Monday, 20 December 2021
LATER this morning the Premier and Deputy Premier will formally announce their new Cabinet.
I won’t be part of it. That’s politics. Naturally I’m disappointed, but I look back with pride and have no regrets.
I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to help defend and grow the NSW agriculture sector over the last three years through some of the toughest challenges it has ever faced – the worst drought in living memory, Black Summer bushfires, coastal and inland floods and a mice plague.
Despite all that, the sector has continued to grow into what is now a $21 billion industry. This is testament to our amazingly resilient, hard-working and innovative farmers and the support shown to them by a government that backs rural industries and food production.
I now work exclusively again for the Northern Tablelands, which I love!
I sincerely thank the people of my electorate and my dedicated staff for allowing me the chance to serve and supporting me throughout that journey over the last five years as a Minister across three different portfolios. It’s been the greatest of privileges and I’ll always be thankful for it.
Now it’s time for me to repay that support and get back to devoting all my time and energy doing what I got into local government, then state parliament, to do in the first place – aggressively speak up and speak out on issues important to my community, thump the table and fight to secure our fair share. I cannot wait!
I offer my congratulations to those new Ministers appointed and those continuing on and put them all on notice that they’ll be seeing a lot of me next year knocking on their doors, advocating for our region.
It’s been a very difficult and draining year for many in the Northern Tablelands and for now, I’m personally looking forward to taking an extended Christmas break (my first in many years) to get away, recharge the batteries and come back firing on all cylinders for a huge 2022 in our region.