Because, on Tuesday, the NSW Government's latest budget for the 2022-23 financial year wasn't used to throw wads of cash at the Orange electorate, a seat it will no doubt be keen to take back when the state heads to the polls next March.

Instead of the PET scanner the city has been lobbying for, instead of initial dollars to help plan and then build a new, state-of-the-art fire station a growing city needs ... the seat of Orange, well, it's almost like we've been left off the map.

While bureaucrats on Macquarie Street looked over the colour city, they had little drama topping up plenty of others - there was a record $636 million worth of funding throw at the Northern Tablelands seat, Bathurst will enjoy a new $200m redevelopment of its hospital precinct, there was $306.3m for the Dubbo Health Service redevelopment and another $110.2m for similar work for the Cowra Hospital redevelopment (including additional funding of $40m), to name a few.

Orange wasn't left out all together, with a much-needed $13.5m for the bursting-at-the-seams Bletchington Public School while $2.74m has been set aside for an Aboriginal housing package and $11.6m for social housing upgrades. Important funding for each.

But when you stack up a total well shy of $30m and compare it to the eight-figure sums other electorates across regional NSW are spruiking, it kind of hurts.

The common denominator out of that spending spree? Each of those areas are part of electorates currently held by The Nationals.

Paul Toole is the leader of the NSW Nationals and is the member for Bathurst, while Dugald Saunders will be gunning for a second term as the Member for Dubbo come the election in March. Steph Cooke is the member for Cootamundra, an electorate in which Cowra sits, and Adam Marshall, the Northern Tablelands MP, said he was "literally pinching myself" following what was a record level of expenditure for those in the northern parts of the state.

While Orange, our city in particular, is now considered Shooters, Fishers and Farmers heartland, at a state level.

In the wake of what was a flurry of announcements on Tuesday, the Central Western Daily turned to Mr Donato for his reaction post-budget. We asked if he thought we'd been overlooked. His response? "Pretty much." Disappointment had washed over him.

Some will call the snubbing of one of regional NSW's biggest centres as pork-barrelling - but that's not what this is. Our obvious omission from virtually any major budget wins on Tuesday is something much worse.

Dom Perrottet's Liberal-Nationals Government has essentially treated our region with contempt; we're not worth a new PET scanner, we're not worth funding for an improved fire station ... and it remains to be seen whether we're worth the extra funding needed to complete key projects like the conservatorium-planetarium and a sporting precinct at Bloomfield - that now infamous pre-election promise made by Gladys Berejiklian in the lead-up to the 2019 state election.

Mr Donato expects things may ramp up in the lead-up to March, with more announcements likely as we begin the build-up to another election campaign in early 2023.

But we shouldn't forget this week when those announcements inevitably roll around. We deserve better.