Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
MINISTER for Human Services, NSW Liberal Senator Marise Payne visited Centrelink at Inverell on Thursday as part of her two day tour of this region. Her tour commenced in Tamworth on Wednesday morning.
Senator Payne’s portfolio is the government’s largest, it includes Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support and covers a myriad of issues connected with the everyday lives of average Australians.
“I launched the 2015 tour of the Australian hearing busses, which are basically audio booths on wheels so we do hearing screening all over Australia,” Senator Payne said.
“We launched it at Tamworth so we could do it at the Country Music Festival. Troy Casser-Daley came and helped us.
“I literally had 250 people standing in front of me listening what they could do with Australian hearing, get their hearing tested. There’s 120 people a day in Tamworth getting their hearing tested.”
While Senator Payne said she did not mind country music, her next round of engagements included stops in Gunnedah, Armidale and then to Inverell, where she has relatives living.
“It’s always nice to have a good treason to visit, I have a couple of cousins and an aunt. My mother’s brother came to Inverell after he got married and settled here,” Senator Payne said.
“Inverell looks stunning. It is so busy, so vibrant today. It’s very active and I was really impressed by how positive it felt.”
Senator Payne said she had lunch at the Union Bar and wad very impressed with the fare.
Senator John Williams met Senator Payne and described her as a very capable Minister.
“Such a big Ministerial responsibility, with that $150 billion a year budget, that’s a huge portfolio,” Senator Williams said.