It was a quick and surprise visit pre-announced by his mentor but the small township of Adaminaby was falling over itself after a flying visit by Deputy Premier and local member John Barilaro.
It was news that they had been wanting to hear for more than 50 years - the NSW Government would seal its part of the back road to Canberra from Adaminaby to the ACT border. With $20m on the table, NSW now expects the ACT to come to the party and seal its part of the road.
To add to the goodies bag Mr Barilaro even promised a new paint job for the big trout that has been looking a bit flakey of late.
"Today I was out in Adaminaby with Bronnie Taylor MLC, where we announced $20 million to seal the NSW section of Bobeyan Road," Mr Barilaro said on facebook..
"It's a key arterial road for our region, and the quickest way to Canberra, but it is often avoided due to its poor condition. With Bobeyan Road sealed, Adaminaby's tourism, events, visitor numbers and more will prosper."
Adaminaby is home to Mr Barilaro's mentor Peter Cochran, also the former Nationals member for Monaro, who runs horse treks from his property at nearby Yaouk. It was Mr Cochran who pushed for the heritage listing of brumbies in Kosciuskzo National Park, which was taken up by Mr Barilaro and passed through NSW Parliament last year.
It was Mr Cochran who announced on Adaminaby's web noticeboard that Mr Barilaro would be in town on Saturday for a "significant announcement".
The news though brought some cynicism on the noticeboard, with Mr Cochran finally responding "You know when I read some of the above cynical and nasty comments I know exactly why I resigned from Parliament! Wake up you lot , if you don’t like the elected representative we have , let your balls drop and put your name on a ballot paper ! Let’s see how good you are !"
Many jumped to Mr Cochran's defence: " Seems some of the facebook Worriers from Reclaim are commenting. How surprising. I've followed John Barilaro for a while. I'm not a local voter. He's very active in supporting the local community I've observed. 🤔 I wonder how much these negative people have actually done for the community".
Even if it was election "pork barilaroing", the announcement of the sealing of the road was greeted on the ground with applause as it would be a major boost to the town. The sealing of the road, which is now often in a treacherous state, would cut driving time to Canberra by at least an hour, and the new road could be promoted as an attraction for cyclists and tourists. Already Destination NSW is thinking of ways it could use the new scenic route in its advertising.
But many locals were scratching their head wondering how $20m could fund 20km of road when the newly completed 2km main strip through town cost $8m.
A Roads department spokesman at the gathering said it could be done. The road known as Bobeyan Rd runs through paddocks, and those would have to be fenced off. There are also many gullies and culverts.
Snow Goose Hotel publican Andrew Smith said everyone was delighted with the announcement and a sealed road would boost trade in Adaminaby, a town like most that has been hit by the drought. "We weren't sure though if the project was contingent on the Coalition winning the election," he said.
Mr Barilaro also said he hoped the Snowy 2.0 scheme approval would be announced shortly by the Federal Government, that would help put Adaminaby on the map. The roads funding is part of a major country roads announcement at today's Nationals launch in Queanbeyan. Mr Barilaro promised to use funds from the Commonwealth buyout of Snowy Hydro to fund regional projects such as Bobeyan Rd.
John Ellicott
journalist and author
journalist and author
