Mr Gee said the “Great Divide” was not only a physical one between the city and the country but, for many in the region, represents a divide of opportunity, representation and development.

“Nowhere is that divide greater than in education,” Mr Gee told the lower house.

“Our country kids have fallen behind their city cousins on almost every measure.

“I believe that a funding model specifically targeted at country schools in Australia needs to be part of any future discussion about raising education standards.” 

Mr Gee said the divide also exists in medical services. 

“People in the country have shorter lives than those in the cities,” he said. 

“We have worse outcomes for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health and obesity. We die younger and that is the cold hard truth.”

Mr Gee said one way to bridge the “Great Divide” was by training more doctors for the country through the regionally-based Charles Sturt University and the Murray Darling Medical School.

“The dream of a country medical school hosted by a country university has been years in the making and I am here to tell you that the dream is still alive,” he said.

Mr Gee went on to call for a new expressway over – or tunnel under – the Blue Mountains.

“A Bells Line of Road expressway from Sydney’s north-west into Lithgow would open up the communities of the west,” he said. 

“If the money for an expressway cannot be found at present, the federal government needs to follow the lead of the New South Wales government in putting some serious funding down to help upgrade that road now.” 

Mr Gee said he would also be aiming for funding for the “holy grail” of unfinished road projects: the crossing at  Dixons Long Point between Orange and Mudgee. 

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Gee called for incentives for manufacturing in the Central West through taxation concessions and a national, targeted manufacturing strategy, better export protocols to get agricultural products into Asian markets and federal assistance for water security project in the west. 

Mr Gee thanked his family, staff, National Party colleagues and also cancer researcher Professor John Thompson, who treated Mr Gee for stage 3 melanoma in 2010.