Health Minister Jillian Skinner won plenty of new friends at Daffodil Cottage yesterday morning when she announced the State Government would kick-off a new fundraising campaign with a contribution of $150,000 towards cottage extensions.

The Daffodil Cottage Building Extension Committee has given itself a fundraising target of $500,000 over the next two years so the State Government’s largesse – along with a $500 donation from the Wanderers Social Club handed in at the launch – has the committee closing in on a third of the target after a single day.

But Ms Skinner’s second announcement was even bigger.

Addressing just a handful of media types, Ms Skinner said a re-elected Baird Government would fund a $6.6 million upgrade of the Bathurst ambulance station.

The first step will be a scoping study to determine where best to build the station, though it’s already clear that a redevelopment of the existing site is unlikely.

Simply, the existing station – beautiful as it is – cannot accommodate the growing fleet and expanding staff needed to service a growing Bathurst region.

And while a cynical electorate might view the timing of yesterday’s commitments – less than four weeks out from the state election – with some suspicion, there is no doubt the promises have again caught Labor flat-footed.

The opposition should have promised months ago to reopen Kirkconnell Correctional Centre [if elected] to take the wind out of the government’s announcement a fortnight ago.

Cassandra Coleman was preselected to run for the seat of Bathurst almost 15 months ago but she is yet to make any significant funding commitment to the region.

In contrast, Paul Toole – when campaigning for Bathurst in 2011 – promised both a 24-hour fire station and daily return rail service to Sydney. Both those commitments have been delivered.

If Labor is serious about Bathurst, they need to start showing us the money.