He's made several visits to the Central West but NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet's GPS seems to be taking him everywhere but Orange, an area quickly developing as a political black hole for the coalition.
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In fact, the last visit from any NSW Premier was Ms Berejiklian in 2019 when she did a quick-stop tour with National candidate Kate Hazelton.
That visit saw her make an election promise to fund the $25 million Orange Sports Precinct if voters backed the Nationals candidate at the polls. Voters instead chose to return Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Phil Donato. Orange still got the funds for the sporting precinct.
Going back further, the NSW Premier has rolled into Orange just three times in the last 15 years, and Mr Donato told the Daily he believed it's time current Premier, Mr Perrottet paid some attention to a region starved of government support.
"I'd love to see the Premier come to Orange," the Member for Orange said, his 2016 byelection win marking the first time The Nationals lost the seat in 70 years.
"I've offered him to come and visit and come and see some of the work at the O'Brien centre, for example.
"I think he'd really like Orange and enjoy the vibrancy of it. All the places to eat and drink, the culture and lifestyle."
Despite a population over 40,000 and a strong agriculture and tourism sector, Orange has struggled to attract the personal attention of Macquarie Street for a long time.
The city is essentially a black hole on the NSW map.
Premier Morris Iemma visited Molong in 2005 in the aftermath of serious flooding, he told this masthead at the time that "the newsagency looked like a bomb had hit it". Two years later Orange rolled out the red carpet when he returned with his cabinet.
Premier Kristina Keneally made sure to pop into town for an approval of the Cadia Valley mine expansion in 2010.
Then opposition leader and future Premier Barry O'Farrell soon followed, pledging tens of thousands of jobs during his pre-election visit.
Mike Baird was invited to visit Orange 2015, a year which turned out to be a tumultuous year in his premiership.
Mr Baird earned the ire of voters due to the issue of forced council amalgamations and later his greyhound ban. He was also in the region during flood recovery in 2016, stopping in Forbes.
Fast foreword to 2022 and a browse of the Premier's Facebook page revealed a lack of attention being paid to regional NSW in general. The last post directly focusing on the regions was on August 26 when Mr Perrottet attended a regional NSW forum.
Deputy Premier Paul Toole did make a welcome visit to town in September to announce the 'Our Region, Our Voice' youth program.
The Daily submitted a range of questions to Mr Perrottet inquiring about his plans to make a visit.
We also asked if his much-mooted six city plan leaves regional areas like Orange behind, in addition to the following issues affecting the electorate:
- The Regional Health Inquiry and ongoing challenges to Orange's health system.
- The childcare crisis gripping Orange.
- The state of regional roads, an issue very topical due to wet weather.
- Affordable housing and lack thereof in the city.
- Crime and the issues police are facing in the city combating it.
- The ability for regional centers like Orange to protect themselves against future droughts.
In response a NSW Government spokesperson said regional NSW had received a lot of investment, referencing the Regional Growth Fund as a 'cornerstone' of strategy in the regions.
COVID-19 was also offered up as a reason why some projects are experiencing delays.
"The NSW Government is delivering a range of initiatives to promote economic growth and enhance community wellbeing across regional NSW by helping drive employment, improve local amenity, deliver positive outcomes for young people and respond to the emerging needs of regional communities," they said.
"Navigating the ongoing challenges and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters has placed various pressures on proponents' ability to deliver projects.
"Project delays to delivery are evident across all programs due to supply chain issues, cost escalations, reduction in tourism numbers and event postponements.
"The $3.3 billion Regional Growth Fund is the cornerstone of the NSW Government's investment in regional communities."
The query regarding the Premier's plan to make a visit was unanswered however and our questions about health, education, crime, roads, housing and cost of living in Orange were only met with a suggestion to contact the relevant minister.
The above-mentioned Regional Growth Fund has had 33 successful applicants in the Orange LGA. The other three LGAs located in the Orange electorate are Cabonne (27 successful applicants), Forbes (23) and Parkes (32).
By contrast the nearby LGA of Bathurst has had 47, Mid-Western 45 and Western Plains 46.
The Perrottet government recently announced their response to the damning regional health inquiry, which found a staff shortages, inequity, staff bullying, and a "culture of fear".
Mr Donato said he was repeatedly hearing concerns about the health system being raised by Orange residents and noted a couple of projects he'd like to see completed.
"A lot of the issues I hear from people are health-related," he said.
"Palliative care is a big thing I've been pushing for since being elected and we were able to get two beds at the hospital but a dedicated palliative care hospice would be something that would be much sought after and needed.
"A new PET CT scanner would be a game-changer for Orange Health Service. At the moment people needed to travel to Sydney or Dubbo."
The state of roads in the Orange region has been a hot topic of debate in the past fortnight, a pattern that can be seen across NSW.
Mr Donato and Minister for Regional Roads Sam Farraway have traded barbs over thoroughfares such as Cargo Road. Culminating in Mr Farraway labeling himself "basically the Member for Orange".
Ultimately, Mr Donato said he hoped more investment in projects like the stadium would shine the spotlight on Orange once again.
"When Gladys came to town in 2019 and made the big announcement for the sporting precinct that was fantastic," he said.
"Once we have that we'll be able to offer so much more than Bathurst, Mudgee and Dubbo do, maybe I'm being a bit parochial but the locals would embrace it."