FIXING billion dollar gaps in regional funding will be just the start for a new organisation that wants rural residents to demand a better deal from the State government.
Rest of NSW Inc. will tap into regional feelings of a disconnect from Sydney and provide an online option for residents, councils and businesses to campaign for better prosperity measures.
Wentworth Shire councillor Bob Wheeldon is the chairman of Rest of NSW Inc.
He said regional parts of the State needed better representation, and it was up to the people living there to demand it.
"There has been declining representation in rural areas (due to electoral boundaries being redrawn to give more seats to Sydney), and the fact is, the people elected from those areas have to toe the party line," Cr Wheeldon said.
"They've probably got a good heart, but they're not getting enough done."
Cr Wheeldon pointed at the State government's Rebuilding NSW program as an example.
The program includes $73 billion worth of major infrastructure projects, however, once you got past Central West NSW, money for projects was thin on the ground.
"We want to campaign for prosperity for every piece of the puzzle, but at the moment it seems like (Sydney) is the only piece."
By using a grassroots online model similar to GetUp - an online advocacy organisation which runs campaigns on issues like climate change, economic equality and social justice - people in rural NSW could band together regardless of what political party they support, to demand change on specific issues and campaigns, he said.
Deputy chairman of Rest of NSW Andrew Negline said governments of either major party needed to stop trumpeting basic necessities as major infrastructure works for rural areas.
"They give us things like a hospital we should have had 30 years ago, or they'll fix a road.
"Hospitals and roads are things we need to live... where is the visionary leadership for rural areas?"
Before being elected to Wagga Wagga City Council, Cr Negline spent years working for Cargill Beef Australia and spent time in both Russia and South Korea.
He questioned whether those in NSW politics understood the need for a business plan when it came to managing regional NSW.
"There seems to be an ad hoc approach to rural and regional funding... the government is picking off regions like rabbits in the headlights.
"Regional NSW needs to be working together to attract attention to our needs. The way the political landscape is now, we've got to stand up and be heard."
Cr Negline said using the internet meant more people could get involved, especially on farms.
"People don't have time to drive and attend meetings, but you can get online at night when you get off the tractor.
"The internet's a great way for people to connect, it doesn't matter what side of politics you're on.
"On a collective basis, I think we can be heard sooner or later," Cr Negline said.
Cr Wheeldon said he hoped hundreds of thousands of residents across regional NSW took the opportunity to sign up for free on www.restofnsw.org, so they could start having their say on issues affecting them and the campaigns that needed to be brought to the government's attention.
"GetUp has almost 700,000 members and there are millions of people in rural and regional NSW.
"City people don't want rural areas to be badly done by, they just don't hear about us.
"We'd like to run campaigns to convince and educate them (about rural issues) then those ideas need to be turned into policy."
Deputy premier and Minister for Regional Infrastructure Troy Grant was unable to respond by the time The Land went to press.
Visit Rest of NSW.
Roderick Makim
Senior journalist for The Land.
Senior journalist for The Land.
