New Nationals leader fresh from opening of Covid-testing site
New South Wales regional transport and roads minister Paul Toole has won leadership of the state Nationals party and will become deputy premier in due course.
Is a period of upheaval for the governing Coalition parties, Bathurst MP Toole reportedly won the ballot against previous state transport minister and current water, property and housing minister Melinda Pavey by 15 votes to three.
He takes over from John Barilaro, who resigned from government amidst the fallout of former premier Gladys Brejiklian’s resignation.
Barilaro was minister for regional NSW, industry and trade, with the latter two portfolios having been placed with Liberal MP and deputy premier Stuart Ayres.
A formal ministerial reshuffle is expected to finalise ministerial responsibilities.
Read about Toole announcing NSW Covid-testing sites earlier, here
In this new role, Toole is likely to face greater demands on his time to be in Sydney and less on the ground in the country.
Just four days ago, Toole was at the opening of a Covid-19 pop-up truck-driver testing site at Raglan near Bathurst – the 11th in the state.
“More than 100,000 tests have been carried out across all our testing sites since we opened the first one at Tarcutta more than 12 months ago, and since the beginning of June alone, we’ve seen a 1,679 per cent increase in the number of tests carried out at these sites,” Toole said at the time.
“These testing sites have proven invaluable in helping the freight industry meet the challenges of the Delta strain – and make it easier for truckies and other freight workers to get tested and keep essential supplies moving across NSW and interstate.
“We know how important the freight industry is to the Central West, and this latest site builds on the one we opened at Blackbutt Rest Area on the Newell Highway in Dubbo earlier this month.
“The new site, located at Raglan BP Service Centre, 39 Sydney Road, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will accommodate freight workers travelling along a major road freight corridor which sees around 1,800 heavy vehicle movements per day, servicing our communities from Sydney through to the Blue Mountains and Western NSW.
“This is about making it easier for heavy vehicle drivers to meet their testing requirements and get back on the road.”
He noted that, following feedback from industry, the upcoming Hunter Expressway testing site has been moved to the northwest bound Branxton rest area, which will better accommodate freight accessing the Hunter Expressway from John Renshaw Drive.
More information on such sites can be found here.