In the previous article I talked about the North of the electorate and we got to Guyra. Let’s now continue our journey through the centre of the Electorate.
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We have put more than $3 million on the table for the Armidale Regional Airport upgrade, and to expand the industrial area near the Airport. At UNE we have had massive investment in further infrastructure such as $29 million towards the $46 million Department of Agriculture building, investigating such things as plant pathology. One of the biggest fights in the whole electorate was the movement of the APVMA out of Canberra to Armidale as part of our decentralisation push and our creation of Centres of Excellence in regional areas, similar to the establishment of the $4 billion Regional Investment Corporation in Orange.
It makes complete sense that in a city that has the School of Rural Science, breed societies and huge investment in plant pathology, to have the APVMA based in that same city. I want to create the social environment where these skill sets mix and build on the inherent knowledge that individuals have when they spend their lives investigating issues with animal husbandry and plant pathology.
We’re now seeing the APVMA take shape in Armidale with the tender launched to secure a permanent local office for lease by July 2019. The new premises must be within a 10km radius of the University of New England as part of the much-anticipated Centre of Agricultural Excellence in Armidale and requires 2,000 to 3,200 square metres of quality office accommodation for its staged relocation.
We also recently secured an Interim CEO Dr Chris Parker and an executive search is now underway for a permanent CEO.
Relocating the APVMA to Armidale is delivering on the government’s commitment to boost jobs and investment in regional communities delivering long-term benefits.
We also put money on the table for the investigation of another dam at Walcha. We fought and succeeded in keeping Walcha and Uralla as a stand-alone shires, and upgraded bridges such as Tenterden Bridge, Abbington Bridge, Aberbaldie Bridge, Kangaroo Flat Bridge and Yarrowitch.
We financed new mobile phone towers at Walcha Road hill, Walcha, Hillgrove east of Armidale, Invergowrie and Wongwibinda North West of Ebor as part of 37 new or upgraded base stations in the New England electorate, and put $3.84 million on the table for Thunderbolts Way expended across several local government areas.
In Agricultural production we have made sure that cattle, meat sheep and wool are at the forefront of our Free Trade Agreements, and we have seen and continue to see record prices in beef, in mutton, in lamb, in goat and a major turnaround in the wool market.
Places such as Armidale are more reliant than most on the agricultural economy and one only has to note the turnaround in lamb prices to see that our government has had major success in working with industry to get the very best for the markets which surrounds Armidale. For the first time there’s been serious pay down of agricultural debt and farmers are utilising the $800,000 farm usage – one hundred per cent write off for water reticulation and write off over three years for grain storage.
If the cattle producers make money, ultimately the hairdresser makes money, and the butcher makes money. If more money flows into the city, Armidale grows, and if Armidale grows, Guyra grows. I don’t think we can ever recreate what Drummond did for Armidale with UNE, but we can add to it with the APVMA.