Roy’s Roundup 20 July 2026
G’day folks,
It feels like winter has finally really arrived. We’ve had some chilly mornings recently and now a bad dose of the flu seems to be going around – I know this from personal experience.
I recently had to excuse myself from a committee hearing I was chairing in Dubbo because I came down with a dose of flu.
Fortunately, I recovered quickly enough to head out last week on a trip to host the Premier at Bourke and Brewarrina.
This week I will also be visiting several places in the electorate with another cabinet member.
Inquiry into Service Delivery Standards Hearing at Dubbo
Earlier in July I was in Dubbo as chair of the Investment, Industry and Regional Development Committee, for hearings on the committee’s inquiry into Service Delivery Standards in Regional NSW. This inquiry is looking at how non-government agencies, acting on behalf of the government, are serving regional communities. Whether they are delivering the services they are meant to be delivering, whether those services represent the best value for taxpayers and whether regional people are getting the sort of services that people in big cities are getting.
This time the committee heard from a range of organisations about the delivery of government services across country NSW. The organisations that took part included Orana Support Service, The Benevolent Society, Rural Financial Counselling Service NSW, Western NSW Community Legal Centre, Coonamble Shire Council, Walgett Cultural and Community Aboriginal Corporation, Dubbo Regional Council, Western Alliance of Councils and Murrin Bridge Local Aboriginal Land Council.
There are still more hearings to come in August, in Tweed Heads and in the Macquarie Room at Parliament, and the committee’s report will be tabled sometime after those hearings.
To find out more details go to https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/parliamentary-business/committees/inquiry-details?committeeInquiryId=3153&ref=3341
Disaster Threshold Proposed Change
As part of a potential overhaul of existing disaster recovery funding arrangements, the Federal Government is considering a proposal to lift the threshold allowing access to natural disaster funding from $240,000 to $2.7 million.
If this proposal is implemented it will adversely, and disproportionately, affect regional councils. Small country towns might see a lot of damage done to roads, bridges and other local structures before the cost reaches $2.7 million.
Just as an example, the towns of Rowena and Carinda were reliant on natural disaster funding to rebuild after both were hit by severe storms only days apart in 2024. But if, at that time, the threshold had been set at $2.7 million before any assistance was triggered, they wouldn’t have received any funding. That would have left the Walgett Shire struggling to rebuild their infrastructure and the council would have been hard pressed to find the cash to rebuild its roads.
Our councils have very small rate bases and are largely dependent on government grants for essential infrastructure. They are already under financial pressure and don’t have the huge budgets of metropolitan areas, one natural disaster under that threshold could push them well into the red.
I believe this proposal is unfair to regional and remote communities, and I will be working to make sure that the Federal Government sees the problems this will create for small regional councils, that common sense will prevail and the proposal will be rejected.
Our regional councils shouldn’t be left to carry the burden of disaster recovery on their own.
Youth Parliament
While the conventional Parliament wasn’t sitting in July another, younger, Parliament occupied the chamber at Macquarie St. Known as the Y NSW Youth Parliament, this assembly is composed of school students from year 10 to 12, each one representing one of the 93 electorates.
Y NSW Youth Parliament, which has been running for 25 years, gives students a real experience of how parliament operates, honing their skills of public speaking, persuasion, collaboration and relationship building. It gives young people a forum for their ideas and opinions, one in which others will respectfully listen, according to rules of decorum defined by parliamentary procedure.
It is a great practical experience, deepening the students’ understanding of civics. As Natalie Ward pointed out in her speech at the opening of the parliament, this is not a practice democracy, it is democracy in action.
The students spent three days hearing from sitting members of NSW Parliament and taking part in question-and-answer sessions, but the main part of the experience involved delivering speeches, introducing bills, proposing amendments to bills and taking part in debates on bills and vote on them.
There was also debate on a “National Matter of Importance”, that being that “instability within Australia’s contemporary housing context is a key factor that undermines social and community cohesion.” There were some great points made by those who contributed to this complex and important discussion.
The Youth Member for Barwon was Maxine from Narrabri High, who was also serving as Youth Minister for Education. She gave a private members statement on the teacher shortage in regional areas, saying that there needs to be a more equitable classification of towns eligible for incentives to attract teachers.
Mazxine also gave a spirited speech against an opposition bill “for an Act to ensure the implementation of youth voices to the NSW curriculum, specifically regarding, Student Wellbeing, Indigenous Integration and Artificial Intelligence education, and related purposes,” which she pointed out was “tokenistic” in nature and proposed amendments to make it more substantial and to make sure that student voices would be heard.
I congratulate Maxine and all the other students who took part in this event, I also want to thank the Y NSW and all others involved in its organisation.
I would urge young people to find out more about the Youth Parliament and perhaps event to take part. It may not lead to a career in public service, but it would help broaden your understanding of how our democracy works.
https://www.ymcansw.org.au/community-services/youth/youth-parliament
Premier Visits Barwon
It is always good when other members of Parliament travel out west to Barwon, so that they can get a better feel for the place, its distances, the things that are working well, as well as our particular needs, concerns and issues. Seeing things first hand, listening to the people who live in rural and remote areas, will better inform any decisions they make in Macquarie St that affect the people of Barwon.
It is even better when members of the cabinet visit, but last week the Premier, Chris Minns made a visit to Bourke and Brewarrina.
His first stop on his visit was the Bourke & District Children’s Services (BDCS), well known for providing quality early childcare and education to children in the area, as well as a range of other services including its early intervention program. BDCS is using state funding to expand the number of places and to build an Aboriginal Child and Family Centre offering wrap-around support.
The Premier also paid a visit to the Bourke PCYC and interacted with local kids who were there taking part in its school holiday programs.
Later the Premier joined Mayors and General Managers from Brewarrina Shire, Coonamble Shire, Walgett Shire and Bourke Shire along with police, Maranguka and Bourke Tribal Council for a discussion at Yetta Dhinnakkal, near Brewarrina.
The Premier heard a proposal to establish a mandatory youth diversionary program at the facility, which help to better address youth crime across the region.
I am working alongside the four councils and the community representatives to do whatever is required to advance the proposal.
Grants Available
Community groups and local organisations often need more than just an army of volunteers to do the good work that they do. That is why grants are so important.
In the last newsletter I detailed some of the grants that had been secured in Barwon through the Crown Reserve Improvements Fund (CRIF). The latest CRIF round is now open with $13.5 million available for projects to positively impact crown reserves.
The funding focuses on:
- General Projects – Supporting projects on Crown reserves that deliver strong community benefits. Funding: $50,000 – $1,000,000
- Pest & Weed Management Projects – Helping land managers meet biosecurity responsibilities. Funding: $500 – $200,000
- Projects must deliver meaningful community impact
- Operational maintenance and admin costs are not eligible
- But time is running out, applications close Friday 24 July 2026
This is a chance to secure government investment in projects that enhance and protect our Crown reserves.
For the full guidelines and details on eligibility go to:
But these are not the only grants on offer. Community organisations, sporting clubs and event organisers across regional NSW are also encouraged to apply for funding through the GrainCorp Community Fund.
Grants of up to $20,000 are available to support projects that help communities develop, renew, recover, and thrive. Funding is available under two streams: Community Programs and Infrastructure & Projects.
Community Programs – up to $20,000
Infrastructure & Projects – up to $20,000
To be eligible, applications must be from a sporting club or community event located within an area where GrainCorp operates or a region linked to grain-growing activities.
Applications close: 31 July 2026
For more information, eligibility and to apply, visit: https://www.graincorp.com.au/community-fund/
Central Darling Shire has also opened its Community Grants Fund for the latest round of applications. For more details see https://www.centraldarling.nsw.gov.au/Public-notices/Community-Grants-fund-open-for-applications
For help with finding grants email barwon@parliament.nsw.gov.au or call one of my offices
Respect and civility on social media
I was disgusted by some of the responses to one of my recent posts on social media. I had invited the Premier to have a look at a preschool in Bourke where the government has provided funds for expansion of the school’s services.
In the post he took part in a smoking ceremony, some form of which has taken place in indigenous culture for centuries before colonisation, even if the modern version is more formalised and involves more recent innovations like being lit in a tin bucket.
People who responded naturally vented their frustrations about the premier, and the record shows I strongly disagree with him on the issue of firearms, but we keep the discussion civil and we are continuing to work on the issue.
Some of the respondents crossed a line with personal insults and even threats of violence, which is bad enough and shouldn’t replace intelligent political discourse, but others were nothing less than bigoted.
Bourke and District Children’s Services is renowned for playing a significant role in social cohesion in Bourke, but some of the responses show that many people don’t understand Bourke’s commitment to respect and the betterment of its community.
The smoking ceremony represents clearing away the bad and taking part in something that brings us together.
People who can’t be respectful should really just disengage from social media. While it should be a forum for free speech, it shouldn’t be a place for people who are incapable of respecting the opinions, culture, and the rights of others.
Civics – The Census
Next month Australia will conduct a census, collecting data on our population. It is not just a head count of the number of people, it also gathers information on where and how we live, work, worship, learn, farm, conduct business, what age we are, and what the economic, cultural and social makeup is of this country.
A census is not some way of keeping tabs on specific people, or invading our privacy, it is an absolutely essential tool for all levels of government to determine the needs of its citizens, such as where to build new roads, schools, hospitals, and housing and to make projections about what might be needed in the future.
The accuracy of that information can make major differences to how resources are distributed across the country.
The census is taken on one night, so it can only ever really be a snapshot of the country at a given moment in time. The fact that it is being conducted in August raises particular concerns for Barwon, given that Broken Hill’s population will be expanded by the Mundi Mundi Bash and Louth’s by the Louth Races, but there are specific instructions available for people who are travelling on the night of the Census (see https://info.census.abs.gov.au/help/completing-census-where-you-are/travelling).
There have also been problems with the way the data is collected (see the Fast Facts section below) which has led to problems with population projections for regional areas, which has had detrimental effects for instance for councils trying to apply for funding through the government Planning Portal.
But in the end a census remains the best way for us to understand the makeup of the population of our country and to plan properly for the future. Citizens should do all they can to ensure that they fill out their census forms and fill them out accurately, so that resources are distributed to where they are needed, when they are needed.
Fast Facts:
The earliest known censuses were conducted by the Ancient Babylonians in about 3800 BC. Taking place every six or seven years, they mainly counted resources, farms and businesses, as well as people, to determine what could be taxed, so it could be determined what funds were available for the military, for administration and what labour was available for conscription and for public works.
The Ancient Egyptians also counted people so that it could be determined how many were available for building state monuments. They kept detailed records.
The Ancient Romans gave us the word census from the Latin censere, meaning “to estimate”. These were highly efficient and taken every five years and gave the Romans an estimate of the number of people and the amount of property they owned, allowing the Romans also to estimate how much they could ask of their citizens in terms of taxation and civic obligations such as military service. Their census also determined a person’s status within their society and what rights and privileges they could claim.
The first population counts in Australia were the mandatory convict musters, which first took place in 1788. As the population of free settlers grew the government realised it could not compel free citizens to attend a muster, and in 1828 the first census was held in NSW.
Each colony held its own census until Federation in 1901 resulted in the need for a national Cesus. The Census and Statistics Act of 1905 established a Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics and set the date of the first national census for 1911.
The last Australian census was in 2021. Around 10 million households, and over 25 million people, participated. Although a report on that census talked about how successful it was, there were many stories of widespread problems with collecting data in regional, rural and remote areas. One major problem was that the census had taken place before a major surge in population as country areas came out of drought and as people moved to regional areas as a result of the pandemic.
The indigenous population is believed to have been undercounted by about 17.4 percent, many people in Barwon reported not receiving census forms and there were problems for many people connecting to the internet to fill out the online forms. There were also problems with people being lockdown.
The 1911 UK Census was disrupted by Suffragettes protesting the fact that women did not yet have the right to vote. Thousands of women hid from census takers, refused to fill out the forms or returned forms with slogans such as “No Vote, No Census!”
After invading England and ascending the throne, William the Conqueror ordered a count of all the people in his kingdom of England and Wales, what land and possessions they owned and what resources were available. This information was collected into a book, originally known as the “Book of Winchester” because it was kept in the King’s treasury at Winchester, it later became known as the “Domesday Book”, because it was a final judgement of all the people – like doomsday.
Roy Butler is the state MP for Barwon. This is his regular newsletter.
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