When Labor minister Tara Moriarty was appointed the agriculture portfolio in April last year she said: "We are a new government and we are really keen to work with everyone outside of Sydney".
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Yet, a year in, when the rubber should be hitting the road, rural NSW's worst fears of a city-centric government are coming to bear.
The issue is bigger than just one minister, of course, as spending and policy are determined in the Cabinet, but that hasn't stopped readers asking in an ACM survey (where they gave the NSW government 36 per cent on delivering for issues impacting on the bush): "Has anyone sighted the minister for agriculture in a rural environment?".
Her social media shows that yes indeed she has been bush, and as recently as three weeks ago to discuss "local issues" at Moree and Narrabri where residents are facing escalating crime - one of the many unenviable problems where rural areas have overtaken our cities.
Unlike their Nationals counterparts, nearly all of whom are based regionally, these "visits" are controlled, the pollies in and out.
No fly-in, fly-out visit can hide that Labor came to power on the city vote. As has been called out in these pages already, its promises were for city voters, hence frustrated rural parents around decisions like the skewed roll-out of pre-school funding towards predominantly suburban areas.
While Labor will nearly always be going against the wind in rural seats, the degree of dissatisfaction demonstrated in the ACM survey, run by The Land, has still been a surprise.
The bush wants more than lip service, but when this government has all its chips in suburban seats, it seems cheap talk is all that's in store for the west of the divide.
