David Littleproud was one of the official guests at the opening of the Royal Bathurst Show on Saturday, April 13, taking a seat on the stage in front of a big crowd in the historic grandstand.

He continued his visit to the region on Monday, stopping by the Orana Salvos location in the centre of Dubbo, where he and Member for Parkes Mark Coulton spoke to the charity about its work.

"I was in Bathurst on the weekend and saw people living in tents as I was walking into the show," he told the media.

"As we heard from the Salvos, there are areas in Dubbo where there are people living in tents, and in a country as big as this, we need to ask ourselves how we do better."

Bathurst's Wattle Tree House, which assists both the homeless and those at risk of homelessness, told the Western Advocate in 2022 that it had been forced to resort to handing out sleeping bags and tents as the rental crisis in Bathurst deepened.

The rental market was incredibly tight, rents had risen steeply and crisis units and transitional houses were full, Wattle Tree House said at the time.

In 2023, meanwhile, the organisation warned that people who had never needed financial or housing support before were now seeking assistance as they faced homelessness in Bathurst due to the rising cost of living and rising house prices.

"The landscape has changed," Wattle Tree House manager Terry Tupper told the Advocate at the time.

"Traditionally, homelessness was coming through things like domestic violence, mental health, drug addiction, that sort of thing, and all of that is still there, but what's moved to the top of the list is affordable housing.

"The price of a rental property, people just can't afford it."

While at Dubbo this week, Mr Littleproud learned that the Orana Salvos Connect program has increased by 75 per cent in just six months, with the charity doing everything it can to give people access to meals and basic hygiene facilities.

The Salvos Connect program runs twice per week and allows people to access a free lunch, hardship advice, social support and shower facilities.

"They [the Salvos] are the ones who are picking up the pieces, so it is important that we understand the exact cause and understand what some of the solutions are," Mr Littleproud said.

"This is beyond politics, this should be where those of us who have been given the privilege to go into Canberra and change lives that we should collectively understand this and work together to solve this.

"You don't understand until you speak with people like the Salvos."