It will be the first sitting of Federal Parliament since Nov-ember.

Mr Windsor said yesterday he would be one of 20 new MPs of the 40th Australian Parliament and would join fellow country Inde-pendents Peter Andren (Calare, NSW) and Bob Katter (Kennedy, Queensland) on the cross benches "to run the ball up for country Australians".

"The last three months have been a great preparation for the time ahead in representing the people of New England," Mr Windsor said.

"It has given me the opportunity of getting around the electorate as the member and getting first-hand input from community members on federal matters and hear what they would like to have occur in the future."

Mr Windsor said he would be focusing his efforts on improving health and education services and addressing the inequities that exist for country Australians in accessing job opportunities through economic development in the country.

"National competition policy and the economic rationalist approach of the Government must be reviewed and put into a context that takes smallness, remoteness and distance into account."

"If the Government doesn't address competition policy, then we will all end up being rationalised to large metropolitan areas on the coast in feedlots, creating more social and environmental problems than exist already," he said.

Australia had to implement policies that would see growth across the entire nation, not just along the coast.

"We have a vast productive inland that is being overlooked by the current policy mix and therefore withering on the vine for lack of attention and long-term commitment to growing it," the New England MP said.

"This is the message I will be taking from the people of New England to Canberra and will continue to seek recognition of that through every avenue available to me as the federal member.

"I look forward to the challenge ahead and the support and input of the people of the New England electorate as we seek to share in the economic and social growth of Australia."