It was his first trip to country and regional NSW as State One Nation Leader 

He listened to members of the local community about their priorities for changes in NSW Government policy. 

“After huge swings in the Orange and Wagga Wagga by-elections, it is clear country people feel neglected by the Berejiklian Government. Pauline Hanson's One Nation wants to overcome this neglect with positive solutions, especially during this testing time of drought,” Mr Latham said. 

“I'm interested in discussing ideas for increasing employment and economic development in southern NSW.

“I see One Nation as a party of action, determined to get on with the job for people neglected by the Sydney-centric major parties.

“You can’t sit in Sydney and read the newspaper to find out what’s going on – you need to get out and talk to real people who have real-life experience on the ground.”

Mr Latham had been talking to people in Goulburn about the local racing industry and about how Destination NSW could spend some of their $150m budget to promote racing as a tourist activity that is beneficial to the local economy.

“Goulburn is an important racing centre and would benefit from this change in NSW tourism priorities,” he said. 

“There are all sorts of racing here – including Wakefield Park, so Goulburn should be promoted as the racing hub of NSW through promotion by Destination NSW to bring more people into town and spend their money here.

“Destination NSW (the peak State tourism body) is too focused on Sydney.

“It doesn’t have a single grassroots country NSW representative on its board. They are mostly Sydney elites from the world of politics, media and the arts.

“The great bulk of the Destinations NSW $150 million annual budget is spent promoting Sydney, with an over-emphasis on arts events.

“In the organisation’s strategy and reporting documents, country and regional NSW is an afterthought. This needs to change, with the redirection of tourism and promotional funding and board representation away from Sydney.

“In particular, country racing (gallops, harness and greyhounds) should receive greater support, given its potential to boost tourism and consumer spending in country towns.

“In this term of parliament the Coalition Government tried to kill off the greyhound industry and its vital role in regional areas. It was the ultimate act of Macquarie Street elitism.

“Country racing has been a low priority for the Liberal and National Parties and unfortunately, this is reflected in the work of Destination NSW.

Mr Latham said there were other issues here that need addressing, such as lack of apprentices for truck maintenance repair, issues at the jail (which he did not disclose), water catchment restrictions for farmers, and planning restrictions over land releases, at places like Tarago.

“There is a common thread where government has the nanny state approach - they think they know best instead of allowing local people to sort out their own issues and problems,” he said.

Mr Latham also announced One Nation’s policy to divert the government’s $810 million expenditure on a new seating plan at Homebush’s ANZ Stadium to spend on capital works and the maintenance of country hospitals.

“This would not only improve health services, it would inject much-needed investment into regional economies struggling with the financial consequences of drought, especially for the benefit of small businesses and tradies,” he said. 

Mr Latham is running for the NSW Legislative Council. He saw being elected as a great opportunity to fix a lot of things. 

“I am here for the judgement of the people,” he said.

“It would allow me to fix this backlog of problems in NSW. It would be a chance to start solving problems in education, health, planning and the needs of country NSW.”

He said the nanny state approach of governments alarms him and he gave an example in relation to dams on farms. 

“I am amazed at things like bureaucrats coming out here and dictating to farmers where they can put dams on their properties and the size of them – the farmers know best about this. The best way of drought-proofing is to have effective water storage on your properties,” he said. 

Mr Latham is a former federal Labor leader who contested the 2004 election against John Howard, before quitting federal parliament in 2005.