Today Deb and I flew out to Dubbo where we met with Leader of the Nationals Andrew Stoner, Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner and our candidate for Dubbo Greg Matthews.

This morning we launched our Rural Health Policy outside Dubbo Base Hospital. Our $53 million policy will breathe life back into rural health care in NSW. We will ensure people in country NSW have access to the same high quality health services as those in the city, by increasing the number of country doctors and other health care professionals.

Our Action Plan for Rural Health includes initiatives to:

• Attract more rural doctors by improving their conditions and opportunities;

• Provide more training opportunities for rural doctors;

• Increase local decision-making by rural doctors in relation to local health and hospital services;

• Establish a new Rural Health Directorate to co-ordinate rural and regional health strategies; and,

• Ensure country NSW gets its fair share.

After twelve years, rural NSW needs more than Labor’s spin. NSW needs a Government that will address the crisis in rural health and come up with solutions. Our initiative today is taking responsibility to fix the crisis in rural health.

After launching the policy we drove into Dubbo for a radio interview with Leo De Kroo and a bite to eat before driving to Narromine with Andrew Stoner. At Narromine we met with Jock Laurie the President of the NSW Farmers Association, and half a dozen local farmers from severely drought affected areas.

With all the frustration and heartache that the drought is causing farmers, you would think the State Government would get off local farmers’ backs and try to give them a leg-up during these difficult times. Unfortunately, after talking to local farmers, you can see that this Labor Government is only adding to their worries.

Whether it was their frustration with Labor’s Sydney bureaucracy, water allocation rights, native vegetation laws or Labor’s failure to provide adequate drought assistance - Labor is just adding to these farmers’ concerns.

The story was much the same down the road where we met with local truckers. As I’ve seen all across the state, the drought is having just as big an impact on local businesses that support and rely on the farming community. Here things have been made worse by the State Government’s archaic OH&S Legislation and the ridiculous red tape and charges that Labor is forcing on small businesses in NSW.

When NSW is languishing at the back of the national economic pack, our State Government should be doing everything it can to support local business. To get NSW Back in Front we’ve got to support small business and stop slugging them with higher taxes. NSW used to be Australia’s economic engine room. With a Debnam Government we can be again.

Peter Debnam