Strong collaboration between myself, State Member Pru Goward and Yass Valley Council is delivering real funding commitments and a can-do approach to solving local issues.

With the united leadership team we have, the community should have confidence we’re getting on with the job of growing the Yass Valley, not wasting precious taxpayer dollars arguing the toss.

In terms of funding, Pru Goward and I have announced the Barton Highway will receive up to an additional $15 million in Federal and State funding to kickstart the plan for the staged duplication of the highway. It is the close campaigning of all three levels of government in Yass that has put the Barton back in the spotlight. Labor will do nothing on this issue and has been totally silent. I have said before many times in the Trib, that a staged approach to creating a four lane highway between Yass and Canberra is the realistic solution to making the Barton safer. We have strong agreement amongst all levels of government on this and so finally, we are making progress.

On telecommunications, the NBN will be rolled out to 1800 premises in Yass township in the coming 18 months, with fixed wireless towers and access to new satellites providing fast broadband across the entire district.

Pru Goward has announced almost $12 million for Yass Hospital. Of that, $3.7 million will be spent on a new Yass ambulance station and $8 million on a Multi Purpose Service at the hospital which will deliver a range of health care services.

Yass Valley will receive double the amount of Roads to Recovery funding in 2015-16, to a total of $3.5million between 2014 and 2018.

$125,000 has been allocated to Yass for a series of new CCTV cameras and street lighting being installed this year to improve safety in the CBD.

Not one but two Green Army programmes are being funded by the Federal Government for Yass, offering teams of young unemployed people the chance for training and practical work experience to make them more job ready.

And this is just the start. Integral to the success of campaigning for more vital infrastructure and more funding dollars for Yass and Yass Valley, is our united approach.

I am proud to be working so effectively with Mayor Rowena Abbey and council, and the energetic State Member Pru Goward, whose tireless work for Yass and surrounding communities deserves strong recognition on polling day this Saturday.