COBB AND SILVER CITY HIGHWAYS

Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland—Minister for Regional Transport and Roads) (19:36): For more than a decade, over 150 men and women have been sealing the Silver City and Cobb highways, camping hundreds of kilometres away from their nearest town, spending months away from family members at a time—often in extreme heat of 50-degree days and freezing nights. With incredible personal sacrifices, they have given New South Wales a fully sealed highway network for the first time in our State's history. I was honoured to celebrate this achievement with them and the member for Barwon, Roy Butler, MP, at Mount Manara, where we literally cut the ribbon on the sealing of New South Wales' last major gravel highway. After a warm welcome to country from Badger Bates from Barkindji Malyangapa and Big Jim West from Ngiyampaa, and official speeches, the students and teachers from Ivanhoe Central School sang their school song and read some wonderful poems that they had written. Their song has to be rewritten because it does not talk about a sealed road; it talks about gravel roads. I thank Country Women's Association ladies from Ivanhoe for the delicious repast. I also thank the former member for Murray-Darling and former mayor of Broken Hill, Peter Black, OAM, and local landowner John Elliott, who addressed the gathering. Most of all, I thank all those who made this enormous contribution to our State, fully sealed all the way.