John Cobb (Calare, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I really enjoy this opportunity to talk about one of the best things in my electorate—that is, what I call 'small town visits'. Having three cities and two large towns in an electorate, small towns can easily be overlooked. It is something I personally never do. In the last couple of months I have done trips to Black Springs, Jenolan Caves, Hampton and Hartley in the east of my electorate. They are very grateful that we have a black spot phone program and are very grateful that it is ongoing. It is still a big issue in those areas.

In the Central West I have visited Cumnock, Yeoval and Mullion Creek in recent times. In Cumnock, the Rudds are the new proprietors of the store, and they particularly had a lot to say about what is happening in that part of the world. Further west, I visited Cookamidgera, Bogan Gate and Trundle. The thing all of those areas have in common is that communication is a very big thing for them, whether it is the NBN rollout or the black spot program. As I said, they were all very grateful for the fact that a few months ago we did roll out in my electorate 18 new black spot towers. It makes them realise that, as that program is ongoing, before long—I believe—we will be able to look after all of the people in the Central West of New South Wales in that way, especially in Calare.