My Diary  

I was honoured today to announce Ann Adams OAM of Gumly Gumly as the recipient of the 2026 Wagga Wagga Woman of the Year, as part of NSW Women’s Week.

Thank you to everyone who attended the IWD events I co-hosted with Women in Business Wagga Wagga on Friday.

It was a privilege to open this year’s Tumut Show.

It was great to meet Peter Rosethorn (Brett from Kath and KIm!!) at the Murrumbidgee Turf Club 100 evening - a very funny and very genuine guy! And a great evening - congrats to the MTC.

A big thank you to the Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, for taking me on a tour of part – a small part – of his vast electorate this week to research the challenges and opportunities of health care service provision, as part of my Rural Health Action plan.

It was great to meet Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty, the Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, REROC Chair Rick Firman and other local mayors today for wide-ranging discussions on the drought and other issues.

It was great to meet with the committee members of the Collingullie Soldiers Memorial Hall today. The hall is looking fantastic and it’s no surprise that more and more functions are being held there.

It was a pleasure to attend the recent Rotary awards and see so many outstanding members of our community recognised.

Wonderful to celebrate with the Girl Guides the 100th anniversary of World Thinking Day.

Great to pop into the Riverina Murray Regional Allinace Youth Dance Corroboree at the Wagga Multipurpose stadium.

It was great to celebrate the launch of the Wagga Wagga Arts Society Season and their wonderful exhibition “Water, Soil, Sky - Stories of the Riverina” in the wonderful “pink building” at 11 Small Street Wagga Wagga.

It was a pleasure to present the Rotary Club of Batlow with a Community Service Award on Sunday.

It was a privilege to attend the Wagga 2026 National Service Day commemorative service today.

It was great to join the Wagga Women’s Health Centre team this to announce an important domestic and family violence prevention program will continue, thanks to a funding grant from the NSW Government.

Congratulations to the Forest Hill neighbourhood network on their first colour run event here at Forest Hill.

It’s a great turn up and lots of Community organisations involved.

It’s great to see the spirit here.

Congratulations to John Deuis and the team. Fantastic leadership!

It was great to visit the St Vincent de Paul Return and Earn facility on Hammond Avenue in Wagga to celebrate 100 million recycled containers in the six years of operation.

It was an honour to speak at Wagga’s Australia Day citizenship ceremony and join the community in welcoming our newest Australian citizens.

It was a great pleasure to join the Murrumbidgee Local Health District team today to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Acute Services Building at Wagga Base Hospital.

Thank you to community members and faith leaders from across the city who attended last night’s vigil for the Bondi shooting victims.

What a pleasure it was to present awards to the bright and engaging youngsters at Ladysmith Public School this week.

It was a privilege to present Ron Pascoe with a NSW Community Service Award at the South Wagga Lions Christmas lunch on Saturday.

It was fantastic to see the NSW SES in action during their recent emergency simulation exercises at Wagga. These exercises are an important part of strengthening our region’s readiness for flood events and ensuring teams can respond quickly and safely when it matters most.

It was great to join the community for the opening of the new, modern tiny homes at the Tumut Caravan Park.

These state-of-the-art cabins are a fantastic addition to the park and will no doubt attract even more visitors to Tumut and our wider region.

Congratulations to the volunteers who graduated last night as first responders in The Rock’s new Community Emergency Response Team.

Great to be part of the Wagga Lake Run this morning. A huge well done to everyone who took part, and thanks to the committee — Paul MacDonald, Loren and Phil Roy — for their efforts in making the event such a success.

It was an honour to commemorate Remembrance Day with serving Defence members Private Conrada Maniago and Seaman Monica Collie at the RSL poppy appeal at parliament today.

The Harvest Riverina launch on Friday night was a wonderful celebration of our region’s food, wine, music and people.

What a pleasure it was to join students and teachers from Snowy Valleys schools this week as part of the inaugural Snowy Valleys Heroes Competition.

It was a pleasure to meet teaching practitioners and school leaders from across the school sector when Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) visited parliament this week.

What a great privilege it was to host dozens of dedicated volunteers in parliament this week to celebrate Can Assist’s 70th anniversary of helping country people in their fight with cancer.