend I spoke to Ken Muldoon from Little Hartley. He runs a family haulage company and told me about the massive impacts that the skyrocketing fuel prices and the closure of the Great Western Highway are having on his business.”
“I am currently limiting myself to one meal a day so that my children can have three.' She's also completing her bachelor of nursing and says, 'The cost of fuel now threatens my ability to complete mandatory placements.' She says, 'The situation is unsustainable. Nurses are being pushed to the brink, and the consequences are being felt by the communities we serve.' You couldn't get a more pertinent testimony about how this price gouging is affecting country communities.”
“This fuel crisis is hitting our businesses, it's hitting our families, it's hitting our pensioners, it's hitting our country workforce, and, because country residents have further distances to travel, sky-high fuel prices have a disproportionately harsh and damaging effect on country communities. Here is just one example: Christie, a nurse who lives in the Canowindra area and works at Orange, says, 'The financial strain has become overwhelming. As an assistant in nursing earning $26.61 an hour, I commute an hour each way to work. With current fuel prices, it is no longer financially viable for me to continue in my role. Despite working full-time, I have been forced to take on a second job just to survive. Even then, I was left with only $2.30 in my account this week after paying my mortgage.”
“Subsection (3) provides a safeguard by requiring that the minister must be satisfied that fuel prices have increased due to a war or similar crisis before making a determination. This ensures that the power is only exercised in exceptional circumstances. Subsection (4) requires the minister—that is, the Treasurer—to consult with the Prime Minister prior to making a determination ensuring high level oversight. Subsection (5) requires that the minister must revoke a fuel price determination once satisfied that the relevant war or crisis has ended, ensuring that price controls are temporary.”
“The ABC's Alan Kohler recently pointed out that Australian retail petrol prices have risen to levels higher than in 2022, even though global crude oil prices have not returned to those peaks. He points out that this discrepancy indicates that retail margins have expanded significantly. In other words, it points to price gouging. This bill amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to introduce section 51 AG relating to fuel price determinations. Section 1 empowers the minister, being the Treasurer, to make a legislative instrument establishing price controls for unleaded petrol and/or diesel supplied in constitutional trade and commerce. Subsection (2) defines such an instrument as a fuel price determination.”
“Today apparently there are about 630 stations across the nation running out of fuel. People living in the bush have been putting up with the price gouging of country motorists for years, with enormous disparities between city and country fuel prices. The difference can be as high as 40c a litre. Mudgee has been a hot spot for years for price gouging. In Yeoval today, they're paying just over $3.30 for diesel. That's well above the city price. In Bathurst today, it's $3.20. This latest war in the Middle East has again brought the issue of price gouging into stark relief. The government needs a taskforce to tell it if there is price gouging occurring, but our communities do not. They're tired of all the talk and no action. We need decisive leadership.”
“It was aimed at preventing price gouging, and it was effective. This Fair Fuel Price Bill also gives the government the power to set fuel prices for the duration of the current conflict in the Middle East. Our communities are crying out for action, and they expect their leaders to be leading with tangible solutions, not just cheap talk. Sky-high prices are throttling our community members and businesses. Our farmers can't get the diesel they need to get their crops in the ground. When they can get diesel, they are paying through the nose for it. Without action, this fuel crisis could very quickly spiral into a food security price crisis. As of yesterday, 51 service stations across New South Wales had completely run out of fuel, while a further 164 sites had no diesel available.”
“It would allow the minister, in particular the Treasurer, to make fuel price determinations that impose price controls on unleaded petrol and/or diesel. It needs to be considered urgently, because our country is in the midst of a devastating fuel crisis. Both country and city communities are being pummelled by these skyrocketing prices. It's smashing our local businesses, and it's stinging everyone from families to pensioners. Urgent action is required. Leadership is required, and it is required now. The Fair Fuel Price Bill would reintroduce fuel price controls of the type ushered in during the Second World War to Australia. In 1939 this parliament passed the National Security Act, which gave the Australian government the power to set fuel prices for the duration of that conflict.”
“I move: That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring immediately: (1) the Member for Calare presenting a bill for an Act to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 , and for related purposes; (2) debate on the second reading of the bill proceeding immediately for a period of no longer than one hour; and (3) any questions required to complete passage of the bill then being put without delay. Today I introduce to this House the Fair Fuel Price Bill 2026. It is a bill which would allow the Commonwealth government to temporarily regulate fuel prices during periods of extraordinary global disruption, such as war or similar crises.”
“They're watching their customer traffic vanish, their bookings dry up and diversions destroy their livelihoods. From Lithgow to the Darling Causeway, the diversion roads are not built to carry the extra heavy traffic. It is a recipe for tragedy. The Great Western Highway is not fit for purpose. We are done with the bandaid solutions in the forever roadworks. We are done with waiting and being told to be resilient. Enough is enough. I call on the government to immediately guarantee country Australia's fuel supply and provide a support package for all the businesses affected by this infuriating and entirely foreseeable failure of a bridge built by a convict chain gang in the 1830s. (Time expired)”
“The people of the central west are being treated like second-class citizens, and we've had enough. Our region is in an unprecedented state of economic siege caused by a double failure of infrastructure and essential fuel supply that is threatening the food bowl of our nation and the survival of our businesses. Right now farmers are staring at empty diesel tanks, at the very time that seeds need to hit the soil. If this government cannot even secure the fuel needed to sow a crop, it's failed its most basic duty to the Australian people. Let me be clear: if our farmers cannot plant, this nation does not eat. But the pain doesn't end at the pump. The catastrophic indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass is also an absolute disaster. In the Hartley Valley and around our region, local businesses are being smashed.”
“Australia's farmers are the best in the world. Our prime agricultural land is a precious gift that must be protected. It defies belief that we continue to build houses, parking lots and industrial developments on it. If we don't act now, it will continue to disappear before our eyes. We as a country need to remember where our food comes from. It just doesn't automatically appear on supermarket shelves. Our nation's ability to feed itself comes from the great food baskets of country Australia and its prime agricultural land. It's also where the fibre comes from that makes the clothes we wear. I urge all members of this House to stand up for agriculture, to stand up for our nation's food security. We cannot squander this precious resource. I commend the bill to the House and cede the rest of my time to the member for Kennedy.”
“They have completely and abjectly failed to protect our vital and irreplaceable prime agricultural land. And let's not forget that it was the National Party which created renewable energy zones in New South Wales and which also passed laws to put wind farms into state forests and then abrogated its responsibility to properly regulate them. They've created chaos, pitting neighbour against neighbour, failing to ensure that there is genuine consultation between developers and communities and failing to properly protect the rights of neighbouring landholders. The failure has been epic. It's been of epic proportions. And there looks set to be a high political price to pay. Because of the opposition inaction and chaos, it falls to the crossbench to do the heavy lifting for Australia, and that is what this bill is all about.”
“Fresh from copying my bill and policy to ban the foreign buying of residential property for two years in the lead-up to the last election, and also plagiarising my gas reservation policy at the same time, the National Party are now trying to copy this bill as well, coming up with their own cheap imitation and knock-off. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but you cannot make this up. No original thinking—is it any wonder that people in the bush have lost faith in them? And the Farrer by-election awaits. They claim to be the protectors of agriculture, but in 12 years in New South Wales government and nine years in federal government they utterly failed to live up to one of their founding tenets and very reason for existence—not one piece of legislation.”
“How come nobody has ever stood up to protect our prime agricultural land?' The truth is that there has been a shocking failure of politicians at all levels of government to do their jobs—lazy local councils prepared to rubberstamp developments regardless of their impact on agriculture, lazy and derelict town and city planning and lazy state governments failing to pass planning laws to properly protect our prime agricultural land. At a federal level, the major parties have also been asleep at the wheel on this issue since the time of Federation. Where have the so-called guardians of the bush, the National Party, been on this? On 24 March 2025 I tabled this game-changing Protecting Australia's Prime Agricultural Land Bill in parliament. But once again the original thinkers, the plagiarists in the National Party were at work.”
“The bill also makes it a requirement that a person in possession of prime agricultural land that is being used in part for a purpose other than agriculture at the date of commencement of this act must not expand or extend that usage. The bill further requires that, if prime agricultural land is being used for a purpose other than agriculture as at the date of the commencement and such non-agricultural land use ceases, the prime agricultural land must once again be used for agriculture. Our prime agricultural land is under threat and it can't be taken for granted. The general public listening to this debate may well be asking: 'How has this been allowed to happen?”
“Our prime agricultural land should be preserved for agriculture. I shouldn't have to spell it out, but food security is a key part of national security. A nation which can't feed itself is a very vulnerable one. The Protecting Australia's Prime Agricultural Land Bill provides that, if a person, which includes a corporation, is in possession of prime agricultural land, the person must not use the land for a purpose other than agriculture or permit another person to use the land for a purpose other than agriculture. It also provides that, if a person purchases prime agricultural land, the person must ensure that the land is not used for a purpose other than agriculture.”
“Around our country residential developments and urban sprawl are encroaching on some of our finest agricultural land. This is the land that feeds and nourishes us, yet we're building houses and parking lots on top of it. It's wrong, and it must stop. It's not just residential developments that pose a threat to prime agricultural land. Across Australia, foreign corporations are rolling out renewables projects, some of which are on prime agricultural land. I'm not against renewable energy, but at some point our national interest has to be the paramount consideration. To be clear, we should not have foreign corporations or anyone else effectively deciding how our prime agricultural land is used. Our prime agricultural land should be off limits. Residential, mining and industrial developments need to go elsewhere.”
“In 2024-25 the value of Australian agricultural exports surged to $77.2 billion or 15.1 per cent of Australia's total exported goods. These statistics demonstrate how important agriculture is to our country and also to the future of regional Australia. As the population of the world continues to increase, so too does the importance of food and water resources. Their social, economic and strategic importance can't be underestimated. This being the case, why hasn't anyone made any effort to safeguard our prime agricultural land? Other countries, like Canada, are way ahead of us in protecting their best agricultural land. And, as the Australian population grows, the footprints of our cities, towns and villages continue to grow as well.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today is a historic day for Australia, as I again present to the parliament our country's very first bill to protect Australia's prime agricultural land: the Protecting Australia's Prime Agricultural Land Bill 2026. It's legislation that is crucial to the future of our country. This bill secures and safeguards not only Australia's prime agricultural land but also our nation's food security. It's hard to believe that a country which relies so much on agriculture to sustain it has never before passed legislation to protect the land that is the source of such bounty and prosperity. Our prime agricultural land is at serious risk. The gross value of agricultural production has increased by 34 per cent in the past 20 years to $82.4 billion in 2023-24. It's forecast to hit $95 billion in 2025-26.”
“I call on the government to take immediate action to secure our local fuel supply so that our famers can sow their crops and our businesses can keep their doors open and our regional workforce employed. In the upcoming budget I call on the government to commit the funding for a genuine expressway through the mountains as an urgent national infrastructure priority project. The people of the Central West pay our taxes and contribute more than our fair share to this country. It's time that governments and political parties of all stripes stop treating our communities as an inconvenience and start giving us the infrastructure we need and we deserve. We demand our fair share of government funding and an end to these debilitating crises.”
“The citizens of the Central West see gold plated tunnels being bored under Sydney at a cost of billions. They see world-class expressways stretching from the north coast to the south coast. Yet successive governments have avoided spending the money we need to build a genuine expressway to Sydney. We've seen everything from empty National Party sod-turnings on a Bells Line of Road expressway and a failure to fully commit to the Great Western Highway to the snatching away by this government of billions in committed funding. They've all just been kicking the can down the road, and now that road is disintegrating beneath our feet. The Great Western Highway is not fit for purpose, and you can't fix it with bandaid solutions. The anger in our communities is real.”
“Now is the time for strong leadership and investment from both state and federal governments, she said. But what is truly infuriating—what is stoking deep and justified anger across our electorate—is the feeling that the people of the Central West are being treated as second-class citizens. How is it that, in the Australia of 2026, the main access road in and out of our region is reliant on a bridge built by a convict chain gang in the 1830s? You cannot make this up. It's a ludicrous, disgraceful indictment of all political parties and decades of neglect. Our communities make an enormous contribution to the wealth of this state and nation. Our regional economy drives this country. Yet, when it comes to infrastructure, we are treated as an afterthought.”
“Owner of the iconic Lolly Bug in Hartley Sharon Tofler has said that the most terrifying word in the English language right now is 'indefinite'. Sharon is already seeing income slashed by more than half. Everyone fears more 'forever roadworks' that we know all too well. The impacts are region wide. Jacqui Harman, who runs Kenzell Farm at Oberon, has written to me because she is already seeing mass cancellations for the Easter period. Western regional director for Business NSW, Vicki Seccombe, said local businesses have reached breaking point. She said the highway closure comes at a time when businesses are already under intense pressure. This disruption piles on more pressure at a time when many businesses are already operating on very thin margins.”
“The government must guarantee supply before this fuel crisis becomes a full-scale national food shortage. Adding to this burden is the catastrophic indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass. The impacts of this are devastating. In Lithgow, as Mayor Cassandra Coleman highlights, 11,000 extra vehicles are being funnelled through the CBD every day, pounding local roads that are already owed $7.2 million in unpaid disaster recovery funding. Blayney businessperson Ian Reeks points to the long delays this is now causing businesses and the dangerous route along the Darling Causeway, not built for such an increase in diverted heavy vehicle traffic. In the Hartley Valley, local businesses are at breaking point watching their customer traffic vanish overnight.”
“The people of the Central West are currently enduring crises of historic proportions. Our region is being throttled by a dual failure of infrastructure and essential fuel supply that is threatening our economy, our food security and the very fabric of our communities. Right now, a major fuel crisis is unfolding before our eyes. This isn't only a matter of punishing prices; this is also a crisis of availability. I'm hearing from farmers across our electorate who are ringing the alarm bells. We are at the critical cusp of planting season, yet our producers cannot secure the diesel needed to sow their crops. They're ordering the diesel, and it's simply not being delivered. Local service stations are running out of fuel. Rationing has started. Prices are skyrocketing. If our farmers cannot plant, this nation does not eat.”
“It's now up to all parties to get behind this bill, because our communities want action. Given that the National Party has brought this unregulated mess onto our communities, this bill aims to clean it up. Our communities need support and they need their voices heard. They want their voices heard and they want these wind farms in state forests stopped. So I commend this bill to the House, and I urge every right-thinking member in the House of Representatives to come down and support it. Our communities and our residents need this bill, and they need the support of members in this place.”
“What this bill will do is use the corporations power within the Constitution to provide that a corporation must not construct, install or commission a wind farm in a state forest. And, to put it beyond doubt and without limiting the definition of state forest, it includes the Sunny Corner State Forest near Portland and Lithgow, the Vulcan State Forest, the Mount David state forest and the Gurnang State Forest. They are all in the Oberon area. And there is also the Canobolas state forest near Orange. I've had many constituents contact me about the Spanish company Iberdrola's planned wind farm in the Canobolas state forest, known as the Four Mile Creek Wind Farm, and they are very upset about it—and this bill would stop it. The bill and the operative clause are not limited to those named state forests. They are for any state forest.”