State Matters - 22 June 2026

OUR TREASURES!

SIX Upper Hunter electorate women are among the 80 outstanding regional women volunteers named on the 2025 Hidden Treasures Honour Roll.

Congratulations Winifred Wilson of Limeburners Creek, Rosslyn Sherlock from Lorn, Singleton’s Lyn MacBain, Carol Johnstone from Clarence Town, Joan Hart of Bolwarra and

Dungog ‘s Margaret Flannery.

Margaret has been recognised for her contributions to Dungog Public School and Dungog Visitor Information Centre.

School teachers Joan Hart and Ros Sherlock have had their lengthy contributions to Maitland Hockey acknowledged.

The Country Women’s Association, Share the Dignity and Hunter Region Botanic Gardens are causes close to the heart of Carol Johnstone.

Winnie Wilson joined the NSW Rural Fire Service 29 years ago as a volunteer firefighter and today is Deputy Captain of her Limeburners Creek brigade.

And, Lyn MacBain has served an elected councillor on Singleton Council and since beginning her involvement with Singleton Tidy Towns in 1994 has helped guide the community to two NSW Tidy Towns titles.

Discover more about our latest Hidden Treasures at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/women-nsw/rural-womens-network/hidden-treasures-honour-roll

Nominate a volunteer for the 2026 Honour Roll by Thursday 31 December by going to: https://hiddentreasures.awardsplatform.com/ 

NOMINATIONS REQUIRED

The National Australia Day Council is calling for NSW to nominate the extraordinary people to be recognised and celebrated for the contributions they make to both our state and the nation.

Nominations for the 2027 Awards close Friday, 31 July, with four award categories for Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year aged 65 years or over, Young Australian of the Year aged 16 to 30 and Australia's Local Hero.

The Awards celebrate amazing Australians who enrich our lives, go above and beyond for their communities in meaningful ways and it’s a way to honour the efforts of a fellow Australian and show that their contributions have not gone unnoticed.

NSW will announce the State nominees and four category award recipients in November with the recipients going on to the National Awards in Canberra in January next year.

To nominate, visit: www.australianoftheyear.org.au/nominate and complete a few short questions.

REGISTRATION REBATE

The NSW Nationals and Liberals have committed to deliver a $100 registration rebate for the state’s drivers as part of a broader plan to ease the cost of living.

Under the plan, the return of the Coalition to government at the March 2027 NSW Election, will enable motorists to claim the $100 rebate on the registration of a private-use vehicle, with drivers eligible to a rebate on up to two private vehicles.

The rebate will be available for 2027 vehicle registrations.

The NSW Nationals and Liberals have a plan to support drivers, such as the already announced Fuel Price Guarantee, which requires fuel retailers to publicly report and lock in their maximum daily fuel prices.

The registration rebate is practical cost of living relief and with the restoration of the Regional Seniors Travel Card, it shows the NSW Coalition has a clear plan to ease pressure on household budgets.

SCHOOL RELOCATION

The Minns Labor Government has announced that it will relocate Maitland Grossmann High School, however, the new location is yet to be publicly disclosed.

The school will reportedly be moved to a larger site catering for up to 1,500 students which is set to open in 2030.

In the meantime, Grossmann High will continue to operate from its current site, where recent improvements have been made to existing facilities including new covered walkways, shade structures and outdoor seating, a vocational education and training (VET) hospitality kitchen, replacement of timber retaining walls and fresh external paintwork.

Further details, including the new location, are expected to be shared with the community later this year once commercial negotiations for the new site have been finalised.

FEEDBACK OPEN

Public comment is now open on the State Significant Development Application for the Bluestone Hardrock Quarry Project proposed for the Elderslie-Glendon Brook area.

The DA covers establishment of a quarry to extract and process up to 1 million tonnes of hard rock per year for up to 30 years; construction of an access road; associated site infrastructure and amenities; transporting material off-site using public roads and progressive site rehabilitation.

The exhibition process allows individuals or organisations to have their say about the development application, Environmental Impact Statement, and accompanying documents until Tuesday 7 July.

View the documents online at: www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/bluestone-hardrock-quarry-project and lodge a submission through the NSW Planning Portal before the close of exhibition.

IPC HEARING

Branxton Community Hall will be the location for a public hearing next month into the Hunter Valley Operations North and South Open Cut Coal Continuation Projects.

The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has completed its assessment of the State significant development applications referring them to the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) for determination

The Minister for Planning has requested the IPC conduct the public hearing, which is now scheduled for Thursday, 16 July, and Friday, 17 July, commencing at 10am on both days.

Anyone wishing to speak at the hearing must pre-register on the IPC’s website before Noon on Wednesday, 8 July.

The deadline for written submissions to the Commission is Sunday, 26 July.

Further information is available from: www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/public-meetings-and-hearings

MORE SERVICES

Branxton, East Branxton, and Leconfield will have access to additional public bus services from next month.

The NSW Government will bolster Route 179 between North Rothbury and Green Hills Shopping Centre via Maitland, with an additional 70 services each week.

For the first time, the route will operate on Sundays and public holidays, providing greater flexibility and accessibility for commuters.

The additional services on Route 179 commence from 19 July, delivering more travel options for communities including Branxton, Greta, Lochinvar and Windella.

For timetable details go to: https://cdcbus.com.au/travel-info/timetables-and-maps/newcastle-and-hunter-valley-bus-timetables-om-region-2/

MOBILE UPGRADE

Telstra is advising mobile telephone users that there will be temporarily disruptions this week while upgrade works are underway.

The mobile base station located in Broken Back Road, Pokolbin will have 4G and 5G upgrades from Wednesday, 24 June, for a period of six days.

During the work, the site will need to be switched off for periods of up to 10 hours to safely complete the upgrade.

Telstra mobile customers will receive an SMS advising of the work with any calls to Triple Zero from a Telstra mobile when the site is off air automatically connected to another mobile network, if available, for connection to emergency services.

The work will not impact NBN, Satellite internet services, PSTN landline services, or mobile coverage from other providers.

For more information and tips on how to prepare and to keep up to do date on this outage, check: www.telstra.com.au/support/outage-advice

THE MOUNTAIN CALLS!

Putty Road and Milbrodale Road will be buzzing with traffic this weekend, 27-28 June, as both roads welcome racers and spectators to Milbrodale for the annual Mountain Classic.

Hunter Valley Off Road Racing Association is promising fans non-stop motorsport excitement from high-octane racing featuring top drivers from across the state and beyond.

This year’s Classic is Round 4 of the NSW Off Road Championship, Round 1 of the East Coast Tri Challenge and Round 2 of the Hunter Valley HD Haulage NSW Off Road Enduro Series.

Saturday begins with the prologue to determine starting positions, followed by the opening two races over ten laps.

Sunday’s racing has several more contests before the field tackles the long course and puts the pedal to the metal for the single hot lap to determine this year’s prestigious ‘Champion of the Mountain’ honour.

The Milbrodale venue has spectator viewing and a great community atmosphere.

Get your race brief from: www.hvorra.com.au/milbrodale-mountain-classic.html

FERAL PIG PLAN

An elected NSW Nationals and Liberals Government will fund a $300 million biosecurity and control program for the coordination and management of feral animals.

Feral pigs have a major impact on the farming sector damaging water sources, fences and pasture, raiding agricultural crops and attacking new-born livestock.

The Coalition’s plan backed by record investment will protect the state’s critical primary industries sector and conserve our environment through a multi-pronged approach.

It will include improved on-ground action and local coordination across all tenures with more boots on the ground, trial of a targeted bounty scheme for feral pigs, thermal imaging and drone technology to detect and track pigs and increased legal requirements for public land managers to manage pest animals.

NSW Nationals Leader, Gurmesh Singh, is committed to reducing the number and impact of feral pigs across NSW through commonsense measures that invest in stronger biosecurity.

ENERGY UPDATE

The Australian Government’s Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) initiative will be introduced from 1 July.

The SSO is one of the reforms being made to the Default Market Offer (DMO) framework and made available to households in the DMO areas of NSW, South Australia and South-East Queensland.

It gives households with a smart meter access to three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day—whether they have rooftop solar or not.

The Solar Sharer Offer will be optional with customers able to sign up through their energy retailer.

And, the Cheaper Home Batteries Program has changed, now smaller batteries still receive the full discount, while larger batteries receive a lower discount.

The program was updated in May to better meet household needs over the long term with the rebate to also reduce more frequently over time to reflect falling battery prices and help ensure the program remains sustainable.

Discover more at: www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/programs/cheaper-home-batteries

PORT TO REZ ROADWORK

Upgrades along the Port to REZ route from the Port of Newcastle to the Central-West Orana REZ are nearly complete.

Road upgrades have been completed at 13 locations including six sites along the Golden Highway between Whittingham and Denman.

Another six sites and pullover bays remain under construction, with all work scheduled for completion later this year.

The Port to REZ route has been designed by the NSW Government, backed by more than $110 million in funding.

The upgrades support the safe movement of oversize overmass (OSOM) vehicles carrying large components needed to build wind and solar projects in renewable energy zones.

For more on the project, go to: https://energyco.nsw.gov.au/our-projects/enabling-projects/port-to-rez

SCAMS ADVICE

Upper Hunter seniors are invited to participate in a scams awareness event to be held in Tamworth.

NSW Council on the Ageing has organised Staying Safe from Scams at Wests' Diggers in Kable Avenue, Tamworth on Wednesday 26 August, 11am-12.30 pm.

Scams are becoming more sophisticated and more frequent, targeting people in increasingly convincing ways.

The session will outline current scam tactics, emerging risks, and practical steps you can take to stay safe online.

Following the formal session, there will be information stalls with helpful resources and an opportunity to connect with other seniors.

Tickets are free by registering at: https://events.humanitix.com/staying-safe-from-scams-tamworth/tickets

RETURN TIME

Farmers and land managers are being encouraged to set aside time to complete their annual Land and Stock Return.

The survey helps Local Land Services (LLS) and partner agencies support productive, profitable and sustainable farming across the state.

Information gathered helps the LLS to respond faster and more accurately to biosecurity and emergency events, safeguard domestic and international market access and for contributors to keep their property and livestock records up to date.

The online portal will open on Tuesday, 30 June, and stay online until 31 August for correspondents to complete their return.

The easiest way to participate is to check-in at: https://nsw.gov.au/alsr

Contact: 

Email address: upperhunter@parliament.nsw.gov.au;

New Address: 94 John Street Singleton 2330 

Postal Address: PO Box 60 Singleton NSW 2330

Ph: 6543 1065