State member for Upper Hunter Michael Johnsen seemed to be everywhere last week, bringing a ring of truth to the term ‘mobile office’ when he visited Stroud and Gloucester. The four day visit was the first of three mobile offices promised for the region for the year based on premise that “everyone should have the opportunity to get my full attention”.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
First on the agenda for Gloucester was jobs and roads.
“The business chamber is very anxious to ensure the future of the region,” he said.
“I am a financial planner, it is something that I understand very well. Any business relies on a consistent level of work and small businesses are more vulnerable to economic conditions than big business. There are no opportunities to offset downswings like a multinational, there are no economies of scale, so business owners are always wondering what is going to happen. That’s what keeps them awake at night and they need a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Mr Johnsen believes there are all sorts of opportunities in Gloucester but to make them a reality there needs to be investment in infrastructure by all levels of government.
“Bucketts Way and Thunderbolts Way are the veins of commerce into Gloucester,” he said.
“With the sale of poles and wires going through government expressions of interest have been called for transactions for this financial year... there will be record levels of investment in regional NSW and it is up to me to go and get dollars for this region’s infrastructure,” he vowed, emphasising that the area needed significant road funding.
Mr Johnsen said that good roads and the NBN would make it easier to attract investment attract into Gloucester which in turn would bring jobs.
“It’s a beautiful area, a quintessential country town with all the best attributes sought by people moving to regional areas,” he said, quoting the region’s health, education, and other infrastructure services.
Asked if he thought open cut mining and coal seam gas fracking could interfere with that beauty in the long term, he responded that if the mines were properly run according to best practice, he did not foresee a negative impact on the region.
“In Bulga the gas wells are in amongst the vineyards. They even use what they extract to make their own power,” he said, adding that he had never seen a good looking open cut mine yet.
“They are what they are but if the appropriate buffer zones for the topography and mitigation measures for mining practices are followed, there will be the least possible impact. Their expansion and future under appropriate circumstances is viable, yes” he said.
Mr Johnsen believes that there should be a direct community benefit to hosting the mining activities and that a future fund should be administered by local government for projects directed towards building the community.
“People need to know there are benefits coming to them from the extraction activities going on around them,” he said.
Meetings included residents and students from Stroud and Gloucester for awards and a range of issues from roads, mining, coal seam gas and roof insulation. He met with the Gloucester Business Chamber and with Dairy Connect and AGL representatives to discuss plans for a powdered milk operation. Friday was spent on a site visit to AGL’s operations and doorknocking on Friday. The mobile office ended with a Rural Fire Service award presentation on Saturday.
