State Matters – A Weekly Bulletin from Dave Layzell MP

Member for Upper Hunter – 24 February 2025

COACHES REPLACE XPT – DUNGOG and Gloucester rail passengers will have two of their six daily XPT services replaced by road coaches from next month.

The 12-month temporary change to services will allow essential upgrades to the NSW TrainLink XPT fleet including extensive mechanical work, new carpeting and refurbished seats as well as  maintenance to improve operation of the air-conditioning and toilets.

Coaches will replace the XPT on the 5.15am Grafton-Sydney service and the 11.44am Sydney-Grafton service, with the timetable still to be confirmed.

The remaining four daily rail services will continue to operate with XPT trains.

Ticket prices will remain the same and bookings will continue as usual by calling 13 22 32 or by using the NSW TrainLink booking website; https://transportnsw.info/regional-bookings/

BUILDERS AT WORK – Stage 3 of the Muswellbrook Hospital Redevelopment is now underway with construction expected to be completed in 2027.

Work has commenced on the operating theatre and will be followed by the community health area.

Sterilising department works will take place when the new operating theatre is complete.

To mark the milestone, three Old Man Saltbush trees will be planted outside the future community health space following consultation with local Aboriginal horticulture specialists.

The $45 million redevelopment will create a more integrated health facility for patients, staff and visitors.

To learn more about the project visit the Muswellbrook Redevelopment webpage; www.hneinfra.health.nsw.gov.au/projects/muswellbrook

BYPASS UPDATE – Piling and construction of piers for bridges being built as part of the Singleton Bypass will continue across the project during the next three months.

Major construction started last September and reached a major milestone recently when the first girder was placed on the longest bridge on Doughboy Hollow floodplain. 

Singleton’s largest ever road infrastructure project requires a total of 435 girders, 207 piles and 161 pier columns to form the bridges, while other work continues across the project to relocate  utilities and major earthworks.

The Singleton Bypass will be eight kilometres of new highway, with a single lane in each direction, a full interchange at Putty Road and connections to the New England Highway at the southern  and northern ends of the bypass and at Gowrie Gates.

Jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Governments, the bypass is expected to open to traffic late next year, weather permitting.

Follow the construction at: www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/current-projects/singleton-bypass-new-england-highway

LIMITED SENIORS TICKETS – A limited amount of tickets for the Premier's Gala Concert and the Seniors Festival Comedy Show in Sydney are being made available this week.

Tickets to the Premier’s Gala Concerts will be available on Tuesday 25 February at 9am online at Ticketek https://premier.ticketek.com.au search Premier's Gala Concerts, or call 9215 7500 (Mon – Fri 9am to 3pm).

More seating will be opened up for the Seniors Festival Comedy Show in Sydney on Tuesday 4 March to allow more seniors to join in on all the laughs.

The seats are upstairs in Sydney Town Hall in the upper level and have limited accessibility.

A second release of tickets will be made available at 9am on Thursday 27 February.

Discover more at: www.nsw.gov.au/arts-and-culture/seniors-festival

BAG IT! – Clean Up Australia Day is this Sunday, 2 March, and there is still time to take part in the 35th anniversary celebration.

Gloves will start being pulled on and bags filled from Tuesday when the Business Clean Up is held, then on Friday, preschools, primary and secondary schools will do their clean-up.

If you want to participate but have other commitments this weekend, you can register and complete a Clean Up event any time throughout March or the year.

To register for Australia’s biggest week of practical environmental action and receive your kit of materials to help improve your local area or a place that needs a spruce up, go to; https://register.cleanup.org.au

PROGRAM EXPANDS – Gloucester and Maitland are among an additional seven locations for Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCPs).

The NSW Government is investing $10 million to increase the availability of these programs across the state to address domestic and family violence.

MBCPs are evidence-based group programs and services that focus on working with perpetrators to reduce or prevent the recurrence of abusive behaviour towards a partner or family member.

The expansion of the program will promote the safety of women and children by holding men accountable for their violent and abusive behaviour and supporting them to change.

Manning Support Services will provide the service in Gloucester, with Relationships Australia the service provider for Maitland.

For information on Men’s Behaviour Change Programs contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.

If you or someone you know are in immediate danger, call the Police on Triple Zero / 000.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic and family violence, call the NSW Domestic Violence Line on 1800 65 64 63 for free counselling and referrals, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

INVASIVE SPECIES ACTION – The Upper Hunter Electorate is included in a $10 million program to tackle pest and weed infestations between neighbouring public and private lands.

Local Land Services will lead The Good Neighbours Program to undertake an initial 21 new or expanded, on ground, biosecurity projects across NSW.

The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, which includes the Yengo and Wollemi National Park National Parks, will be a focus for feral deer control.

Coordinated efforts will be carried out between the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Local Land Services, the Invasive Species Council, Crown Lands and public land managers to reduce the  impact of feral deer.

The program will run until mid-2026, with additional projects to be funded.

To learn more, visit the Good Neighbours website; www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/dpird/local-land-services/projects/good-neighbours-program

CHARGED UP TOURISM! – One of the Upper Hunter Electorate’s most populous locations for electric vehicle (EV) chargers looks set to boost its tourism credentials.

Hermitage Road between Pokolbin and Belford, which has five charging locations, is included in the Central Coast-Hunter Valley EV Road Trip recently launched by Visit NSW.

Nine road trips, free of range anxiety, are part of the initiative to allow drivers of electric vehicles to experience the best of NSW on routes equipped with strategically located charging stations.

There are at least two fast-charging plugs and one destination charging plug per 100 kilometres, strategically located along each route, to ensure seamless recharging.

Paterson, Dungog, Stroud and Gloucester could also potentially benefit from the Legendary Pacific Coast Road Trip with six chargers located between Beresfield and Maitland and another six  along the Pacific Motorway from Karuah to Taree.

The nine EV-friendly road trips are on the Visit NSW website: www.visitnsw.com/evroadtrips

POWER NAP TIP – Truck drivers are this week being asked to consider making a power nap part of their daily routine during National Driver Fatigue Week.

The aim of the week is to reduce fatal crashes attributed to fatigue by promoting driver fatigue intervention strategies to heavy vehicle drivers and prevent one in three fatalities on our roads.

The Power Nap campaign argues every truckie needs a power nap and that heavy vehicle drivers should not ignore the early warning signs.

A power nap is a short sleep of 15–20 minutes that terminates before deep sleep, with the objective of improving concentration and situation awareness.

Truckers, the Power Nap campaign tip – pull over, set the alarm on your mobile ‘phone and then after 15-20 minutes continue on your journey.

For more on Power Nap to go; https://powernap.org.au and for Rest Area locations check in at; https://maps.transport.nsw.gov.au/egeomaps/rest-areas/index.html

NSW ELECTION 2027 – The benefit of the NSW Parliament having fixed four-year terms will be demonstrated when the next State Election is held in 2027.

At present, NSW is scheduled to go to the polls for a general election in late March 2027, which also coincides with Easter. 

The 2027 Election would the first time that the election has fallen on the Easter weekend since four-year terms were approved by NSW electors at a referendum in 1995.

Parliament was last week told that, subject to the finalising of consultation, the Government intends to recommend to the Governor, in due course, the making of a proclamation to dissolve the  Legislative Assembly early, to achieve a 13 March 2027 election date.

GAMING REFORM – The public has until 14 March to comment on two new schemes for NSW Government gaming reforms to address gambling harm and money laundering.

Consultation papers for feedback cover a proposed third-party exclusion scheme and proposed mandatory facial recognition technology to support a statewide exclusion register for NSW hotels  and clubs with gaming machines.

An exclusion order is proposed for a minimum 12-month period with a maximum period of two or three years, with a temporary exclusion of 21 days while an application is considered.

In addition to the consultation papers, the government has also developed a draft facial recognition Code of Practice that gives pubs and clubs already operating the technology guidelines to  support identification of self-excluded patrons.

The Third-Party Exclusion Consultation Paper is available at: https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/third-party-exclusion-pubs-and-clubs  And, the Facial Recognition Technology in Pubs and  Clubs Consultation Paper is available from: https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/facial-recognition-technology.

TELSTRA GRANT – Applications for the Telstra Connected Communities Grant Program are now open to support remote, rural, and regional communities to foster inclusion and resilience.

If you know of a community group or not-for-profit organisation that could use a hand, then grants of up to $10,000 are available.

The program has three themes which are resilient communities, sustainable communities and liveable communities. 

Successful grants will be announced in June and successful applicants have 12 months to complete funded projects.

Connected Communities applications for a share of $200,000 close on Thursday 20 March.

More details at: www.telstra.com.au/exchange/telstra-connected-communities-grants

Contact:
Email address: upperhunter@parliament.nsw.gov.au;
Phone number: 6543 1065;
Postal address P.O. Box 493, Muswellbrook 2333.

www.davelayzell.com.au/news/categories/state-matters