NSW Nats' conference reveals its diversity

Hundreds of NSW Nationals members, delegates and MPs have converged on the Cowra PCYC for the party's annual general conference.

Alternative energy, mental health, the seal of confessional and Trump - days after Nationals MP Darren Chester declared his party was "much more than blokes in big hats," NSW members have exhibited their diversity in a small town auditorium.

Hundreds of Nationals members, MPs and delegates converged on the state's Central West on Friday and Saturday for the NSW annual general conference.

While live export, bore drilling and soil agronomy were on the agenda in the unheated Cowra PCYC, the conference also canvased energy, schizophrenia treatment and women's refuges.

"I think all the people in the regions are quite diverse...we're really not a party of policy, we're a party of geography," Orange candidate Yvette Quinn told AAP.

The 21-year-old said she threw her hat in the ring for the Orange pre-selection to shake things up, but admitted she was surprised to win.

"I thought it would be good to have a woman standing for pre-selection to kind of throw a bit of something else in the mix."

NSW Young Nationals Chairman Jock Sowter said he joined the party to represent people who felt they had been left behind.

"People go on about whether you're right or left, but primarily mate, we're about regional NSW," he told AAP.

Mr Sowter, a Trump supporter, who flew to the United States for the 2016 election campaign, said the US President appealed to the disenfranchised.

"I think that's what drew a lot of people to a guy like Trump."

"I think that's why the Nats exist, we exist to make sure people who feel like they've been forgotten about have a voice, and I will stand up for anyone who I think is having a hard time."

However, Mr Sowter said it was difficult to compare the US to Australia, which he said were completely different.

"(Trump) is very divisive, I'm not going to shy away from that."

Fiona Leviny, from Grafton, said she was most concerned with a growing divide between regional and metropolitan Australian.

"Young children don't know where milk comes from," she said.

Ms Leviny said the party was evolving, but believes it still represented its farming base.

"You need to respect our founders and you need to be relevant to generation who's coming through who are going to be the next custodians."

Murray O'Keefe, from Gunnedah, said he was most frustrated with the national energy debate.

"I get very frustrated when people try and pit technologies against one another or make them mutually exclusive, they're simply not."


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Source: AAP



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