Helen Dalton MP - Op Ed - End of Year Message

Merry Christmas!  

2025 has been a year of significant wins for Murray, but I know I also have a lot of work to do next year. 

When it comes to water, I managed to get my Water Register Bill passed into law this year. The Bill is designed to publicly name anyone who buys a water entitlement to water in NSW on a register. This means that for the first time, foreign buyers of our water will be identified.   

This Bill will also help stop water licenses from being used by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime.     

A little known aspect of this Bill is that it also gives you and I the right to take any disputes we are having with irrigation infrastructure companies to the Energy and Water Ombudsman of NSW.   

This is important because IIC’s are monopolies.   

If we have a problem with them, we can’t just take our business elsewhere, so we need this protection.  

Next year, the fight against the Federal Government's water buybacks continues, with new Water Minister Murray Watt threatening to take even more water from us.  

This cannot be allowed to happen, and I will do all I can to stop it.  

The push for Murray to get its own Local Health District is also getting stronger by the day.   

I have been both saddened, and spurred on, by the heartbreaking stories you have shared with me about how the Murrumbidgee Local Health District has failed to provide us with health care management we all deserve.    

I am confident that next year, Murray will be able to break away from the MLHD to form our own Western Riverina Local Health District. 

After convincing the Government to provide $2 million to research the causes of Motor Neurone Disease, I’m now trying to get MND registered as a notifiable disease.   

That would mean doctors will register cases with the NSW Health Department so we can work out if there are MND hot spots, and why. 

2025 also saw the Gidget Foundation open, providing desperately needed support for new mothers.  

And in June we saw the new $250 million Griffith Base Hospital finally open its doors.  

After years of lobbying, the Moama Police Station is also about to open, while Wade High and Griffith High are separate schools, once again.   

For a while it looked like the State Government was going to short change our schools when it came to facilities, so I hassled Premier Minns and Health Minister Ryan Park and they were good enough to put in an extra $5 million in funding for the new halls in both schools. 

These halls will now have air-conditioning, retractable seating and full basketball courts, which we all deserve.  

I was also able to convince Origin energy to put a million dollars toward a new childcare centre in Deni, which is desperately needed, and I ear-bashed the Premier and his Ministers to upgrade of Deni airport which means the runway will now be long enough for air ambulances to land. 

So, together, we have achieved a lot this year.  

And next year, I’m determined to achieve even more for Murray. 

I hope you, and your loved ones have a wonderful Christmas.  

Helen.