Gerard Martins Column
19th August 2010
The visit to Bathurst today by Premier Kristina Keneally and Treasurer Eric Roozendaal is very welcome. They will be reporting back the results of a number of country job/business summits held around New South Wales over the last 12 months. One of the summits was held in Bathurst and am pleased we have been chosen as the venue for the feedback. The Premier and Treasurer who is also Minister for State Development will be linking the outcomes of the summits into areas of government policy and strategy and aligning them with the State Plan. The process is recognition by the New South Wales Government that there needs to be a reinvigorated strategy for growing jobs in the regions.
Obviously you cannot talk about increasing job opportunities and population in regional centres without a corresponding discussion on infrastructure investment by both government and the private sector. I am sure that this issue will be raised from the floor at tomorrow’s forum which will be attended by a wide range of people representing big and small business, local government, government departments etc. I am expecting that there will be well over a hundred people attending.
The Premier will be visiting Bathurst Base Hospital to make some announcements that I am hoping will be in partial response to the closure of St Vincent’s Private Hospital. She will also be visiting Charles Sturt University to meet with senior management and staff to discuss a range of issues including the CSU’s just announced plans to establish a school of medicine in the central west based around the university’s Bathurst and Orange campuses. The Premier and Treasurer will also be brought up to date with planning for the development of a technology park and a proposal to attract information technology jobs to Bathurst.
I was privileged yesterday to have a flying visit from the Minister for Community Services the Hon Linda Burney. She visited the Bathurst Family Support Service who do a marvellous job in working with problem families. She also met up with David from the Tucker Van and made a donation to help with this important work for the homeless.
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