Bathurst councillor Jess Jennings launched his campaign on Wednesday with an announcement for $6 million above the government-allocated budget for Orange’s schools.

The $24 million across the electorate from Lithgow to Wellington will be spent on measures to help students overcome learning barriers.

“An example might be a student with speech issues – speech pathology might provide assistance to make sure that child becomes more articulate and meets their curriculum needs,” he said.

“This is the full Gonski that we’ve been missing out on for the past five years.”

It will be the third attempt to win the seat for the 46-year-old father of two, the second against sitting member Andrew Gee, and Dr Jennings said he always intended to run three times to build his profile.

“2013 was the first year I ran – it wasn’t a great time for Labor obviously, but things are swinging a bit,” he said.

A resident of The Lagoon with wife and comic Kate Smith and five-year-old daughter Lola, Dr Jennings has a PHD in agricultural extension and is currently the executive officer for the Australian Milling Museum Co-operative, being established in Bathurst. 

Son Harrison, 17, lives on the Central Coast.

Dr Jennings said his background in agriculture made him particularly passionate about climate change, with Labor eyeing a 50 per cent renewables target by 2035, including investment in batteries. 

“All the [Coalition] funding for farmers is addressing the symptoms, not the cause – it’s absolutely appalling the National party have deliberately ignored the science, directly at the expense of farming families,” he said. 

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