Although the dry conditions are hitting the region hard, there was still an excellent turnout at the 120th Warialda Show on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week.

It was a pleasure to attend the official opening, catch up with Gwydir mayor Tiff Galvin, Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman 2026 Louisa Gilmour and former Member for Parkes Mark Coulton. Well done to the show committee for another fantastic event.

Transmission corridor meeting

A group of Walcha and Upper Hunter farmers and landholders who will be impacted by the Bayswater to Walcha transmission line visited NSW Parliament on Monday to meet with myself, Member for Upper Hunter Dave Layzell, Leader of the NSW Opposition Kelly Sloane and various other MPs.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the impacts and the roll-out of the renewable energy process.

The group previously put together a Parliamentary ePetition which reached the required 20,000 signatures to be debated in Parliament. That debate will be on June 25.

Telehealth failing country communities

Rural communities, nurses and local councils have continued to express their concerns on the ever-increasing reliance on virtual emergency department care in regional hospitals.

The use of telehealth services is widespread across regional and rural NSW with many healthcare workers lamenting the over-reliance on computers has heaped more pressure on already overworked nurses.

Virtual care has a place in supporting healthcare delivery, particularly in isolated communities, but it is not a replacement for having a real doctor physically present in an emergency department. If someone enters an emergency department after a farm machinery injury incident, a heart attack, a motor vehicle crash or snake bite, they deserve proper face to face medical care, not a laptop on a trolley.

If a metropolitan hospital announced there would be no doctor on site and patients would instead speak to a doctor over video, there would be outrage. But Labor expects our communities to simply accept it. The Minns Labor Government needed to stop commissioning inquiries and start implementing the recommendations already handed down by the parliamentary inquiry into rural and regional healthcare.

Brendan Moylan caught up with AgShows 2026 Young Woman of the Year Louisa Gilmour and Gwydir mayor Tiff Galvin at the 120th Warialda Show last weekend.

Parliamentary sittings

I was back in Macquarie Street for the second week of Parliamentary sittings and it was another incredibly busy one.

I contributed to the debate for the Water Management Amendment (Easements for Inundation) Bill 2026.

Again, the Minns Labor Government has failed to consult with people on the ground who are directly affected by the legislation. The amendment enables government water authorities to legally flood private land for environmental water delivery purposes.

There will be no compensation for land damage caused by government-managed inundation. The government needs to engage with MPs before putting this legislation through.

Member for Cootamundra and Shadow Water Minister Steph Cooke has put forward amendments which need to be considered.

My Private Members’ Statement was on the firearms legislation passed before Christmas.

Owners of firearms shops across the Northern Tablelands have been significantly impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the new laws.

There’s been as much as a 90 per cent downturn in sale since Christmas which is not only detrimental to the business, but the wider community through local jobs and sports club sponsorship.

Additionally, gun clubs across the electorate have had a huge increase in the number of people wanting to join but the clubs are not set up to cope with the influx. They don’t have the infrastructure and are entirely voluntarily run.

The laws that this Parliament have passed penalise the wrong people.

They penalise people who need firearms for their business. They penalise honest, hardworking firearms owners and licence holders that had nothing to do with the incident at Bondi.

As the regulations come online, we are going to see more kickback from regional New South Wales over these bad laws.

I tabled Questions On Notice on the New South Wales wild dog fence, the former ambulance station in Glen Innes, the Glen Innes railway station, firearms registry, shark monitoring activities, Moree and Glen Innes Hospital redevelopments, police drone trial, locum doctor costs, and drought relief.

I delivered Community Recognition Statement’s on Vale Inverell’s Angela Clarke, Moree’s Kelly Atkins, Mungindi Musical and Dramatic Society, Uralla and Armidale’s Aboriginal Olympics team, Guyra’s Tom Lockyer, Moree’s Robyn James, polocrosse players Cody Woodward and Abbott Grills, Inverell’s Cameilia Edwards, and Moree on a Plate.

Applications for Community War Memorials Funding open

Applications for grants of up to $15,000 for the conservation of war memorials across New South Wales are now open.

The Community War Memorials Fund supports organisations who are responsible for management of war memorials.

For application criteria and to apply, visit Community War Memorial Grants.

Fundraiser for Moree Hospital

Lachie Butler is running 250 kilometres over five consecutive days to raise awareness and funds to purchase specialised breast cancer care equipment at Moree Hospital.

Lachie supported his mother through breast cancer and grandmother through terminal breast cancer treatment at Moree and wants to make a difference.

Last year he raised $44,000 for the cause and is aiming to raise more this year.

To support the cause, visit Lachie Butler’s My Cause.

What’s on

May 16: Big Chill Festival at Armidale

May 17: The Big Chilly Dip at Armidale

May 16 to 23: Rotary Club of Armidale Central annual book fair at Armidale Jockey Club

May 23: Moree Picnic Races

Also, the Inverell Theatre Society production of My In-laws are Outlaws at Beaulieu Memorial Theatre on May 22-23 and May 28-29-30. Tickets via My In-laws Are Outlaws.

Commentary by Brendan Moylan, Member for Northern Tablelands