CANDIDATES for the seat of Calare can agree on a vision for the electorate, which is simply to see it improve with its fair share of funding.
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A second candidates forum for this election was held in Bathurst on Wednesday night, coordinated and moderated by Stuart Driver.
The forum was attended by three candidates, Stephen Bisgrove (Liberal Democrats), Jess Jennings (Labor) and Sam Romano (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers).
The Greens Party wanted to be represented at the forum and, as candidate Stephanie Luke was away, the role of explaining its policies was taken on by member John Fry, who is also a Bathurst Regional councillor.
Fellow candidates Shuyi Chen (Christian Democratic Party), Beverley Cameron (United Australia Party) and incumbent Andrew Gee (The Nationals) were all absent.
One of the first questions candidates were asked to respond to was regarding their vision for Calare.
Mr Romano's vision for the region includes a number of points, such as promoting tourism and providing adequate infrastructure, all of which were tied to securing more funding for the region.
"If elected, I'll be doing the same as I am doing on Orange City Council and I'll be looking at different areas to get things done, to make a viable, flourishing community," he said.
For Mr Jennings, his vision for Calare simply comes down to "getting the basics right first", and in that he singled out schools and hospitals.
"In terms of schooling, Labor offers a package that is really from cradle to grave supportive," he said.
Labor's policies include universal access to early kindy for three and four year old children, a $4 billion childcare support package, $24.5 million in additional funding for Calare's public primary and high schools, and more support for TAFE.
Liberal Democrats candidate Stephen Bisgrove said that his vision for Calare was to have pensioners, unemployed people and small business owners better supported by the government.
"Through my understanding of the Federal Budget, I can pinpoint where there's savings and I can allocate funds to this region and push for those actions," he said.
When Mr Fry was invited to speak, he emphasised the Greens' focus on renewable energy and renewable jobs.
He also said the party was against privatisation of public assets and wanted to create more trades and jobs for young people.
"Unfortunately the apprenticeship system has been derailed by the current government and we don't see young apprentices coming through the system, which was the backbone of Calare," he said.
"We had manufacturing, we had services, we had health, we had trains, we had food manufacturing. All those things are in jeopardy without apprentices.
"If you've got no young people saving, earning and purchasing, you've got no economy."
Throughout the forum, candidates made it clear that their top priorities were health and water security.
On the issue of health, Mr Romano said that people were being forced to attend major hospitals, like the one in Orange, because smaller hospitals weren't receiving the necessary funding.
"I don't think that's right, so that's something I will be following up to make sure we get our fair share in these smaller hospitals," he said.
"They've been here for a long time, the community relies on them and the funding shouldn't be cut."
He also supported the comments made earlier in the evening by Mr Jennings, who had slammed the government's multi-million dollar cuts to hospitals.
Regarding water and climate change, Mr Jennings said the outlook for the climate was bleak.
Bathurst alone is expected to have no winter as it is currently known, hotter summers and 19 per cent less rainfall by 2050.
Mr Jennings said the farming community would suffer if they weren't supported by the government and his comments were later echoed by Mr Fry.
"If we get 19 per cent less water, that translates to 60 per cent less flows in our rivers," he said.
"We don't need massive pipes, pumps and concrete dams ... we actually need to farm sustainably and help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture."