More than 500 people turned out for the rally to express their dissatisfaction with the Abbott government – for a wide range of reasons, it would seem.

Some were protesting proposed changes to higher education funding, some were upset that fuel excise might be going up and others carried placards supporting refugees.

But the common theme seemed to be that the Abbott government was ignoring the needs of the nation’s most needy, particularly those living in the regions.

It’s a common tactic of the left to paint conservative governments as uncaring, but it is not common to see a rally the size of yesterday’s protest on the streets of Bathurst.

The Abbott government has been in power for less than a year so the organisers of yesterday’s rally must maintain the rage for some time yet, but they will be heartened by the support they received.

While Tony Abbott was the target of much of the anger yesterday, the political reality is that local voters will not get the chance to vote him out in two years’ time.

Rather, they will be given the opportunity to unseat incumbent Calare MP John Cobb if, as he has previously indicated, he chooses to run again.

But Mr Cobb’s 16 per cent margin makes defeat unlikely, even if there is growing dissatisfaction with the senior National’s performance since he was stripped of the agriculture portfolio when the Coalition came to power.

If nothing else, though, yesterday’s rally has put Mr Cobb on notice that a growing number of local voters want more from him and his government.

We wait to see what they can deliver.