Chris Gulaptis MP | Politician
Chris Gulaptis MP
Phone: +61 2 6643 1244
Reviews
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21.01.2022 LAUNCH OF RICHMOND VALLEY'S FUNKY NEW MOBILE CULTURAL VAN It was terrific to join with students from St Mary's Primary School yesterday along with my good friend and hardworking Richmond Valley Council Mayor Robert Mustow to officially launch a funky new van that will deliver a suite of local cultural programs, including art and craft workshops, travelling art roadshows and cultural events throughout outlying communities of the Richmond Valley. Richmond Valley Council was suc...cessful in securing $46,397 in funding from the Nationals in NSW Government’s Regional Cultural Fund to buy and wrap the van, which they creatively named 'Art Van Go'. The van is shared between the Richmond-Upper Clarence Regional Library and the Richmond Valley Council Events team. I congratulate Richmond Valley Council and its events team on this terrific initiative to provide more mobile outreach programs to isolated rural areas in the community.
17.01.2022 Lest we forget #remembranceday2020
17.01.2022 CLARENCE VALLEY’S MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR TURN FOR JOB-CREATING STIMULUS PROJECTS It was another big day of multi-million dollar funding announcements today aimed at retaining and creating jobs in regional areas and stimulate regional economies in bushfire impacted areas. Today it was the Clarence Valley’s turn and it was a pleasure to join with my Federal Nationals colleague Kevin Hogan MP and Clarence Valley Mayor Jim Simmons to announce a number of job-creating stimulus proje...cts. One of the Clarence Valley’s largest timber companies, Big River Group has been successful in securing a $10 million ‘dollar-for-dollar’ bushfire industry recovery grant to assist in consolidating its operations and enhance its Grafton-based facility. Big River is well renowned with over a century of experience in the timber industry and one of the Clarence Valley’s major industry employers. They currently have two main operating facilities, Wagga Wagga and Grafton. Following the recent bushfires, the long term supply of logs for their operations were severely impacted and it became apparent there was insufficient log resources in the Tumut region to sustain the Wagga facility. Big River Group has made a business decision to consolidate its operations to a single site at Grafton, where a sustainable supply of both hardwood and softwood logs exist. It will create 20 new jobs and secure the 60 full-time jobs already there. Clarence Way is set for a $5 million upgrade thanks to a funding partnership between the NSW & Federal Gvernments ($2.5 million) & Clarence Valley Council ($2.5 million) to unsealed sections of the road from Keybarbin to Flagstone Creek. The Clarence Way is a key access road for local agricultural and forestry industries and regional freight connecting Grafton to the Bruxner Highway. $2.7 million has been awarded to Clarence Valley Council to construct a roundabout on the intersection of Shores Drive and Yamba Road to help traffic flow more freely. All of these projects are about delivering shovel-ready projects that create new jobs, retain existing ones and stimulate local economies. The funds come from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund & Industry Recovery Package co-funded by the NSW & Federal Governmemts.
07.01.2022 GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR SCHOOLS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE HANDS-ON PROJECTS TO MAKE THEIR SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT MORE SUSTAINABLE Grants of up to $15,000 are available for local public schools to assist in developing innovative hands-on projects to make their school environment more sustainable. We want our students to be inspired and school communities to develop ideas and implement plans that will benefit the environment. ... Last year 194 school projects received the sustainability grant, these included a variety of kitchen gardens, water storage strategies and even bee highways to improve biodiversity. Grant applications are now open and can be submitted until 5pm, 11th December, with successful applicants notified in Term 1 2021. Further information can be found here - https://www.schoolinfrastructure.nsw.gov.au//sustainable-s
06.01.2022 Congratulations to Clarence Village on 50 years of service to the senior members of the Clarence Valley community. Clarence Village provides 212 residents with a wonderful supported and residential care living environment. Thanks to Ron Bell and the directors and Duncan McKimm and the staff for carrying on the professional and caring commitment started by Bill Dougherty and later Geoff Shepherd. It’s an honour and privilege to be patron of this wonderful organisation along with Federal Member, Kevin Hogan and Clarence Valley Mayor, Jim Simmons.
05.01.2022 NATIONAL AG DAY The Nationals in NSW Government value the contribution our farmers make to our regional communities and we will always support them. Let’s show our support for our farmers and celebrate National Agday #AgDayAU
04.01.2022 MACLEAN, GRAFTON AND CASINO SHOWS BACK BIGGER AND BETTER IN 2021 Next year’s country shows have been locked in after the NSW Government agreed to show-specific COVID safe guidelines, and they should be the best ever thanks to significant NSW Nationals in Government investment over the past six months. Maclean Show will be on 20 and 21 April, Grafton will quickly follow on 23 and 24 April while the Casino Show will take place in the beef capital from 21 to 23 October, just bef...ore the Lismore Show. It has been a sad year without country shows but that the Nationals in Government had seized the moment to fund better infrastructure at all three facilities in the Clarence and Richmond Valleys. There will be an improved electrical system and much better lighting at the Grafton Showground and a wide range of improvements at Maclean Showground thanks to a series of grants from the NSW Nationals in Government. Casino Showground has new flooring and a new kitchen and earlier this week we provided the Casino Showground and Racecourse a further $8.2 million, which will fund an indoor equestrian arena, redevelopment of the stables, and renewal of the sand track and racecourse. This is terrific news and something to look forward to in 2021 as country shows play a vital role in promoting agriculture and injecting money into local economies.
04.01.2022 Today's NSW Budget was one of the most historic in living memory. During extremely tough times, this Budget is focussed on delivering positive outcomes for all sectors of our community. It delivers for health, education, infrastructure, business and is focussed on rebuilding communities, stimulating local economies, generating jobs and supporting the health and well-being of our local communities. ... For more information about the NSW Government’s 2020-21 Budget, please go to budget.nsw.gov.au.
01.01.2022 CLARENCE AND RICHMOND VALLEY BUSINESSES ENCOURAGED TO APPLY FOR FUNDING UNDER NSW NATIONALS REGIONAL JOB CREATION FUND I strongly encourage all eligible businesses to apply for funding under the new $100 million Regional Job Creation Fund recently announced by the NSW Nationals in Government. This initiative will provide co-funding between $100,000 and up to $10 million to help businesses expand their production lines and provide incentives for interstate or overseas operatio...ns to relocate to regional NSW. Grants are available to support the purchase of new equipment, expand facilities, create new tourist experiences and visitor attractions or relocate businesses from out of state to regional NSW. The Regional Job Creation Fund aims to create at least 5,000 new direct jobs across regional NSW in the next three years. Regional NSW is the backbone of our state and the Regional Job Creation Fund will help give life to our country towns, creating new jobs and delivering immediate economic stimulus as businesses leverage new opportunities. The resulting infrastructure will also provide work for tradies and suppliers meaning good news all round. Applications are now open and will close on Friday 14 May 2021 or when program funding is fully allocated. For eligibility criteria and program guidelines, go to investregionalnsw.com/RJCFund.
01.01.2022 The NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian just loves the Jacaranda umbrella presented to her by Jacaranda Festival Manager, Mark Blackadder during her recent visit to Grafton. I hear that sales are through the roof! Thank you Premier for showcasing our beautiful city! https://twitter.com/i/status/1330976019797344256
