Friday, 25 October 2024
Subjects: Boorowa Touch Netball Carnival, Flourish Mental Health Expo, Events around the electorate, West Wyalong Nurses accommodation, Cootamundra Hospital, Harvest and impact of frost, grants – Crown Land Improvement Fund, Anzac Community Grants, Local Sport Defibrillator Grants, Hume Hwy road works, Wallendbeen Bridge.
E&OE…
Rich Spence: I welcome to the phone, the Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke. Good morning, Steph.
Steph Cooke: Good morning, Rich, it’s good to be with you from Macquarie Street in Sydney today.
Rich Spence: Yeah, almost missed you there. So, I only got you in the last minute. So, we're ready to go.
A lot happening around the electorate at the moment. The Boorowa touch and netball carnival is on today, busy event there. The Harden Picnic races tomorrow, and also speaking about Harden and you were at the New South Wales Rural women's event.
Steph Cooke: Oh look, there's no doubt that spring is an incredibly busy time for our communities every weekend. There's multiple events on, which is a great opportunity for me to get out and talk to people and find out what's going on, to celebrate the achievements of locals, to congratulate our volunteers for the amazing work that they do year in year out to put these events on.
And you mentioned a few there, absolutely. I'm about to leave Parliament House and head to Boorowa so I can help out with the touch football carnival, netball carnival that's happening there today.
They actually welcome schools from right across New South Wales to participate. It's a fantastic event and I get the Zooper Dooper duty. Rich, so I cannot wait. I think we end up knocking the top off about two or three thousand Zooper Doopers, it's crazy.
I'm then heading to Temora, then on to Ardlethan and Barellan where they have particular centenaries occurring in those communities. So very, very busy days ahead.
Rich Spence: And the Flourish Mental Health Expo on Sunday as well?
Steph Cooke: Yes. I'm very, very fortunate to be giving a keynote address at that event. You and I have talked many times on your program about the importance of looking after our mental health and not being afraid to come forward and talk about mental health, whether it's because we are experiencing some challenges ourselves or those who we love are going through a bit of a tough time.
And so, any opportunity I have to get involved in community events that support mental health is something that I really do prioritise because it's really important that we do take care of each other and take care of our own mental health and you can only do that I think when you feel comfortable and in a safe space to do so and as a community leader I take it very seriously in letting people know that they're not alone, that there is support available and I'm really looking forward to that flourish event on Sunday because it's another opportunity to talk about a really important topic.
Rich Spence: Yes, it certainly is. It's been a very busy month of October for you, the opening of the Good Old Days Festival at Barellan and the Barmedman Gala Dinner, the Boorowa Woolfest of course at the Long Weekend, the Harden Kite Festival and Carers Week you had a visit to Cooinda Court aged care in Junee.
Steph Cooke: Oh Look, Rich, when you go back over some of these events, I guess, yes, they're all very significant and very important and, you know, our volunteers are responsible for pulling all of these together and, you know, the spring has already brought out, you know, many fantastic events and people have come to visit our region for the first time.
We've had visitors returning, I've spoken to a number of people far and wide right across the electorate who just love our part of the world, whether they're locals who have lived there for generations or whether they're people that are visiting for the first time.
We have so much to offer and it's wonderful to be able to get out and celebrate those events. But I think it's also important to know that it's not just that's not just what I do, you know, that takes up a lot of my time, especially on weekends, but Monday to Friday is when, I guess, the more challenging work of being a local member is done, and for the last couple of weeks we've been in Parliament where we've been legislation that impacts people's lives and for example, last night I had a Zoom meeting back with the community of West Wyalong who are impacted by changes to the biodiversity regulations and the maps that have been released by the Department, there's some huge concerns around that.
Of course, water continues to be an ongoing concern for people far and wide. I've had several
meetings in the last few weeks around the provision of health services our electorate and we know we've got some problems in the township of Cootamundra in relation to the services offered there. I'm still not satisfied that maternity theatre and pathology are safe in those communities and I continue to raise that with the Minister's office.
So, there's a lot of hard work going on day in day out through my office and through myself and on the weekends, I get to relax a little bit but certainly get out and about and hear from people directly about what's important to them.
Rich Spence: Of course, and you mentioned West Wyalong there there's a key worker nurses accommodation which is finally being constructed or it's opened in West Wyalong.
Steph Cooke: Yeah, that's right Rich I mean this is this is a positive move on behalf of Health it's something that you know it's a program that we started in government, recognising that if we are going to attract and retain good quality healthcare workers to our small communities, that housing is an issue.
And so, when we welcome people, all the people are even contemplating coming to our small towns, we've got to have somewhere to live, and we all know how difficult the housing issue has been for all of our communities.
Finding good places to live is not easy at the moment, and so on that basis, this government has now opened a facility, an accommodation facility out there in West Wyalong.
We welcome that development because we know that it will give us a better opportunity of attracting and retaining those necessary health care workers into a small community like West Wyalong, which is more isolated than the likes of Cowra, Young or Cootamundra and your listening area predominantly.
West Wyalong is isolated and so having somewhere for people to live is really, really important and hopefully from that they will be able to use it as a springboard to find something of their own more permanently in West Wyalong and become a part of that community and still be able to do their job which is essential to us and our future well -being.
Rich Spence: Yeah, it's important to make sure the facilities are there to accommodate those essential workers right across the region.
Earlier in the month I spoke to your federal counterpart Michael McCormack, a member for Riverina, and touched on the harvest season. A lot have been affected by the late frost in September. You've been talking to local farmers about how they've been affected.
Steph Cooke: I have, Rich. Yes, that's been a very big focus of mine, since the frost occurred in September, it's had widespread impact across the electorates.
Those parts in the west of the electorate have no doubt been a lot more affected, negatively affected than those communities in the east, but I have visited farms in and around Young, Grenfell, Greenethorpe, and they are certainly reporting some significant damage there, they will experience yield losses, but they still will be able to harvest the grain and look to get a return as they originally set out to do, although it won't be the return that they were anticipating just a few weeks ago.
So that's really disappointing, but further out in the west of the electorate, there are many farmers now that are cutting hay, which is incredibly disappointing for them, noting what the seasonal outlook was not too long ago, and we had some other farmers even beyond that that are releasing stock onto those paddocks directly, noting that they are unlikely to achieve much of a harvest out of it whatsoever.
So, it's good in a sense that our communities, our farming communities are diverse enough with mixed farming to be able to still make, I guess, lemonade out of the lemons that have been provided from this incident. But fundamentally, it's my view that it's incumbent upon governments to invest more in research and development.
We know that we have some of the best scientists in the world. We have a wonderful and very productive CSIRO facility at Boorowa. We've got the Ag station at Cowra, and together, our scientists are able to do fantastic work in research and development in developing more frost tolerant and frost hardy varieties of grain, and I think it's incumbent upon government to continue that investment so that we don't experience what we have this year into the future.
Rich Spence: Yeah, it's disappointing for many of those farmers that the season was looking very promising with all the good rain earlier in the year throughout winter, but it is good though, as you said, with the research and development.
And on that, the National Farmers Federation's National Agriculture Leadership Program is now open, what's that one all about?
Steph Cooke: Oh, this is an opportunity for people in agriculture who are aspiring to take on leadership roles, to sign up for a program that will further develop and enhance those skills. I mean, I've said over and over again, particularly on your program, Rich, that one in five jobs in the Cootamundra electorate is directly related to agriculture.
It's really important that we continue to invest in the next generation and the one thereafter and make sure that our people have the best of leadership skills to take the industry forward.
We also know that as the economy globally changes there's always going to be a need regardless for agriculture and the types of produce that we output in Australia and certainly across the Cootamundra electorate I just touched on this idea of mixed farming, whether it's cropping or whether it's lamb or beef we do such an incredible job and it's important that we continue to invest in the future, and this program is a step forward towards that and if there's anyone that would like some further information or guidance please reach out to me or to my office and we'll point you in the right direction.
Rich Spence: Yeah, and closing date for the applications is mid October the 14th or 18th thereabouts?
Steph Cooke: Yeah, there's no doubt it is coming up, it's upon us and on that basis if there's people that need some support please reach out and we'll give you a hand.
Rich Spence: Yeah a crucial part of life in Australia, agriculture and it's important to educate those in the cities that don't know what happens outside of the metro areas about the importance of agriculture in our country.
Looking at some grants that have been available, the Crown Land Improvement Funds are now open. What's that for?
Steph Cooke: Yeah, the Crown Land Improvement Fund, is a long-standing fund that is available to Crown Land Managers if they have projects at show grounds, parks and gardens, memorial halls, those types of facilities that they have a project that they're looking for funding for.
This is a program, a pathway to help get those projects done. I think the challenge we have this year is that for a second year in a row are the New South Wales Labour government has slashed this fund. Just two years ago it was $18 million dollars annually, for the whole of New South Wales that has been cut down to $10 million dollars, which is really quite disappointing because we know there is just so much Crown Land across New South Wales.
There’s a lot in the Cootamundra electorate, I know that, but there is certainly a lot across the State as well, so these less of a pool to apply to now, and the other disappointing thing for small communities is that the criteria for that fund had been substantially tightened, and so the minimum you can apply for is actually $100,000 dollars.
And we have many small projects that are less than $100,000 dollars that mean a lot to those communities and such projects will now simply be ineligible.
So, I guess what I am saying to our groups across the Cootamundra Electorate, if you have a project that’s over $100,000 dollars please apply, we just need to be very mindful it is a smaller fund now, it is statewide, but of course we will give our very very best to help and support with your application, including a letter of support.
So please, if there are Crown Land Mangers out there, they are volunteers as well who do a wonderful job all year to manage these facilities, please reach out to me cause we will help you with that as well.
Rich Spence: And for projects that commemorate our current former Defence personnel there's the ANZAC community grants applications closed on the 11th of November. That's worth up to $3,000.
Steph Cooke: That's right, Rich. This is a fantastic program and over the years War memorials in the Cootamundra electorate have benefited from this fund. It allows groups to restore monuments to restore honour boards to plant new gardens or plants around those are really, really important and indeed sacred areas in our towns and villages.
So, I would certainly encourage people to apply for that if there are further works that need to
be done at those memorials.
Rich Spence: And another very important grant, up to $3,000 with applications closing on the 27th of November, the Local Sport Defibrillator grant program.
Steph Cooke: Yeah, absolutely, another critical program for us. We have a lot of sporting groups across the electorate, and I would like to encourage all sporting groups if you don't have a defibrillator already, please apply.
These are grants of up to $3 ,000, as we've mentioned. That goes a long way to covering the cost of this life -saving equipment, and the technology in those devices is improving every single year. They are easier to use, and I think at the end of the day, it's important that we have equipment like that available because it saves people's lives when it's needed.
It might not be needed very often, but when it is, it's there, able to be used and may in fact save someone's life.
Rich Spence: It certainly is, and we often talk, you and I, Steph, about the importance of road safety and road maintenance. There's some funding for Lachlan Valley Way and Olympic Highway.
Steph Cooke: That's right, Rich, and this is good news for our electorate and those key vital roads that move us from one community to another. And we are now going to be seeing some works on the Hume Highway.
There's many people from our electorate that do need to head up to Sydney on a regular basis or even a not-so-regular basis. But the Hume Highway is one that we need to make sure is constantly upgraded because it's a key route, not just to our area, but to the state more broadly, and people know that that highway is very, very busy, and so there will be road works.
I just encourage people, please, to take care and to be very mindful that this work is happening as they do go to Sydney. I come up here to Sydney, of course, for Parliament, I'd much rather stay at home than I do have that important role to do, but it's really important that we are mindful that these road works are occurring and know that it will be for our benefit in the long run.
Rich Spence: And the seemingly ongoing saga for a long time, the Wallendbeen Bridge, they're up to its next steps in the construction.
Steph Cooke: Yes, Rich, it's a case of old believers, I'll believe it when I see it. It's very disappointing that we're heading into another harvest and that temporary bridge is still in place. It's been years and years now and rarely a week goes by where I'm not in this issue with the Transport Minister's office.
It's so important that that bridge gets finished,and they are moving along with the project, but let me tell you, it cannot come quick enough for that community and for road users more broadly, particularly as we heading to harvest, and once again, I'll just remind people that we do have those temporary situation in place there.
You will see more activity around that bridge site as they look to construct a permanent bridge and please take care in that area.
Rich Spence: All right we're out of time now, Steph, but thank you very much for joining me on the phone this morning and safe travels back to town across the weekend or today I guess you get underway. That's right, Boorowa. You told me that before.
Okay, we'll catch up again next month.
Steph Cooke: Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.
Rich Spence: Thanks Steph, bye.