I would like to commend everyone on the wonderful effort to preserve our region's water.

Bathurst's daily water usage is averaging less than 10 megalitres per day compared with 17 megalitres in 2019 and 22 megalitres in 2018.

In the past five weeks we have reduced usage to 133 litres per person per day and I urge everyone to keep up the great work because you are making a difference.

We are still experiencing one of the worst droughts in history and it is important we continue to work together to save water.

Take a moment

I ENCOURAGE everyone to get involved in Bathurst Visitor Information Centre's new online campaign to "Take a Moment".

The initiative encourages everyone to take a moment of self-care and revitalisation, but also to "Take a Moment" to capture an image to share that special moment with your community.

Examples of "Take a Moment" could include a great takeaway from one of Bathurst's many outstanding restaurants, a moment to sip a cup of coffee while catching up on a call to an old friend, a moment to exercise with a walk along the Macquarie River or to push yourself with a run around Mount Panorama.

There will be a time when the current travel restrictions will be relaxed and Bathurst is strongly placed to be at the forefront of an early recovery for the visitor economy.

The early recovery is highly likely to favour domestic travel to regional areas, and we are making sure that we keep a strong destination presence to keep our region in the attention of these future travellers.

Use the hashtag #TakeAMoment when sharing images on social media and check out the gallery at visitbathurst.com.au for inspiration.

THE NSW Government has made changes so that construction sites can now operate on weekends and public holidays under new rules to support the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This move allows workers to abide by social distancing rules while keeping construction projects progressing by allowing building work to be spread across more days of the week.

The construction and development sectors, which make up almost 10 per cent of NSW's economy, will be vital in keeping people in jobs and keeping investment flowing over the coming weeks and months.

There are almost 400,000 people employed in the property and construction industry in NSW and we are committed to doing everything we can to keep each of them in work, but most importantly, to keep them safe and healthy.

Department of Regional NSW

THE NSW Government continues to focus on the challenges facing people living and working in regional NSW, which is why a new department solely focused on regional NSW has been established.

People living in regional NSW have endured droughts, bushfires and now face the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new department will be formed to respond to these challenges and provide stimulus to support our regions as great places for people to live and work.

The Department of Regional NSW will be a central agency for regional issues, building strong and resilient regional communities and economies, strengthening primary industries, managing the use of our valuable regional land, overseeing the state's mineral and mining resources and ensuring that NSW Government investment into regional NSW continues to be fair and delivers positive outcomes for local communities and businesses.

Thank you, health professionals

I WANT to express my sincere thanks to all health workers not only here in our electorate, but right across the state.

Health workers are on the front line in the fight against COVID-19. These professional people are working hard to keep all of us safe and going above and beyond dealing with a rapidly evolving situation.

These individuals deserve the highest praise. Our medical practitioners are working around the clock to combat this virus.

Many hospitals, GPs, nurses, aged care workers, clinicians, paramedics, hospital support staff, medical administrators, pathologists, cleaners and other health workers are doing their best to keep us all safe.

I want to personally thank them, and our Local Health District, for keeping me informed on their work and commend them on their leadership.

We must continue to support them by doing the right thing.

This means practising social distancing, working from home if you can, and washing your hands with soap and water, or with hand sanitiser, to reduce the spread of this virus.

We must all listen to health advice and to the regular updates from authorities.

Most importantly, we must look out for each other. We will get through this.

For the latest information from the NSW Government on the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit https://preview.nsw.gov.au/covid-19

Stay at home

WITH the Easter holidays just around the corner, I'm reminding people that they need to stay home unless it's for essential travel.

This is a tough call, not one that I would normally make, but we all need to put off our holiday beak and stay safe.